The NAD CS1, an affordable device from NAD, can play music directly from your mobile phone without requiring any specific app to be installed.
Streaming music to a hi-fi system usually requires a dedicated app, which often involves choosing between systems like Bluesound, HEOS, and others that typically require an account to be created, which can be unnecessarily complicated when you just want to play music from Tidal or Spotify that is already on your phone.
The NAD CS1 is a simple streamer without a multi-room system or its own app, but it has the ability to receive streamed audio in many ways. The CS1 has Bluetooth, Ethernet, and WiFi connections and supports Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, UPnP, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Roon. The CS1 can play high-resolution audio, up to 24-bit/192 kHz, and can also decode MQA recordings to listen to in “master quality” on Tidal.
The NAD CS1 has an analog line output (stereo RCA) and both coaxial and optical digital outputs if you prefer to use the amplifier’s DAC. There are both analog and digital outputs on the NAD CS1.
While the CS1’s £299 / $349 price puts it at the lower-priced end of the streamer market, suitable for similarly budget electronics, NAD is promising “audiophile-grade streaming” here thanks to its inclusion of “audiophile-grade components”.
Whathifi.com
NAD CS1 Features
- Compact, minimalist design
- Built-in Bluetooth
- Dual-band Wi-Fi plus LAN Ethernet port
- Stereo analogue, optical digital, and coaxial digital outputs
- Premium differential DAC design based on Texas Instruments PCM5141 DAC, with support for 24-bit/192kHz high-resolution audio
- High-resolution music streaming from Tidal
- Apple AirPlay 2 support allows CD-resolution streaming from any audio app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac
- GoogleCast support allows playback at up to 24-bit/96kHz resolution from any Cast-enabled app on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer
- Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect support lets users cue up music on a smart device, then transfer playback to the CS1
- DLNA support allows streaming at up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution from any DLNA-capable music app.*
- Roon subscribers can stream audio to the CS1 from their personal libraries and online services supported by Roon
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