Man i love my cds and cd player, my records and record player, and my streaming services and streamer. Weekends are almost always vinyl sessions but during the workweek i like to play a cd and just relax for an hour.
Really enjoyed this review, seems quite valid nearly a year later, although I suppose that there are a few more CD players to be considered by now. I got my 546BEE back in 2015, and it still gets the job done. Very real sounding, including proper instrument timbres...not at all bright. At one point, I did have to clean the laser head because the player was having trouble reading CD's. That was NOT difficult. I just unplugged (make SURE you do this to avoid possible eye damage) the unit and used a clean, modeling paint brush (so any small, clean, and not too stiff, brush) to clean off what turned out to be quite a bit of dust. Simple, and this COMPLETELY fixed the problem. Why all the dust? Not sure, but I DO buy a lot of used CD's...maybe I should clean them ; ). There are numerous RUclips vids on how to clean these laser heads. Anyway, agreed that this family of NAD CD players is trully great! I must have thousands of fun hours on this 546 BEE by now.
@@2ChannelListening I thought the Bluesound Vault and NAD M10 would work well together but many issues have pooped up. I think I need to call NAD. I was also hoping my Bluesound Node would also play with my new Vault. Have you tried your NAD C658 to work with your Bluesound Node with multiple room senerio?
@@WheeledandWellArmed Sorry to hear that, I do not have a separate Bluesound Node, I was using the Arylic, and *gasp* Roku for my bedroom listening. I'm curious as to what you find out from NAD. Good luck.
I have been buying full collections of cd's. You can get few hundred for 20-30 dollars most of the time in soft cases with no original art work.i rip them and put them away for a backup. I have a heavily modified Arcam alpha 5+ cd player and a parasound zdac v2 for streaming. I have a NAD C 545BEE player i used for awhile. I have a hard time selling old equipment! Thanks for the review!
@@2ChannelListening i bought it 13 years ago from engineer in thr UK . Upgraded power supply, caps, and op amps if I remember correctly. There may have been other things as well. It is a nice sounding player. I have not had the same experience with other modified units. This is definitely an exception.
That thing took 13+ seconds to read the cd you stuck in it. I'm spoiled with the Jolida JD100 I've been using for years, which is practically instantaneous. The NAD would have me running back to Spotify. Guess I have no patience in the digital age. Nice review.
Thanks Tim, I would say you have not dabbled in SACD's then. Some players take twice as long. That's why I took that shot, I figured some folks would be interested in that load time.
Only a few get this...I make genre driven cds...snipets from tv or a movie soundtrack spliced into a Smithsonian rare track or a nearly impossible to find jem add to the blended lyric, intrumentation, tonally or by tempo....the song list build a deeper mood and concurrently an understanding of either a particular artists craft, philosophy or personal psycology or the cd will reflect the sweep of an era through this woven tecture.
Hello from Montreal, it’s great that you recommend a decent CD player for people to get going with. Your point of the video is really about owning physical media. Growing up with both records and cds, I would tend to listen to the whole record and appreciate it as whole. The play list phenomenon is not for everyone and like I say everyone wants to be a DJ. Streaming is also great, it gives you the opportunity to listen to artists and genres that would have never been on your radar. Sound quality between the sources is as only as good what you invest in and want. I use for my digital source is an Innuos streamer and ripper, I stream then if I like it I will buy the cds and then rip it to it’s hard drive. I believe this is the best type of component for keeping the CD alive and streaming your favourite podcast. You can even rip your buddies cds. Take care
Hello Mr. Gill. Thank you for weighing in. You describe exactly how I rolled for a while. There were a number of streaming services that are not around anymore, like Shoutcast. I would pick up on random artist like Lindi Ortega and fell in love. I'd buy their CD and add it to my NAS, just like you mentioned. Then, for awhile, I was buy HDtracks to get hi-res. I appreciate your contribution, keep the music flowing in Montreal.
@@WheeledandWellArmed Hello, I had the Vault and loved it, I then changed it up to the Innuos. I'm not going to say which is better, I just fell down the rabbit hole. These components are the swiss army knife for managing digital music.
Hi Jason i liked your review, this makes me think to update my cd player Nad C542 from 2006 but i don't know if is better to use a high end universal player (i have sony dvp-nc555es but is the sound is too forwardto me) or maybe getting a DAC using my cd as transport. Thanks for your response
If you have the money for a used C658, use the digital out on C542 into the C658, good way to use as transport, smooths the presentation out, removes rough edges. Plus you will have a killer network player when you want it. That's one suggestion, there are other good dacs you can do this with, I just do not know how much they will clean up the Classic line CD player. Thanks Luis.
@@luislunacortez1929 if you only need the DAC function and no volume/preamp control, cant beat a Denafrips Ares II DAC. Used they are around $750. Another one that would be even more affordable, but are getting rarer; Eastern Electric Mini Max Plus Dac. I learned to Op Amp roll with these. When they do show up, they are under $700.
@@2ChannelListening ty for response. Much appreciated 👍 I'm aware that 546bee is an older model. Is 538 worth considering as an alternative to 521 bee? Is 538 sonically better than 521bee?
I really cannot comment on Audiolab as I do not have experience with their products. Personally, I would save up a few more coin and go for a nicer used CD player versus the C546bee - its fine if on a tight budget, but I'm not a fan of its lack of refinement and higher price point for no improvement over predecessors.
I like physical media of all types, analog, and digital. Sometimes the best copy of a recording resides on a CD, SACD, DVD AUDIO, Blu-Ray audio, or a digital file on a non optical disk storage device, but sometimes the best copy is on a magnetic tape or vinyl record. I know from experience of my own music collection which ones are outstanding recordings and which ones are poor. Music files sitting on someone else's computer server are no different. Some are just poor copies, however, the end user has no control over the quality of the recorded content.
Absolutely, great comments. That's why I found this particular test so interesting, and confounding. Having ripped the same discs to my NAS and hearing them in a better light through another budget player was eye opening. However, I was also amazed by how little difference I heard via Neil Youngs "Harvest" HDCD. Thank you for contributing Zulu.
I own this player. Sounds fine. Reproduces the media as good as can be. Great DA conversion - that’s really all one can ask of a CD player. As an audio engineer I can tell you that CD’s were and are brickwall limited - the format was designed to play louder. The mastering techniques used just don’t sound as dynamic, and will almost always be louder, harsher and grittier than vinyl or uncompressed digital media which will sound more like the raw tapes +/- it’s only compression and limiting. I notice an enormous disconnect between folks like you who expound on the nuances of playback equipment but completely negate the fundamental techniques and technology used in creating the media you’re playing back.
Could you imagine for a moment that one stopped an entire review and spent an hour discussing how exactly this CD was produced, where exactly, and who exactly produced just one of the albums mentioned? They used "this brand" mixing board, ran on these tape machines, listening to these monitors, pressed at such and such factory...on and on. But hey, I'm just a rube and you are the engineer, we need "folks like you" to remind the rest of us moronic audiophiles how shallow we are. There were many audio engineers involved in the making of 1980's CD's - and then more audio engineers had some role in the loudness wars...seems to me being an engineer doesn't protect one from assisting in a garbage sounding album. Yeah, I am salty. At least you've made a few YT videos, so I respect that you have dabbled in the format. "The Professor of Rock" does a terrific job of explaining the who and where behind many famous albums. Not so much the studio equipment involved. Thanks for stopping by.
the optical fibre wouldn't be after the dac would be before you can't transmit an analogue signal through optical fibre. Jeff Rowland any good bit overrated aren't they
This is my first Jeff Rowland piece. In persona, I think its incredibly good looking and the sound is very well balanced. I have not heard it put any bad foot forward - I have yet to push it really hard. I have zero complaints, therefore, could not say overrated in the least. Now, I had an Esoteric piece once............once.
@@hoobsgroove now, now...that would be giving away too much information before the video is released :-) I have another few weeks to put it through its paces with all the speakers I have on hand. Probably New Years weekend is when I will release a video of it.
Hello Juan, for awhile, I lived on using my laptop as my CD player. It is not a good alternative - introduces all sorts of other noise and performance issues. Right now there are few bargains for sure.
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Man i love my cds and cd player, my records and record player, and my streaming services and streamer. Weekends are almost always vinyl sessions but during the workweek i like to play a cd and just relax for an hour.
Thank you for your input BD!
Really enjoyed this review, seems quite valid nearly a year later, although I suppose that there are a few more CD players to be considered by now. I got my 546BEE back in 2015, and it still gets the job done. Very real sounding, including proper instrument timbres...not at all bright. At one point, I did have to clean the laser head because the player was having trouble reading CD's. That was NOT difficult. I just unplugged (make SURE you do this to avoid possible eye damage) the unit and used a clean, modeling paint brush (so any small, clean, and not too stiff, brush) to clean off what turned out to be quite a bit of dust. Simple, and this COMPLETELY fixed the problem. Why all the dust? Not sure, but I DO buy a lot of used CD's...maybe I should clean them ; ). There are numerous RUclips vids on how to clean these laser heads. Anyway, agreed that this family of NAD CD players is trully great! I must have thousands of fun hours on this 546 BEE by now.
Thank you for watching and sharing your enthusiasm Richard!
I was considering the Audiolab 6000CDT Dedicated CD Transport but went with the Bluesound Vault 2i.
Either way, you are enjoying your music, right? :-)
@@2ChannelListening I thought the Bluesound Vault and NAD M10 would work well together but many issues have pooped up. I think I need to call NAD. I was also hoping my Bluesound Node would also play with my new Vault.
Have you tried your NAD C658 to work with your Bluesound Node with multiple room senerio?
@@WheeledandWellArmed Sorry to hear that, I do not have a separate Bluesound Node, I was using the Arylic, and *gasp* Roku for my bedroom listening.
I'm curious as to what you find out from NAD. Good luck.
@@2ChannelListening growing pains, I will figure it out. I just assumed it would be a easier being the same Bluesound system.
I have been buying full collections of cd's. You can get few hundred for 20-30 dollars most of the time in soft cases with no original art work.i rip them and put them away for a backup. I have a heavily modified Arcam alpha 5+ cd player and a parasound zdac v2 for streaming. I have a NAD C 545BEE player i used for awhile. I have a hard time selling old equipment! Thanks for the review!
You've got me curious, what all have you done to modifiy your Alpha CD player? Thank you JS.
@@2ChannelListening i bought it 13 years ago from engineer in thr UK . Upgraded power supply, caps, and op amps if I remember correctly. There may have been other things as well. It is a nice sounding player. I have not had the same experience with other modified units. This is definitely an exception.
@@joesmith4642 Its always nice to have a diamond in the rough. 13 years, that's a good long while for a CD player. Thank you for sharing.
That thing took 13+ seconds to read the cd you stuck in it. I'm spoiled with the Jolida JD100 I've been using for years, which is practically instantaneous. The NAD would have me running back to Spotify. Guess I have no patience in the digital age. Nice review.
Read time means nothing.
Thanks Tim, I would say you have not dabbled in SACD's then. Some players take twice as long. That's why I took that shot, I figured some folks would be interested in that load time.
Only a few get this...I make genre driven cds...snipets from tv or a movie soundtrack spliced into a Smithsonian rare track or a nearly impossible to find jem add to the blended lyric, intrumentation, tonally or by tempo....the song list build a deeper mood and concurrently an understanding of either a particular artists craft, philosophy or personal psycology or the cd will reflect the sweep of an era through this woven tecture.
Hello from Montreal, it’s great that you recommend a decent CD player for people to get going with. Your point of the video is really about owning physical media. Growing up with both records and cds, I would tend to listen to the whole record and appreciate it as whole.
The play list phenomenon is not for everyone and like I say everyone wants to be a DJ.
Streaming is also great, it gives you the opportunity to listen to artists and genres that would have never been on your radar. Sound quality between the sources is as only as good what you invest in and want. I use for my digital source is an Innuos streamer and ripper, I stream then if I like it I will buy the cds and then rip it to it’s hard drive. I believe this is the best type of component for keeping the CD alive and streaming your favourite podcast. You can even rip your buddies cds. Take care
Hello Mr. Gill. Thank you for weighing in. You describe exactly how I rolled for a while. There were a number of streaming services that are not around anymore, like Shoutcast. I would pick up on random artist like Lindi Ortega and fell in love. I'd buy their CD and add it to my NAS, just like you mentioned. Then, for awhile, I was buy HDtracks to get hi-res.
I appreciate your contribution, keep the music flowing in Montreal.
I still like listening to whole Albums and CDs. I stream Alexa HD during work. I like the Bluesound Vault 2i interface on ripped CDs.
@@WheeledandWellArmed Hello, I had the Vault and loved it, I then changed it up to the Innuos. I'm not going to say which is better, I just fell down the rabbit hole. These components are the swiss army knife for managing digital music.
Speaking of cd players, are you interested in a cambridge cxc?
Thank you for asking, not at this time.
Hi Jason i liked your review, this makes me think to update my cd player Nad C542 from 2006 but i don't know if is better to use a high end universal player (i have sony dvp-nc555es but is the sound is too forwardto me) or maybe getting a DAC using my cd as transport.
Thanks for your response
If you have the money for a used C658, use the digital out on C542 into the C658, good way to use as transport, smooths the presentation out, removes rough edges. Plus you will have a killer network player when you want it. That's one suggestion, there are other good dacs you can do this with, I just do not know how much they will clean up the Classic line CD player.
Thanks Luis.
@@2ChannelListening Thanks for your response
@@2ChannelListeningJason do you have another cheaper options ? i can't afford even an used C658 thanks.
@@luislunacortez1929 if you only need the DAC function and no volume/preamp control, cant beat a Denafrips Ares II DAC. Used they are around $750.
Another one that would be even more affordable, but are getting rarer; Eastern Electric Mini Max Plus Dac. I learned to Op Amp roll with these. When they do show up, they are under $700.
@@2ChannelListening thanks
Hi There. Currently am using Nad c521bee . Do you reckon getting c546bee is gonna be a step up in sound quality?
Hello Mad Max fan...
Yes, the changes with the 545bee generation and later have upgraded power supply and dac decoding over the C521/C542.
@@2ChannelListening ty for response. Much appreciated 👍 I'm aware that 546bee is an older model. Is 538 worth considering as an alternative to 521 bee? Is 538 sonically better than 521bee?
If I may ask what are thoughts on this CD player vs an audiolab 6000cdt plus a dac?
I really cannot comment on Audiolab as I do not have experience with their products. Personally, I would save up a few more coin and go for a nicer used CD player versus the C546bee - its fine if on a tight budget, but I'm not a fan of its lack of refinement and higher price point for no improvement over predecessors.
I like physical media of all types, analog, and digital. Sometimes the best copy of a recording resides on a CD, SACD, DVD AUDIO, Blu-Ray audio, or a digital file on a non optical disk storage device, but sometimes the best copy is on a magnetic tape or vinyl record. I know from experience of my own music collection which ones are outstanding recordings and which ones are poor.
Music files sitting on someone else's computer server are no different. Some are just poor copies, however, the end user has no control over the quality of the recorded content.
Absolutely, great comments. That's why I found this particular test so interesting, and confounding. Having ripped the same discs to my NAS and hearing them in a better light through another budget player was eye opening. However, I was also amazed by how little difference I heard via Neil Youngs "Harvest" HDCD.
Thank you for contributing Zulu.
You discovered dsp
.
I ONLY use physical (real) formats in order to listen to music
Its a ritual and a process of enjoyment. Thanks for checking in.
Your cds or records are yours but steaming companies are not yours and can disappear anytime and losing all that music you take for granted.
This is true yet our access to new music I’ve never heard of is wonderful.
I own this player. Sounds fine. Reproduces the media as good as can be. Great DA conversion - that’s really all one can ask of a CD player. As an audio engineer I can tell you that CD’s were and are brickwall limited - the format was designed to play louder. The mastering techniques used just don’t sound as dynamic, and will almost always be louder, harsher and grittier than vinyl or uncompressed digital media which will sound more like the raw tapes +/- it’s only compression and limiting. I notice an enormous disconnect between folks like you who expound on the nuances of playback equipment but completely negate the fundamental techniques and technology used in creating the media you’re playing back.
Could you imagine for a moment that one stopped an entire review and spent an hour discussing how exactly this CD was produced, where exactly, and who exactly produced just one of the albums mentioned? They used "this brand" mixing board, ran on these tape machines, listening to these monitors, pressed at such and such factory...on and on. But hey, I'm just a rube and you are the engineer, we need "folks like you" to remind the rest of us moronic audiophiles how shallow we are. There were many audio engineers involved in the making of 1980's CD's - and then more audio engineers had some role in the loudness wars...seems to me being an engineer doesn't protect one from assisting in a garbage sounding album. Yeah, I am salty. At least you've made a few YT videos, so I respect that you have dabbled in the format.
"The Professor of Rock" does a terrific job of explaining the who and where behind many famous albums. Not so much the studio equipment involved. Thanks for stopping by.
the optical fibre wouldn't be after the dac would be before you can't transmit an analogue signal through optical fibre.
Jeff Rowland any good bit overrated aren't they
This is my first Jeff Rowland piece. In persona, I think its incredibly good looking and the sound is very well balanced. I have not heard it put any bad foot forward - I have yet to push it really hard. I have zero complaints, therefore, could not say overrated in the least. Now, I had an Esoteric piece once............once.
@@2ChannelListening how does it compare to the other amplifies you've got
@@hoobsgroove now, now...that would be giving away too much information before the video is released :-)
I have another few weeks to put it through its paces with all the speakers I have on hand. Probably New Years weekend is when I will release a video of it.
Crazy prices! Perhaps in the used market. Or use a computer with CD/DVD readers/recorders. Or simply stream. A bargain in comparison.
Hello Juan, for awhile, I lived on using my laptop as my CD player. It is not a good alternative - introduces all sorts of other noise and performance issues. Right now there are few bargains for sure.
Hmmm.. I'm out. I don't think you quite got my point. Unsubscribed. All the best.
If that's all it took, then let the fair weather follow you wherever you may travel.