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Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Cheap and Cheerful HiFi => Topic started by: bummrush on 14 Aug 2013, 02:10 pm

Title: NAD D3020
Post by: bummrush on 14 Aug 2013, 02:10 pm
Anybody hear one yet?
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: Phil A on 14 Aug 2013, 02:15 pm
Have not heard it yet but it looks interesting - http://reviews.cnet.com/audio-system-components/nad-d-3020/4505-6462_7-35757056.html  - named after the classic 3020, remember those.  I recently sold a 2100B NAD amplifier that I had for many years and had the 1600 tuner/preamp at one point many years back.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: Letitroll98 on 14 Aug 2013, 09:57 pm
Anybody hear one yet?

No.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: gregfisk on 15 Aug 2013, 02:33 am
Have not heard it yet but it looks interesting - http://reviews.cnet.com/audio-system-components/nad-d-3020/4505-6462_7-35757056.html  - named after the classic 3020, remember those.  I recently sold a 2100B NAD amplifier that I had for many years and had the 1600 tuner/preamp at one point many years back.

I also had the NAD 1600 preamp tuner and gave it to a friend for his game room. I still get to listen to it while playing pull and shuffle board.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: Phil A on 15 Aug 2013, 03:17 am
I have not heard (or seen) any NAD stuff in many years.  More for the reason of less dealers around than there used to be.  I have multiple systems and in process of moving but except for a piece here or there I have more or less what I need.  I'd like to hear their stuff.  I bought an Integra universal player for a secondary system at a dealer who is supposed to be an NAD dealer a couple of years back and did not look at everything in the store but don't recall seeing their components on the floor.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: JLM on 15 Aug 2013, 09:55 am
Yep, had a 3020 receiver in an early 90's 2nd system (lost in a divorce).

Seems like the D3020 feature set hits the mainstream of the upcoming market (right size, inputs, wattage, sub output).  Seems a bit over priced (sound quality dependent), but I can't think of a comparable product.

Wonder if this one is a 'Power DAC' (meaning pure digital signal path but the analog inputs are redigitized).  Maybe not with the headphone output.

Looks a bit tipsy, hopefully a stand (similar to the desktop NuForce products) is offered.  Speaking of which this looks like the little brother of the  NuForce DDA-100 with more features.

Wonder what it would have taken to put all the front displays on a slant for vertical and horizontal orientation/use (thinking of sliding it under my iMac).
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: Letitroll98 on 15 Aug 2013, 03:17 pm
Actually, I'm currently running the power amp only section of a NAD 3020B direct from an Audio GD DAC that has a very nice I/V volume control.  The sound is magical, it appears that what I thought was the strength of that amp, the preamp and phono pre, are actually the weakness of that little integrated and it's the power amp that is the miracle worker. This has very little relevance to the new D3020 thus my terse answer above, (also I was running out of time), but indicates that there may be surprises in these new products.  It appears that there are different DAC's in the three products, thus they may sound significantly different from one another.  I was looking at the music streamer as maybe the dark horse, more power, better DAC, much more flexibility in the new world of digital music. 
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: nickd on 15 Aug 2013, 04:43 pm
Wish it didn't cost $500.  :|

Perfect to run from the Sonos digital out and power the Patio speakers. :thumb:

25 year old NAD reciever that is on duty now could use a rest. Someone needs to buy one play with it for a few months so I can buy it used for next summer. :lol:
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: JLM on 15 Aug 2013, 10:29 pm
The D7050 appears to be a 'power DAC' as it has no analog inputs, but higher res DAC and plenty of digital inputs (AirPlay, Bluetooth, ethernet, USB, 2 coax, and 2 toslink).  But double the price and only nominally more wattage:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-KSVnByxEEzi/p_745D7050/NAD-D-7050.html#overview-tab
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: JLM on 15 Aug 2013, 10:38 pm
Wish it didn't cost $500.  :|

Perfect to run from the Sonos digital out and power the Patio speakers. :thumb:

25 year old NAD reciever that is on duty now could use a rest. Someone needs to buy one play with it for a few months so I can buy it used for next summer. :lol:

For your Sonos you should consider a powered/active speaker pair with built-in DAC such as Audyssey Media (desktop/tiny room), AVi 9RSS (desktop/room), KEF X300A (desktop/room), Quad 9AS (room), or Vanatoo (desktop/room).  Prices range from $210 - $2200 per pair but none go below 50 Hz.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: nickd on 15 Aug 2013, 11:38 pm
Quote
For your Sonos you should consider a powered/active speaker pair with built-in DAC such as Audyssey Media (desktop/tiny room), AVi 9RSS (desktop/room), KEF X300A (desktop/room), Quad 9AS (room), or Vanatoo (desktop/room).  Prices range from $210 - $2200 per pair but none go below 50 Hz.

I already have a really nice pair of JBL outdoor speakers mounted on the walls up high. They have great bass too. The NAD reciever I have now powers them fine but needs a capacitor in the tuner and runs a little hot. That new D3020 just looks compact, cool and I'm sure it sounds great. The difficulty of powered speakers out there is the long runs of low voltage wire. Signal loss and noise = :(  Plus no place to plug them in to 120v up on the wall. I didn't design with powered gear outside in mind 15 years ago. My how things change.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: Letitroll98 on 16 Aug 2013, 03:41 am
The D7050 appears to be a 'power DAC' as it has no analog inputs, but higher res DAC and plenty of digital inputs (AirPlay, Bluetooth, ethernet, USB, 2 coax, and 2 toslink).  But double the price and only nominally more wattage:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-KSVnByxEEzi/p_745D7050/NAD-D-7050.html#overview-tab

Yeah, it seems like none of the products covers all of the bases if you're looking for a Swiss army knife unit.  I think you need to go up to the $2500 NAD C 390DD for that, at least in the NAD line.  They're interesting products, but none of them float my boat for the asking price, but not to say they don't fit somebodies needs.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: mcgsxr on 16 Aug 2013, 02:14 pm
I have not heard one, but it appears interesting.

I like the small form factor, and decent power rating.

I think it is a direct competitor for the NuForce DDA 100, given they price out roughly the same. 

Looks like the NuForce has more power, but lacks an analog input, so I would think ancillary equipment would be a major deciding factor.

I will watch for reviews, I know that Absolute Sound loved the NuForce piece.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: JLM on 17 Aug 2013, 11:07 pm
I too am interested in the DDA-100, but 6moons gave it a lack luster review (not that Srajan is the last word i audio, but...).  His comments were based on mating it to high efficiency speakers (supposedly the probably cause) but still a question mark.  Lack of headphone/sub outputs or analog inputs is a minus but pure digital signal path is a plus. 
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: craig in SD on 19 Aug 2013, 05:26 pm
I've been ready to audition one for a couple of months now (per my post in the solid state  forum).  My local dealer has it on oreder, but not in house yet.  Gettin' fidgety, as I would really like to compare it to the wadia power dac and nuforce dda-100 for a system I want to set up and start enjoying.  I actually suspect the d3020 has a Hypex UCD-based amplifier, while the D7050 will be a direct digital/power dac product.  That one is too pricy for this forum, still, and does not yet appear to be on its way to dealers yet.  Looks like NAD may have jumped the gun proclaiming July delivery on these products.

Will try to reply again when I've had a chance to audition.  I expect the dealer to call any day now...
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: Nicom on 8 Nov 2013, 02:49 pm
Question from a complete hifi newbie.

If I have the NAD D3020, would there be ANY idea in getting a Sonos. Reason I ask is the local Hifi store sold me both, and now I realize that I have no idea what I should use the Sonos system for unless I wanna expand to other rooms (and I dont, not right now atleast)

Will the sound quality be something of notice using the Sonos WIFI or is the Bluetooth in the NAD D3020 good enough?

Regards.
Nico.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: JLM on 10 Nov 2013, 11:38 am
Welcome aboard Nico.

I've been into stereo/audio for 40 years and never has it been more complicated...

Wired should always be the highest sound quality connection option.  Currently I'm running a cheap 35 foot optical cable along the floor (check out monoprice.com) from my computer to my audio system.  The 2nd best sound quality (as per at least one professional review of the D3020) would come from a wireless option like Sonos, but a simpler/cheaper solution in your case would be something like Apple Airport Express ($99, optical digital or 3.5 mm analog outputs, but I'd try the digital first).  Note  that it will only play the same music as the computer (shouldn't be a problem being in the same room).  The Air DAC from Nuforce cost more than Airport Express, uses AptX Bluetooth but supposedly sounds better, but would bypass the D3020's DAC as it only offers analog output, certainly should have enough range within the same room, and could serve as a 'mini-Sonos' home-wide system.  The 3rd best sound quality (and more limited range) would come from Bluetooth (a lower resolution audio format).

Let us know what you figure out.
Title: NAD D3020 with KEF LS50
Post by: EuroDriver on 17 Nov 2013, 09:46 am
I spent some time listening to the D3020 driving KEF LS50's fed Spotify via Sonos Connect.  I have a system with Cambridge Audio 640 C > 650 A > LS50

The D3020 sounded much better than the CA. The pairing of the D3020 with the LS50 was spectacular with resolution, timbre, image sharpness and strong bass in spades.

 The LS50 can probably be succesfully paired with even better electronics, but for $ 500 + $ 1500
it's unbeatable sound for the money.

Looking for someone to give my CA stuff to !

Disclosure :  I am a Hypex Fanboy with Dual Mono NC400 > B&W 805D.  For a third of the price, but 80 pct of the performance with a 24/96 DAC thrown in, no interconnects needed, I have trouble containing my enthusiasm for the D3020
Title: Re: NAD D3020 with KEF LS50
Post by: JLM on 17 Nov 2013, 12:38 pm
I spent some time listening to the D3020 driving KEF LS50's fed Spotify via Sonos Connect.  I have a system with Cambridge Audio 640 C > 650 A > LS50

The D3020 sounded much better than the CA. The pairing of the D3020 with the LS50 was spectacular with resolution, timbre, image sharpness and strong bass in spades.

 The LS50 can probably be succesfully paired with even better electronics, but for $ 500 + $ 1500
it's unbeatable sound for the money.

Looking for someone to give my CA stuff to !

Disclosure :  I am a Hypex Fanboy with Dual Mono NC400 > B&W 805D.  For a third of the price, but 80 pct of the performance with a 24/96 DAC thrown in, no interconnects needed, I have trouble containing my enthusiasm for the D3020

Thanks for the report.  The old 'diminishing returns' principle at work again.  Again can a true audiophile not be compulsive?
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: 2 channel man on 20 Nov 2013, 11:58 pm
NAD is Canadian and is plastic junk when translated  from Canadian English to
the rest of the planets English NAD is slang for plastic garbage designed to take your $$$$ .
It may have been good once upon a time but it isn't 1980 anymore .
New NAD is designed for one purpose , to take your money .
Save your money a little longer and buy something better .
If and when your NAD breaks good luck getting it fixed .
We already cashed your cheque ......so adios sucker !
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: DS-21 on 9 Dec 2013, 10:45 pm
***I actually suspect the d3020 has a Hypex UCD-based amplifier,***

Looks like you're right on that one.

Does anyone have "guts" pics? I wonder if it's a bespoke module, or two UcD180's with an undersized PS.
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: srb on 9 Dec 2013, 11:14 pm
According to the hifi.nl (http://www.hifi.nl/artikel/20986/Review-NAD-D-3020-Hybrid-Digital-Amplifier.html) review of the NAD D 3020 it uses a Hypex module.  If that is true, at 30W/ch it could possibly be the Hypex UCD32OEM (http://www.hypex.nl/docs/UcD32OEM_datasheet.pdf) 30W/ch stereo module or something very similar.

Steve
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: DS-21 on 9 Dec 2013, 11:52 pm
Maybe a bespoke beefed up version of that one? The 30W/ch rating of the UcD32OEM is into 4Ω loads, and NAD claims 30W/ch/8Ω, 60W/ch/8Ω.

At the price, twin UcD180s would be a (pleasant) surprise.
Title: Plays 24/192 over USB !
Post by: EuroDriver on 12 Dec 2013, 08:27 am
I finally bought a D3020 and I am floored !  Sounds great as I said in my earlier post, but to my surprise I got it to play 24 bit 192 KHz FLAC using Foobar (win XP) with a USB 2 driver from T + A  website

http://www.taelektroakustik.de/index.php?id=521&L=1

The sound quality playing a Channel Recordings Studio Master is an absolute joy

One further tip, is to try out your D3020 on your old speakers first, you may be very pleasantly surprised by how much your speakers sound.  My Canton Karat 720.2 sound much better than I ever thought they could.  The Hypex amp handles difficult speaker loads very well
Title: Re: Plays 24/192 over USB !
Post by: ashok on 12 Dec 2013, 06:12 pm
I finally bought a D3020 and I am floored !  Sounds great as I said in my earlier post, but to my surprise I got it to play 24 bit 192 KHz FLAC using Foobar (win XP) with a USB 2 driver from T + A  website

To clarify, did you install the driver in your computer and connect the computer's USB port to the USB input in the NAD? May I ask how you verified that your computer was not internally downsampling the 192kHz to 96kHz?

Thank you!
Title: Re: Plays 24/192 over USB !
Post by: EuroDriver on 12 Dec 2013, 10:52 pm
To clarify, did you install the driver in your computer and connect the computer's USB port to the USB input in the NAD? May I ask how you verified that your computer was not internally downsampling the 192kHz to 96kHz?

Thank you!

I installed the T + A USB 2 driver software several weeks ago and used Foobar to play FLAC files to my T + A DAC 8.  Unfortunately I did not look in the Foobar configuration to see which output driver / software the being used.  Last night did the NAD USB driver software install, connected the D3020 and immediately ran Foobar.

I picked a 24/192 FLAC file, and it sounded great.  This morning when I got up, I found that Foobar had locked up trying to play the JPEG of the cover art.  So I restarted Foobar and to my great surprise I got the error message window sample rate not supported.   After 20 minutes of fooling around I final changed the output module selection to DS - USB Audio, and Foobar would play the 24/192 file with no problem

I have also been wondering if Direct Sound could be down sampling the WAV file to 96 KHz.  Looking at the function set of Direct Sound it does not seem that sample rate conversion is one of them.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee418868(v=vs.85).aspx

At the output end of Kmix the GFI filter might be cahnging the sample rate
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff537047(v=vs.85).aspx

Also what I don't know is does the T + A driver software use Direct Sound. 

This evening I set up my system again, but now the output module name has changed from [DS- USB Audio] to [DS - NAD USB Audio].  The NAD Output module which I think I was running this morning seems to have disappeared.  Instead there is a output module labelled [ASIO: NAD USB Audio ASIO Driver] but it does not work giving the error message "Unrecoverable playback error: Could not initialize the driver".  I did quite a bit of fooling around this lunch time ad that seems to have changed the driver installations.

The D3020 is supposed to accept 24/192 Khz on the Coax SPDIF input, so the DAC has the capabilty.  Any decent modern USB receiver chip should be able to accept USB 2 data rates, so then it just a matter of the USB driver.

The much more expensive D7050 has the same sample rate limitation and the same driver as the D3020, which I also find surprising.  May be NAD were not happy with the consistency of 24/192 playback, so they have disabled it for the present time ?

I am very much an amatuer on this stuff, appreciate your insights
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: ashok on 13 Dec 2013, 02:44 am
I found this picture at CNET (http://reviews.cnet.com/amplifiers-preamps-processors/nad-d-7050/4505-7871_7-35757057.html).

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qzkP_4l2PJw/UqpCHREVjFI/AAAAAAAAB-4/ciLBNQhYIGE/w556-h351-no/SamplingRates.png)

It appears that the D3020 is capable of only 24/96 on USB and that D7050 and D1050 are both capable of 24/192 on USB.

But if you go to NAD's website and look at the specs for the D7050, it clearly says 24/96 on USB. Only the D1050 USB DAC is capable of 24/192 on USB.

So, there is some confusion. It does seem a little strange that NAD would restrict the D3020 and D7050 to 24/96 on USB.

I am planning to get a D3020, and will test out its USB input.
Title: Direct Sound will down sample to match DAC
Post by: EuroDriver on 16 Dec 2013, 07:02 pm
I did some tests with a Cambridge Audio DAC Magic which is Max 24/96

With Direct Sound receiving a 24/192 feed from Foobar, DS down sampled to 44.1 kHz

For some reason my DAc Magic did not want / could not play 24/96 !
Title: Re: NAD D3020
Post by: srb on 16 Dec 2013, 08:38 pm
If the DAC hardware does not support Direct Sound or hardware mixing, then the stream will be routed through Windows KMixer and downsample.  Try ASIO or Kernel Streaming drivers for Windows XP through Windows 8 and you can additionally try the WASAPI driver for Windows Vista through Windows 8 to bypass KMixer.

If you are successfully bypassing the Windows KMixer, then the Windows volume control should not have any effect, and your DAC(s) should be able to receive native bit-perfect streams up to their maximum resolution.

Steve