To Doug Schneider,
I enjoy reading your electronic reviews. I recently purchased an NAD C 565BEE player as my old Tascam CD-501 started to malfunction when it reached track 13. I live in Trinidad and Tobago and there is no one here who can service it. I was reading lots of reviews of other brands between the $500-$800 range and came across your 2009 review on the NAD C 565BEE. I got one for $650, which was a demo unit. I listened to a song, “I Can't Hide” from the The Hunter. Her voice sounded deeper on the Tascam, and on another song, “The Auction” by George Winston (an instrumental from the Country original soundtrack), the sound of the horn was also deeper. When you reviewed the NAD C 565BEE, can you remember if the unit was brand new? I ask this question because I have read many topics about burn-in period. I understand that the unit would sound better after some hours of usage. Do you agree? Will the midrange also sound deeper? I am using a Yamaha MX-800 power amp, Yamaha CX-800 preamp, and Salk SongTower speakers.
Regards,
Charles
The C 565BEE was brand new when I received it, but I played it quite often, so I guess it would have burned in then. But did I notice a change with the midrange or the rest of the sound during that period? Frankly, no. If memory serves me correctly, the biggest changes in sound had to do with the various filter and upsampling options it has. Some of the filters sounded pretty much the same, but a couple did sound better than the others, although that depended on the material being played. Insofar as upsampling goes, I found that the player also sounded better with the upsampling turned off versus 96kHz or 192kHz. My suggestion would be to turn the upsampling off and try the different filter options and see if one of those provides a sound closer to your liking. I hope that helps. . . . Doug Schneider
