[Q
Ok, so now it works. It's THAT easy! : ) You too can have the joy of computer audio. Just kidding really. It was a bad 6 hour journey but well worth it.
Greg from NAD:
While I don't want to induce buyer's remorse for Jaxwired, he could have saved six hours of grief by selecting the M50. Unlike computers and computer operating systems the M50 has only one mission in life; to make music. Every design decision was based on making music which led NAD to make a completely customized and integrated hardware software platform. There are no settings required to get maximum performance and no chance of settings getting changed inadvertently.
A few things given up by choosing a CAPS server instead of a high end music player:
- JRemote/JRiver don't integrate any music services. NAD is just launching Rdio and will in time integrate all the better services. Because they are integrated into the UIF you can create playlists that combine both your local library and the cloud service library in the same playlist.
- JRemote can't control the volume on an M2/M51/C390, but the M50 can, adding a lot of convenience and the superb non-truncating volume conttrol of the NAD Direct Digital products.
- M50 supports generic USB HDDs & NASes (not just M52) and you don't need to rely on the network to play your music. The M52 is more expensive but it is a complete solution for music that offers archival security for all those HD Tracks you are sure to start buying.
- Windows on a CAPS box leaves the audiophile's precious data-stream at the mercy of Microsoft's audio driver stack (not to mention viruses, etc.)
- home-brew PC music servers won't do whole-home sync'd audio. The M50 is part of the BluOS ecosystem. There will be lower cost yet compatible players in the future to allow Sonos-like whole house audio.
While it can be fun to play around with different computer gear trying to get the best sound, NAD has created a high resolution digital audio system that does not require computers and does not have any of the potential problems encountered trying to make a computer play music accurately.
