• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

NAD M33 Streaming Amplifier Review

unexperienced

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2021
Messages
87
Likes
41
There are not many positive reviews about the NAD M33 here. Complaints about the reproduction of the low-frequency range are mainly.
 

Snoopy

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 19, 2021
Messages
1,628
Likes
1,206
There are not many positive reviews about the NAD M33 here. Complaints about the reproduction of the low-frequency range are mainly.

The NAD M10 seems to have plenty of issues as well.
No surprise there is already a v2.
 

vanwalsum

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2021
Messages
31
Likes
13
Bought my M33 a few weeks back and received it yesterday. I was expecting Dirac Live Bass Control to be available in this device, one of the reasons for the purchase. For speakers i use a pair of DALI Epicon 2 and a Dali M-10D subwoofer. I previously had 2 NAD M10's, tried them 2 times, could not satisfy me. Sounded good, but a bit boring. In the time between I used a Peachtree Nova 300 (great amp, really a great amp), but the bass goes so deep that i feared to blow my Epicon's. Visibly and by ears, superb deep bass, but not healthy. Maybe it was a bit to strong. The Peachtree with an minidsp to configure a crossover would be perfect, but traded it in for a M33 with crossover settings to not-blow my Epicons and Dirac to adjust the lower frequency to sharpening it in my house which is not perfect.

The M33 works like the M10, very easy, near perfect. Just for playing music from tidal, a nas and Spotify. Watching TV by optical. The M33 is a totally different story than the M10. Better, better en much better. More headroom, more power, much more details in the music. The device looks like a champ, feels very solid, you just want to show it. I played a few hours with it, maybe it'll become better with some more playing time, but I'm very satisfied. Tried the Dirac configuration with my Umik-1 and boom, the lower frequency stood like a house. In a nutshell; this is a fantastic amp in terms of usability and sound quality. Not much drama in the Music, a beautiful remote just to regulate the volume, the missing Dirac Live bass management is a shame and NAD is still advertising with it.

The reproduction of music is perfect, maybe not that engaging (Dirac filter adjustment?), but very fluid.
 

pogo

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2020
Messages
1,239
Likes
382
the missing Dirac Live bass management is a shame and NAD is still advertising with it.

Is that really true? I found the following on the NAD homepage:
'The M33 also supports Dirac’s advanced ‘Bass Control’* feature with two independent subwoofer outputs. ...*Some features will be available via a future software update'

In addition, the following is still pending: Link
 

Snoopy

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 19, 2021
Messages
1,628
Likes
1,206
Is that really true? I found the following on the NAD homepage:
'The M33 also supports Dirac’s advanced ‘Bass Control’* feature with two independent subwoofer outputs. ...*Some features will be available via a future software update'

In addition, the following is still pending: Link


*Future updates*
 

vanwalsum

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2021
Messages
31
Likes
13
I hope there will be an update. If NAD announces a V2 variant like the M10, I'll shit myself.
 

fcracer

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 10, 2020
Messages
208
Likes
337
There are not many positive reviews about the NAD M33 here. Complaints about the reproduction of the low-frequency range are mainly.
There are many quiet satisfied users of this amp, along with a few vocal dissatisfied users. Look at the waiting lists for this device to get a sense of how highly regarded it is. I have friends in Asia that have been waiting more than nine months to get one.

It‘s not perfect however. There are some issues related to inter sampling clipping which NAD has yet to address, but there are workarounds. You can read more about what that is here: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/intersample-overs-in-cd-recordings

For myself, the M33 has been worth every penny, and I paid more than most due to the import taxes here in China!
 

vanwalsum

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2021
Messages
31
Likes
13
After 2 days, my subwoofer won't play anymore. It does not turn on. With Dirac off, subwoofer on/off, Dirac on, makes no difference. It stopped playing when pausing a song and playing again. A full reboot with the switch on the rear solved the problem.
 

Snoopy

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 19, 2021
Messages
1,628
Likes
1,206
Yes, yes, I remember well how they promised future updates for both the C390 and M32...for the M32 in particular, they promised Dirac support in the future, and where is it??? :confused:

I think there where a few older NAD amps where they promised updates and never delivered. But I just can't remember what it was..
 

pogo

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2020
Messages
1,239
Likes
382
Yes, yes, I remember well how they promised future updates for both the C390 and M32...for the M32 in particular, they promised Dirac support in the future, and where is it??? :confused:
There will probably be a combined BluOS / Dirac Live MDC module.
Source: Link
 

unexperienced

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2021
Messages
87
Likes
41
There will probably be a combined BluOS / Dirac Live MDC module.
Source: Link

Thank you for the link. But the same thing was written back in 2016, when the M32 was introduced. I bought an M32 in 2017, but there is still no Bluos module with Dirac. It's been 5 years already. Probably someday such a module will be released, unless of course it loses its relevance at that time. But the question is when?
 

vanwalsum

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2021
Messages
31
Likes
13
I wrote een e-mail to NAD, here the answer.

Thank you for contacting the NAD Support Center regarding your excellent M33 questions. I will be happy to answer each of them below.

1) I can hear a sort of distortion in some songs when my subwoofer output is active. Now particularly in the John Mayer song “Till the right one comes”.

This issue is a high priority on the engineering team's list to resolve but not a simple fix, hence it has taken longer than expected to resolve. The distortion does not affect all tracks, just those that were recorded HOT with inter-sample clipping.

The distortion can be resolved by setting "Tone Controls - ON", or if one does not have subwoofers connected, setting "Select Attached Speakers - No Subwoofer".

I apologize that we do not have a more immediate solution for you now, but we will let you know when a fix is released.

2) The second thing, my subwoofer just stopped working, no signal on the sub out. A full reboot with the toggle on the back solved it. The third; yesterday i paused a song, turned to play it again, no sound. Maybe it was a problem with Tidal, but no. After switching on my TV and turned over to optical 1, nog sounds at all. Also, a full reboot solved the problem.

These 2 issues are not known M33 faults. I have copied your feedback to our Quality Assurance team. They may have more questions regarding your report.

3) Another thing what worries me the most. I bought the M33 partly for the Dirac Bass Management. I started reading on the internet where I found an answer from a technical guy from NAD who said because of some unexpected limitations it will never happen.

We apologize for the undue delay regarding bass control with DIRAC. Please be assured as we are currently working with DIRAC to implement their Bass Control module into our products. They are an excellent partner and are mutually excited about our implementation.

We hope to provide an updated timeline and get the much anticipated Dirac Bass Control system out to the C 658, M33, M10, M10 V2, and other NAD 2 channel Dirac capable products as quickly as possible.

I hope this feedback encourages you to continue using your M33. If not please feel free to contact your NAD Dealer.
 

Kaboo

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2021
Messages
32
Likes
6
I assume that the distortion issue will be fixed at the same time as the promised introduction of Dirac Bass Management, since this feature is still pending as an update and these tasks are technically related.
They won't do these updates.They keep giving the same respone to all the enquirys .This has been going on for months.This will have to be fixed in hardware. They will fix the hardware in an upgraded version .We are all screwed.
 
Top Bottom