NAD M33 vs Devialet Expert

[watchnerd]

So regarding Roon:

My local dealer is saying the M33 doesn't actually work with Roon yet, at least not in the production version they have in house, and Stereophile may have received an exempted sample.

To quote:

"They may have received a prototype unit with an exemption that allowed them to use Roon. All I can tell you is that when we try to enable Roon, we get a notification that it is not yet certified. Using the BlueOS app works great."

@Kal Rubinson any comment on this?

Or is my local dealer just not so proficient at Roon?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Yes, I do have a comment. The time I had the M33 was prior to 9/21. It was on that date that Roon cut off working with non-certified devices although those registered in use were supposed to have continued support. New ones will not be recognized. See: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/uncertified-roon-ready-devices-announcement/120298

When I learned of this change, I asked NAD about support for the M33 and the response they sent is as follows: "
“As Roon explain themselves, any device that has been used prior to Sep 21st, even in an uncertified way, will continue to work. The NAD M33 is with Roon for final certification approval and both companies are working together to have this completed as soon as possible.”

I did note, in the review, that the M33 was not yet certified but that it worked. That is true and, I believe, true for all M33s put into Roon use prior to 9/21. However, any newly purchased M33, although identical in all ways to the one I had, will be rejected by Roon if the user attempts to register it with Roon after 9/21 and, of course, before Roon and NAD work out the certification.

It is a mess but I hope that I have made the situation a bit clearer.

 

[watchnerd]

However, any newly purchased M33, although identical in all ways to the one I had, will be rejected by Roon if the user attempts to register it with Roon after 9/21 and, of course, before Roon and NAD work out the certification.

It is a mess but I hope that I have made the situation a bit clearer.

Oh jeeeeeeze....

That is so annoying.

But thank you for the explanation and making it clearer.

Sucky, though.

If I replaced my Devialet at this moment, I'd gain Dirac, but lose Roon.

Well, in the case, I won't be buying an M33 until that gets resolved.

Lack of Roon compatibility is a deal breaker for me.

 

[da Choge]

Lack of working with Roon is a deal breaker for me.

Same for me. I imagine NAD will eventually get the M33 Roon-Certified, but they (NAD) seem to always drag their feet on issues and firmware updates like this. Now that Roon has applied the thumbscrews, maybe NAD will get it done sooner than normal.

However, the real deal-breaker for me is that there are no RCA inputs that can be configured with unity-gain (Home Theater bypass mode) to use the M33 in conjunction with one's AVR receiver to drive the front two channels when playing multichannel music or movies.

PS. Kal -- Enjoyed your review of the M33 very much. I had been anxiously waiting for it to show up on Stereophile's website.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

However, the real deal-breaker for me is that there are no RCA inputs that can be configured with unity-gain (Home Theater bypass mode) to use the M33 in conjunction with one's AVR receiver to drive the front two channels when playing multichannel music or movies.

That is a good point. Since the M33 digitizes the analog inputs and provides digital gain control, finding and setting a repeatable level to match its 2 channel output to the channels handled externally is not difficult. The issue that remains is that it may not be possible to accurately synch its outputs with the others long-term.
I think the Roon issue will be resolved "sooner than normal."

 

[nick-v]

I can't believe they didn't consider the HT Bypass input. I might still try one out in my open concept living room/kitchen/dining room "lifestyle" 2 channel system that I'm building. I got rid of my Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 and the M33 seems to offer similar functionality & (hopefully better) performance at a better price. The only other thing that seems to be lacking in the M33 compared to the TDAI-3400 is the incredible flexibility offered by the the digital crossover in the Lyngdorf. Can you adjust subwoofer crossover frequency and slope in the M33? It was almost infinitely variable in the TDAI-3400.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Can you adjust subwoofer crossover frequency and slope in the M33? It was almost infinitely variable in the TDAI-3400.

Frequency adjustable in M33 setup.
Slope customizable in DiracLive setup.

 

[tokjdm]

I can't believe they didn't consider the HT Bypass input. I might still try one out in my open concept living room/kitchen/dining room "lifestyle" 2 channel system that I'm building. I got rid of my Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 and the M33 seems to offer similar functionality & (hopefully better) performance at a better price. The only other thing that seems to be lacking in the M33 compared to the TDAI-3400 is the incredible flexibility offered by the the digital crossover in the Lyngdorf. Can you adjust subwoofer crossover frequency and slope in the M33? It was almost infinitely variable in the TDAI-3400.

May I ask why you got rid of the TDAI-3400 ? I am considering buying it and am looking with interest at the comparison with the M33

 

[ENG]

Just ordered an M33 from Crutchfield (they have them in stock).
Checking to see if Amir is willing to measure it.

Have you bought the M33 and asked Amir about measuring?

 

[egarner]

I did buy it, just waiting until I recover from surgery to ship it to him. (later this week, I hope!)

 

[nick-v]

May I ask why you got rid of the TDAI-3400 ? I am considering buying it and am looking with interest at the comparison with the M33

It's a little complicated. I run a custom integration company, and distribution changed for Lyngdorf in my area. It wasn't selling that well for me anyways, so I decided to drop Lyngdorf for now and I sold off my demo unit. I did enjoy it's functionality, flexibility and sound quality although I'll admit that I was a little dissappointed in it's measured performance for the price.

I do carry NAD, so I'm very curious to see how the M33 measures. I haven't decided whether I'm bringing in a demo M33 yet, but if it measures reasonably well I likely will.

 

[watchnerd]

Devialet must be feeling the pressure.

Here is a marketing email I received from them today about their new "Sweet Room" feature, which is basically just an improved parametric EQ:

https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016719679

 

[Dialectic]

Devialet must be feeling the pressure.

Here is a marketing email I received from them today about their new "Sweet Room" feature, which is basically just an improved parametric EQ:

https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016719679

I also got this, and was encouraged to upgrade my Expert unit to an Expert Pro, for somewhere in the neighborhood of $4-7K (depending on the level of Expert Pro unit chosen), to get this functionality, as though software parametric EQ is arcane and special.

Devialet, your amp is excellent for TV sound! Love watching YouTube videos with it! And my infant loves the shiny finish!

But, for listening to music, I have moved on.

I would go with the NAD.

 

[watchnerd]

I also got this, and was encouraged to upgrade my Expert unit to an Expert Pro, for somewhere in the neighborhood of $4-7K (depending on the level of Expert Pro unit chosen), to get this functionality, as though software parametric EQ is arcane and special.

Devialet, your amp is excellent for TV sound! Love watching YouTube videos with it! And my infant loves the shiny finish!

But, for listening to music, I have moved on.

I would go with the NAD.

I didn't upgrade my Pro to the Expert Pro / Infinity, because it just doesn't give enough extra functionality for the price they were asking. Plus, shipping it back to France? No thanks...

If they it had a web UI and room correction, that would be a different story. The weird part is that the Infinity upgrade should have enough processing power to implement both.

Devialet apparently just sucks at software.

 

[Molius]

For the moment i use the Lyngdorf TDAI 2170 in combination with the Eigentakt amp, builded by Bruno himself. Very good combo en te Eigentakt amp is magnificent! No doubt about it. I have also the Auralic Altair G1 streamer. I really want to switch all of this for the M33. Only thing I am afraid off is if Dirac as good as Roomperfect? For me is the M33 the perfect all in one solution!

 

[tokjdm]

It's a little complicated. I run a custom integration company, and distribution changed for Lyngdorf in my area. It wasn't selling that well for me anyways, so I decided to drop Lyngdorf for now and I sold off my demo unit. I did enjoy it's functionality, flexibility and sound quality although I'll admit that I was a little dissappointed in it's measured performance for the price.

I do carry NAD, so I'm very curious to see how the M33 measures. I haven't decided whether I'm bringing in a demo M33 yet, but if it measures reasonably well I likely will.

Thank you

 

[egarner]

So I finally shipped to to Amir, and he measured it.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nad-m33-streaming-amplifier-review.17302/

Not nearly as good as I was expecting.... now I got to figure out if I keep it, or send it back and stick with my minidsp SHD, / m22 combo

 

[watchnerd]

So I finally shipped to to Amir, and he measured it.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nad-m33-streaming-amplifier-review.17302/

Not nearly as good as I was expecting.... now I got to figure out if I keep it, or send it back and stick with my minidsp SHD, / m22 combo

Thanks for sending it to him.

It met my expectations did pretty much as I mentioned upthread -- not as good as separates, a bit better than most AVRs.

However, despite having pretty much all the features I want, it's still a "no purchase" for me until they fix the Roon compatibility.

 

[egarner]

Thanks for sending it to him.

It met my expectations did pretty much as I mentioned upthread -- not as good as separates, a bit better than most AVRs.

However, despite having pretty much all the features I want, it's still a "no purchase" for me until they fix the Roon compatibility.

I was grandfathered in with Roon, (connected it before the cutoff). But a lot of other people are in Roon hell at the moment, especially minidsp SHD owners.

 

[egarner]

Yeah, I think on further reflection, I am indeed going to keep it.
Overall, it sounds great, and is far more responsive (UI wise) than my miniDSP SHD. (and my wife likes the sound better).

But again, I'm glad people like Amir exist to do the careful measurements.