Stream All Day
I’M NO stranger to the network audio player/preamplifier category, having evaluated two such specimens in 2019: Cary Audio’s DMS-550 and Simaudio’s Moon 390 (both reviews available on soundandvision.com). These components act as a hub for switching a range of digital and analog sources, along with streaming music from online services and local networked storage. The DMS-550 and Moon 390 impressed me with their versatility and sound quality, but at $5,000-plus, both are priced outside the range of an average listener. Fortunately, other options exist such as the NAD C 658, a $1,649 network audio player/preamplifier aimed at audiophiles on a budget. How does the C 658 hold up against the pricier models? Let’s give it a listen.
FEATURES
NAD categorizes the C 658 as a BluOS Streaming DAC. (BluOS is a high-res-capable multiroom music streaming protocol used in select NAD components and in products from its sister brand Bluesound.) The C 658 uses an ESS Sabre 32-bit/384kHz digital-to-analog converter to process incoming digital signals, and it can decode MQA to extract high-res audio from Tidal streams and other MQA sources. Network connections include Gigabit Ethernet and dual-band Wi-Fi. NAD’s network audio player/preamplifier also features both AirPlay and aptX HD Bluetooth for streaming from a
