INDIANAPOLIS –
NAD Electronics is coming to the
CEDIA Expo with plans to launch at least nine new products,
expand its selection of audio components that connect
to new audio sources, and enter three new markets
– iPod-docking speakers, wireless USB DACs and harddrive
music jukeboxes.
The company also plans to show four new A/V receivers
priced up to $4,000 and a $3,000 preamp/processor.
In its top-end Master Suite, the company plans fall
availability of the $2,500-suggested M50 Digital Music
Player and $2,000 M52 Digital Music Vault, which can
be paired with the current M2 amplifier to reproduce
24-bit/96kHz music.
The M50 Digital Music Player is a networked CD player/
ripper that sends ripped content to the M52 Vault singlezone
music jukebox with 3TB RAID 5 hard-drive array.
The M50 also streams music from a networked PC and
streams Internet radio through a networked broadband
modem. It features Ethernet, embedded Wi-Fi, multiple
outputs including HDMI, USB inputs to play music stored
on a USB, and RS-232 control. It decodes FLAC, ALAC,
MP3, WMA, AAC and Ogg.
The M52 Digital Music Vault music jukebox automatically
backs up music collections. Album art and metadata
are automatically retrieved through the Internet when CDs
are ripped on the companion M50 CD player/ripper.
Also to the Master Suite, NAD is adding the $1,600
M51 Direct Digital DAC, which can be paired with the
M3 integrated amp. The 35-bit 844kHz DAC supports
HDMI digital audio and the newest USB codec for 24-
bit 192kHz audio transmission. It can act as a digital preamp
because it features multiple inputs and DSP volume control. Features include USB ports for connection to
PCs and USB sticks, two stereo-only HDMI inputs, and
an HDMI output with 3D passthrough.
NAD’s first iPod speaker system, which also streams
stereo Bluetooth, is the $700s-suggested VISO 1, due in
October. A docking/charging cradle rotates for horizontal
or vertical positioning of an iPod/iPhone. The speakers
are biamplified.
Of three new DACs, the $300 DAC1 is a two-piece
point-to-point wireless system whose non-Wi-Fi wireless
transmitter plugs into a PC’s USB port to transmit uncompressed
16-bit/48 kHz music wirelessly up to 120 feet to
a DAC/receiver plugged into a home audio system. The
24-bit/192kHz DAC/receiver converts the digital signal
to analog using premium Burr-Brown technology. A coax
digital output allows for connection to a downstream digital
processing. The system features three selectable RF
channels.
Another DAC, due in the fall, is the C 390DD DAC/
amplifier with built-in 2×150-watt amp and 35-bit/844kHz
up-sampling digital conversion. It features NAD’s MDC
(Modular Design Construction), which enables future
upgrading via add-in modules, and the company’s fully
digital PowerDrive amplifier technology, which directly accepts
a digital PCM signal, uses pulse width modulation
(PWM) to amplify the signal, and incorporates a closedloop
direct digital feedback technology to deliver betterthan-
Class-A performance at all output levels with high
efficiency, the company said.
PowerDrive is also available in other NAD components.
The third DAC is the $250 MDC DAC, also due in the
fall. It connects to the NAD C 356BEE and C 375BEE
integrated amplifiers to significantly upgrade the sound of
disc players and music streamers. A USB input allows for
direct connection of a PC or Mac.
NAD’s four new A/V receivers are all said to offer 3Dcompatible
HDMI inputs and outputs, but the company
declined to specify whether they were HDMI 1.4 or 1.4a.
They also feature HDMI’s audio return channel. They are
the $900-suggested T 748, $1,600 T 757, $3,000 T 777,
and flagship $4,000 T 787. The former is shipping; the
latter three ship in the fall.
The 7.1-channel T 748 is the company’s lowest-priced
7.1 AVR and features Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio,
and EARS, a proprietary technology that upconverts
stereo to surround sound.
The $1,600 T 757 adds second-zone audio, steps up
output to an FTC-rated 7×120 watts, and adds MDC, making
it the lowest priced AVR with MDC. The $3,000 T 777
adds 7.2-channel capability, four-zone audio, Dolby Pro
Logic IIx to derive two front-height channels, and fully digital
PowerDrive amplifier technology, among other things.
The $3,000 T 187 A/V/tuner/preamp also features
MDC and ships in the fall.
