NAD CS1 Endpoint Bluetooth Network Streamer

Product Information

I currently use a Naim Uniti Core with 2TB SSD as a resource for my Naim ND5 XS2 streamer controlled by the Naim/Focal app on iOS.

Pro tip: If you’re an iOS user and you want to use the CS1 as a Chromecast audio device in addition to AirPlay 2, you can simply use the Google Home app and save yourself a step. NAD Electronics International, a division of Lenbrook Industries Limited (“NAD”) furnishes this software and/or program, and online documentation, licenses their use to you as provided in this Agreement.The dimensions (W x H x D) are 140 x 140 x 55 mm (5½ x 5½ x 2 1/16 inches), and the CS1 weighs in at just 1. NAD has used a metal chassis under the plastic skin, and I have no doubt that the internal components are equally robust, even though I can’t see them. On the back you’ll find everything you need to connect the CS1 to your system, including two digital outputs (optical and coaxial) and one set of analog stereo RCA outputs. Apple Music shows Savoy as a hi-rez, lossless release—I assume it’s 24/96, the same resolution as the Qobuz version.

I woke up in the middle of one night with that niggling question about how the server → endpoint arrangement might be enabled. You can also easily manage your guarantee concern – without being obliged to – under the section My Account. When streaming hi-rez to the CS1 via Chromecast, there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality. Upon further listening, there is no sonic advantage over the yamaha DAC, they both sound much the same to me, and I'm years passed that level of critical listening to be bothered to compare them that thoroughly.This ensures that you can enjoy your music collection in its purest form, with every nuance and subtlety faithfully reproduced. The CS1 supports Google Chromecast (24-bit/96kHz), Apple AirPlay2, Spotify and Tidal Connect as well as Roon, Bluetooth 5. I wouldn’t criticise the CS1 for this output, the DAC performance with the iFi will inevitably be an improvement on the CS1, as it costs nearly ten times more than the CS1! Apple Music (plus >80k songs in my iTunes library) - Quite happy with the service up to CD quality via Airplay.

The Kin Play has Bluetooth connectivity, so Paul and Petrea could pair their phones with the system and stream music via Bluetooth—but they don’t. No app means no messing around with settings or complicated menus, and no real data-logging concerns. If you have a sound system you love, but it comes from the pre-music streaming era, attaching a network streamer is a plug-and-play way to drag it into the 21st century. If your eyes are beginning glaze over and you’re wondering why not just use the CS1’s Bluetooth connection and dispense with all of the Wi-Fi streaming headaches, that’s absolutely an option.Employing audiophile-grade components, the NAD CS1 can play high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. In fact, if you’re a Tidal HiFi Plus subscriber, you’ll get the best possible audio quality by using Tidal Connect to stream to the CS1 from within the Tidal app on iOS or Android. Indeed, I’ve reverted to mConnect for most of the streaming, and MQA pass-through and my Qobuz sample rate ladder all come through with flying colours. Spotify describes the audio as "lossless CD-quality," which is a considerable step up from the company's current 320kbps, lossy streaming quality. One of Paul’s recent purchases is Savoy, Taj Mahal’s tribute to the famed Harlem ballroom (256kbps AAC, Stony Plain Records).