Customer Reviews

Great unit, good price

Great sounding unit. I swore CDs were the best sounding media, but this is a major jump in audio excellence. Apple Music sounds very good, Tidal high Res lossless is amazing.

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Simple,Clean,works great.

I bought this because I wanted a simple streamer that just needed to work with Apple Air Play. I just listen to Apple Classical and Apple Music. There are no apps involved with this unit. Just find a piece of music, locate Air Play on my iPad, check "Nad CS1" on the pad, and I'm all set. The NAD is connected by coex to my DAC. Works very nicely.Simple and clean.Set up was almost automatic through WiFi. The design is as simple as it gets. Total minimalist.

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High-Quality Audio Streamlined for My Roon Ecosystem

After using the NAD CS1, I can confidently say this compact streaming DAC ticks all the right boxes for audiophiles and casual listeners. Its simplicity in setup made integrating into my Roon ecosystem a breeze, allowing me to dive into my favorite playlists quickly. The sound quality is superb, producing crisp highs and well-balanced mids that bring out the best in every genre. Despite its affordable price tag, the NAD CS1 doesn't compromise on performance, offering a clean, distortion-free listening experience. The minimalist design also beautifully complements my existing audio setup. It's an outstanding device that combines high-quality sound with effortless functionality, making it a must-have addition to any home audio system. Whether you're new to streaming DACs or an experienced audiophile, the NAD CS1 is sure to impress.

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Dissapointing

Not what I expected. I have been a huge fan of Lenbrook and their products from NAD, PSB and BlueSound all of which I own. However the CS1 is not up to the usual NAD standards.While it works well as a Airplay 2 device its support of Tidal Connect is not reliable enough. MQA is not nativly supported and HiRes from Tidal only works through Chromecast. With the recent upgrade of BluOS to provide Tidal Connect HiRes support this device is now behind the times and NAD supports only recommendation is to use Chromecast. When it works it works well but not worth the price for just a Airplay 2 device however if you are big into Tidal, as I am, then the CS1 falls short.

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NAD CS1

In hind site it's a little embarrassing that I struggled setting this up but I did. Crutchfield on line chat walked me through it and it's working perfectly with my older NAD T737 receiver...my streamed music has never sounded better.

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Solidly built unit with middling performance

I am using the CS1 digital output to the DAC in my Arcam A25 wired via ethernet to 2G Google Fiber. This is a well-built, no-nonsense unit with a clever use of a minimal UI (one led light) to indicate mode of operation (Green for spotify, blue for AirPlay, white for Tidal). I found the DAC underwhelming, and got expanded detail and a less metallic tone once I moved to digital coax to the Arcam to use the DAC built in to the amp. I found network set up frustrating (had to start with WiFi) and it seems easily confused both in start up (I need to power it on from standby, start a stream playing on my iPad, then select the NAD for output to get it to stream) and in playback (switching from Spotify to Tidal to Apple music sometimes drops the connection). I plan on returning for Cambridge Audio unit with more solid reviews.

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NAD CS1

I bought the CS1 to upgrade from a Wadia 171i Transport that only output 44.1 Khz streaming through my iPhone. Using Tidal Connect through the NAD I'm now getting hi rez audio and what a difference in sound quality! I highly recommend this product as a relatively inexpensive addition to any system.

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Not a good pairing with ONKYO RZ-50

I bought this streamer to supplement my ONKYO RZ50. I thought that it might add something. However, I found the CS1 to be glitchy and didn't really sound "right" (hard to describe brittle or metallic sounding when turned on). Also, AirPlay functionality was not user friendly on my iPhone13. So, I returned it. Crutchfield customer services made this seamless.

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NAD CS1

Love it....

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An absolute delight

The NAD CS1 replaced an Andover Songbird which failed. I chose this device over several others based on the advice of an exceptionally helpful Crutchfield expert. She recommended this one over more expensive items. After just a few days of listening, I must say that I am overwhelmingly satisfied. The sound is crystal clear and clean. I'm using my iPad as the controller. I have full access to every streaming music source. There is no app to fog up the works. I am using the optical connection. The device has only one control: the power switch. As Elder Solomon Lightfoot Michaux once sang, "Happy Am I!"

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NAD CS1

I wanted to be able to stream my iTunes music library through my stereo system. Of the hi-end manufacturers NAD seemed like the most reasonable. I have an NAD preamp and amp so I was familiar with their quality. Set up was very easy. I use Apple Air Play and so far it works really well. Very happy with the results.

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Didn't sound right

I returned this because it sounded wrong. I am an experienced audio person ... owned a recording studio, etc. I wanted the CS1 because it had a digital out, and was Roon ready. To test it, I simply put in place of another streamer I have (an Orchard PecanPi, which costs about 600 new), the rest of the signal path being the same as I usually use, including a Devialet expert amplifier, and some 14,000 dollar Focal speakers. I needed the CS1 to test speakers I am building in another location. I plugged in everything and it worked out of the box, and was recognized by Roon. So, 2 stars for that. When I listened to the audio however, the sound was lifeless. NAD has a good reputation for audio quality so I was surprised ... shocked. I played around with gain structure just to be sure, I tried different interfaces thinking it might just be the roon ready part, but no matter what i did, it sounded lifeless .. as though the dynamic range was limited. Possibly, it was broken, but if that was the case, I did not want another another one from a company that apparently did not test their equipment before shipping it out. Also ... it was missing some basic features like an app to control it (unless you want to drink the google cool aid and use google home, but that did not work easily .. the device was not discovered.). In any case, all in all a disappointment ... and while it was not expensive, it was not cheap either. I have a replaced it with a zenstream. We'll see how that goes.

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Good, and Can Be Made Great

So far, a work in progress. Had dropped connections to my android phone, but Manny at Crutchfield Support advised me to cast to the CS1 from inside Amazon Music, not open Google Home separately. Now it's down to once per hour. I have a lot of RF garbage. Ethernet to service provider router going in this weekend. Sound quality on the built-in DAC is good. A-B switching playing the same pieces from an Oppo BDP-95 to the CS1 showed the difference. Not bad at all, but not great! Bought a Topping E30 II DAC for another $150, hooked it up with optical and the SQ is just fantastic. They look cozy together on the shelf. I really should give this five stars, but it's been fiddly and this is from a guy who likes to fiddle with gear. If you're looking for 30 million uncompressed songs on the cloud for 350 dollars and a monthly subscription, start with the NAD CS1. There is just a chance you will have to troubleshoot!

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NAD CS1

I appreciate the clarity, design, as well as the ease of setup. Really happy I added this network streamer to my system.

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New NAD streamer

I replaced a less expensive streamer from Andover and the results are awesome. Super easy set up and the sound quality is amazing. I stream Spotify, Amazon and music from my iTunes library and it is flawless. I have a nice Onkyo receiver and high quality B&W speakers and after only 5 day my streaming has changed completely with wide dynamic range for all types of music. Good price point and I couldn't be happier.

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streaming finally sounds like physical media

I have used a number of affordable AirPlay streaming devices connected to my amplifiers, generally with poor results. The lesser expensive devices in the marketplace all seem to suffer buffer delays, dropped connections, or constant need for reboot. One week into using NAD SC1 devices in two different systems and I have had zero of these issues. I am also very impressed (but not surprised) by how much better the music sounds. The prices is great and so worth that little more than I had paid for past devices.

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