My CDP ramblings and the NAD C 565BEE

[Art K.]

Obviously they were correct about it being a good CD player, but those kind of comments in reviews of audio components always put up a red flag in my mind.

Mee too.

I think NAD (finally) did their homework with this one! :yes: The reviewer was comparing it to his $6200 Sim Audio player.

Obviously this reviewer had the the oranges to compare his apples to. Those Sim players are very nice and smooth sounding. To compare well to that player is significant.

 

[gearhound]

Interesting thread Celt, thanks!!

My YOUNGEST CD player is 23 years old.
Sooner than probably later, I'm gonna have to replace them both.
For the $$$, I've been looking at either Cambridge Audio or NAD for replacement players.

Steve

 

[emile2]

Great review. Thank you. I had a quick question about the 565 and the usb port. What format music files are you using on your thumb drive? 16/44? 24/96? wav? flac?

 

[kotofei]

Interesting thread Celt, thanks!!

My YOUNGEST CD player is 23 years old.
Sooner than probably later, I'm gonna have to replace them both.
For the $$$, I've been looking at either Cambridge Audio or NAD for replacement players.

Steve

In my experience, Cambridge Audio should be modded in order to fully uncover its potential.

My 640C was just an average-sounding CDP until I changed two output opamps and 6 electrolytic capacitors, including two critical nonpolar in signal path. What a difference! Highs and upper midrange are now clear and crisp, soundstage opened and dynamics is not "sluggish" anymore. On the downside, now I can recognize that some of my favorite CDs are not that well recorded in the first place.

This was the most rewarding modification of a piece of gear I've ever made.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Great review. Thank you. I had a quick question about the 565 and the usb port. What format music files are you using on your thumb drive? 16/44? 24/96? wav? flac?

I've used both hi-rez mp3's (320kb) and wav (1411kb). As far as I know, it will play either 16/44 or 24/96 files, but doesn't support flac.

 

[Art K.]

Hey Dan, how's that 565 performing for you?

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Hey Art, still loving it and am still making use of the USB port. It also has an optical digital input too, but I don't have anything to feed it.

 

[Art K.]

Good to hear. I picked up a 545 recently and really like it. If the 565 is as lively with just a hair more weight it would be perfect with my amp.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Thought I'd give this old thread a bump since the 565 was part of some recent discussions.

 

[Catcher10]

Good idea Celt! I am about 6 months into my C545BEE and absolutely love it! A small part of me wishes I would have gone the C565BEE route but I probably would be in the same happy place now, but with more money out my pocket...so I am happy with my decision.
The C545BEE has been replaced by the C546BEE.

The NAD CDP are really nice players for the money......I have had ZERO issues with mine.

 

[dokblues]

As usual I`m a little late to the party. However I just received my Nad 565Bee and I must say that Dan you are absolutely correct! This is an extermely fine CDP! After a few hours of listening it has a depth and presecnce I have not heard in a CDP anywhere near this kind of money. This is the "Vinyl Lovers" CDP. Thansk for the heads up! :thmbsp:

 

[the beave]

I'm still skeptical about NAD's quality after dealing with two 502 CD players that would not stay running for any reasonable length of time. I hope that NAD has moved past that phase in its history and is offering reliable gear today, as few other audio manuacturers offer so much performance at such an affordable price point.

I would just like to jump in here with a 2013 update.
I bought my 565BEE about a month ago as a demo unit from Audio Advisor. The unit was basically brand new and as is my newly formed habit for the past, oh 5 or 6 years, since it is made in china I had to pop the top and see how well everything was secured.
Well, not very well I'm afraid. The four screws that secure the Transport were all loose by 1/4 to 1/2 a turn. And three of the screws securing the circuit board (the one right next to the transport) were SO loose that one could turn them with ones fingertips. Now I can see why some have had problems with some of these and older players. But once all the screws inside were properly tightened the unit took on a different feel. The actual construction is quite impressive, it's just the final assembly that seemed to drop the ball. But again, The TRANSPORT screws not tightened at the factory, yeah, I can see that turning into a problem a year or so down the road.
That being said, the unit to me is Reference Quality in the sub $1000.00 range. A very quiet and clean sounding player. Brings out very low level details that my Marantz CD6004/5004 barely can touch (Like the studio personnel talking way in the background on Theloneous Monks 'Straight, No Chaser' Remastered Cd from the Complete Columbia set-I originally thought it was some kind of noise, but it's people chatting while the musicians were being recorded!!!!). The 'Knob' is very cool indeed. the only thing is when using it to access tracks make sure you let go of the knob in a 'detent' position-not 'in between' detents. I just happened yesterday to skip to a track using the Knob and after about 20 seconds the player skipped to the next track.....LOL.......The knob must have slightly moved into a 'detent' that caused it to skip to the next track. But all and all a very very Classy Player.......
Gerard Masters

 

[TigerScent]

Actually I just pulled mine out from being in storage for about 5 years or so, connected it and was amazed at how good it sounded. I usually use an FiiO digital player optical out via Dacmagic Plus ... but was taken aback at how good this unit sounded ... just being used as transport with optical out to Dacmagic Plus.

I had it in storage as the front panel buttons were not working properly. I initially thought it must be a firmware issue with it gone corrupted, however it seems its in the buttons needing cleaning with isopropyl alcohol on contact points as they change their behaviour when dirty, I was told by a service technician....so I have to try that...

It sounds so good with the Dacmagic plus, however both use Wolfson DAC's in dual differential mode, so it should not sound much different on its own...I have yet to try it out with 'optical in' function as a DAC unit...

Sooooooo I will be hanging onto mine now...At present - I just keep wanting to listen to CD's...

UPDATE: I hooked up the RCA/Analogue out to my valve pre-amp to amp ... sound was noticably different - but good ... kind of more meaty-solid and detailed with standard hook-up - but the other setup (Dacmagic Plus) using C565bee as transport - was smooth. full-bodied, rich and detailed ...

 

[psylocyber]

Hey,
I know this is an old thread, but I'm considering buying a 565BEE or a brand new Yamaha S303. The Yamaha doesn't have great reviews for sound but I haven't seen any CD player even up to $1k that plays FLAC files from the CD AND the USB port, which the Yamaha claims to do. In fact I haven't seen any other CD player under 1k that plays FLAC files from the CD. Admittedly my search has been limited to mostly newer players in that price range, but if Yamaha can do it for $400 why can't Marantz or someone else for under $1k?

Can the 565BEE play FLAC from the USB? Did older CD players play homemade FLAC files? Can anyone make suggestions for ones that did?
I'm specifically looking for players that have a USB port as well to play other stored files.

I guess I really don't understand why something that can decode FLAC from one media couldn't decode it in another that it was able to read? They both go thru the DAC right?
And that's where the decoding takes place?

Probably not a good place to ask these questions. Everyone could be dead by now. I could be dead tomorrow, if I was lucky.
I can't believe I've been here 10 years and I'm still a "New Member".
Heh, Heh, he said "Member".