Nuz1

Chris, Any updates on the timing to your review?

Anxious to read your review. Has the issue been fixed so we can expect your review soon?

Dr. Detroit- I don't know if you use Chrome, but Google translate was my friend when it came to the Dutch review. Good guess, I am considering the U1. And you're right, more expensive. But I think I can get a good discount at a dealer I know. It will still be more than the M50.2 but close enough to consider it. My ultimate goal is a whole house system with a top quality server or streamer for my 2 channel system. Plus I also want to get the NAS into a different room from a noise factor and simplify the system for my wife. I can do everything I want to accomplish all in one ecosystem with BluOs. I just wanted to read a few reviews and hear about others having a good experience before I pulled the trigger myself. But I could also focus on the 2 channel and buy the Lumin U1 or the new Auralic Aries and then just expand Sonos throughout the rest of the house. Or, I could use Roon and have more even options for endpoints. Like I said in an earlier post, I'm probably over analyzing and just need to buy the NAD and enjoy the music!

Now that we're finding a few reviews and articles, it's interesting how some of the dislikes are mentioned multiple times--like cd playback requiring use of the app. I'm pleased that all of the comments about sound quality appear to be very complimentary. I thought this article was interesting in that it mentions the location of the hard drives as underneath the mother board. So swapping out a hard drive may not be an easy task if/when one goes bad. I don't know if that's a big issue but hard drives do fail. So that would likely mean a trip to the service center instead of quickly swapping a hard drive like you can do in other servers like Auralic or Bryston. That's not a deal breaker for me. Just an interesting side note. I think I'll wait until I see how DSD is implemented across NAD and Bluesound. For me, that will likely be the deciding factor between getting an M50.2 vs. Auralic Aries G2 or a Lumin.

I was looking for more reviews of the M50.2 and found this review from last April. It's not in English, but google translator works pretty well. M50.2 review

I'm sure any "clunkiness" I mention about the BluOs app is due to my first time use and not enough instruction. I've been running Squeezepad and LMS for so long, it's second nature. It's really too bad that Logitech killed that product line instead of expanding it as it was really ahead of its time. You're right, the USB port on the M50.2 is not an output. So I'll be interested to see how NAD/Bluesound implement DSD. I know Bryston BDP streamers started the same way. However, Bryston reprogrammed via a firmware update in order to implement DSD (via DoP, I believe) from one of the existing USB ports. Personally, I don't know if DSD is a big issue to me as I don't have DSD capabilities now. My goal for my next purchase is to have a quality server as the basis for a whole home system. One option is to keep my NAS and add a Roon Nucleus or a NUC to allow for different endpoint options. However, the M50.2 combined with Bluesound and NAD's line of custom install products accomplishes everything that I'm after in one ecosystem and gives me later options of Roon, Control4, etcif needed. I'm probably over-analyzing things. But with a mix of Apple, Sonos and LMS products in the house, I also want to simplify operation for the family and at the same time make sure I'm buying into an ecosystem that will be around for a long time. And you're right, I hope the price difference is worth it. Given the reviews I've read of the Aurender, I'd be thrilled to get the sound quality of an Aurender N10 for the cost of the M50.2. Even better if I can do it for less. But I'll also be disappointed if I splurge for either of those servers or an Auralic Aries G2 and then don't hear any difference from my Logitech Touch connected to the dac in my pre-amp. Thanks for the link to Atkinson's other reviews. I'll look through them and then read the M50.2 review again in order to make a better comparison.

I read the review as well and have to admit I was also hoping for more discussion of the sound quality and comparison to other servers. The positives that I took out of the article was a comment that the unit had "...sound quality indistinguishable from my other servers." You had to read to the end to see that the other servers he was referring to included the Aurender N10 and Antipodes DX Reference. Another positive was: "DSD playback is promised by the end of this year." That's a positive step for the M50.2. But I wasn't sure what to make of his later assumption that the promised update will allow DSD playback using Roon and a network connected DAC. I don't want to jump to the wrong conclusions, so I'll wait to read about the update and see what NAD and (hopefully) Bluesound do in regards to DSD. I haven't read enough of Atkinson's reviews to know "how he describes components that really impress him" as referenced in the post above. He mentions the functionality and that everything worked as supposed to. I get the impression that he thinks the hardware is a good alternative and price point compared to other music servers but didn't like the BluOs app as well as other controllers. I will also offer that I was able to demo the M50.2 last week at a dealer in Minneapolis. They had only had the M50.2 in stock for about a week and it was connected to Ayre Acoustics equipment and large Wilson speakers. The store was impressed with the sound and functionality of the M50.2 but hadn't yet compared it side by side to the Aurender N100 that they had in another room. It was my first time using the BluOs app. I found it a little clunky compared to my Squeezepad/LMS system that I'm used to and not quite as intuitive as Aurender's Conductor app that I've tried on other demos. But I'll chalk that up to being unfamiliar with the app and the amount of function and flexibility built into it. I will say the M50.2 worked flawlessly and streamed Tidal well. We easily grouped/un-grouped the large system with other NAD Masters equipment and BlueSound speakers that was in the store. I came away impressed.

I don’t see any mention of Roon. Did they offer any hints as to whether that would be added?

I sat sat in it at AXPONA and was disappointed as I think looks really cool. But I t has very limited padding and I did not find it comfortable at all. It was off to the side of the room so I can’t speak to thier claims of listening benefits.

The review of the M50.2 is finally up at hometheaterhifi.com. I have to admit that by having it previewed on the site back in June, I had expected a more in-depth review and comparison. But at least it's finally up. Like others, I am rooting for this unit as I was hoping it would serve as the server for a unified whole-house ecosystem. But after Peter's experience, I may wait for the dust to settle or just look elsewhere. If others are having a positive experience with the M50.2, I'd sure like to hear about it. Thanks!

In case you missed it, I've seen the M50.2 listed in previews on the Secrets of HT & HiFi website. Hopefully that means a full review will be out later this month. As far as I know it will be the first. Side note: I also read Dali announced a partnership with BluOS for upcoming products and that other speaker companies could follow. So with time, the M50.2 may become an option as the server for a variety of companies.

Have you looked at Bluesound? Plays Hi-Rez (but not DSD) similar to tour Touch. App may not be as good as Sonos but Bluesound has many product options for a whole house system. Plus Roon ready & MQA if that's of any interest. NAD Electronics is also in the same family of streamers so you can synch those too. In fact, I've read where Dali is going to have new wireless products that use the Blu Os. Must confess that I don't own one yet. But the more I read, the more I'm impressed with the range of products and flexibility it offers.

Do you need the server to be able to stream to the new speakers? Does this mean that if you had multiple aurender n100h players in the house, they'd be able to be synched to provide a who house music system?

I've been watching for reviews or feedback on the M50.2 now that it's been released. But I haven't seen much of anything. I like the range of products that would be available as part of the Bluesound / NAD ecosystem. But not having a dealer in my area, I'm hesitant to buy or trek to an out of state dealer until I read more about it. I've read that Bluesound will offer DSD support in a firmware update. But No specifics on timeline. Plus I'd like to know what they mean by "DSD support."

I hope that means there is a review of the D1100 on the horizon. Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile