If I want to just jam Led Zeppelin or Miles Davis, I just sit back and enjoy the music. It is only through these intense listening sessions where I can nit pick it. In fact, if I was not conducting a critical reference listening of a song with a higher resolution FLAC, I would be delighted with this player either with or without the external DAC as an excellent entry level though audiophile grade CD player.
I expected Redbook to be slightly grainy/metallic sounding and so I really can't fault NAD for that and when there are several Rock instruments playing at once, the sound does get a touch distorted though again, I think that may be alleviated or resolved with tuning and tweaks. The unit is also slightly slow to initially read the CD as mentioned in the Stereophile review, but I find that very minor and worth the speed of skipping and FF/REV through discs. The unit scans very quickly with audible cues over the disc.and Skips to songs very quickly.in fact it is very fast once loaded and a joy to use. Though the remote is small and cheap feeling, it does a good job.
I find its build quality to be excellent and I truly again lucked out in that it aesthetically blends in quite nicely with my Creek Integrated. However, I am thinking the surrounding circuitry will make up for it and worst case, especially at this price point, I can use it as a transport and use the DAC of my choice! it still isn't a Wolfson, Burr-Brown, or Sabre 32-bit.
In fact, the only weakness I see in this unit is the choice of a Cirrus Logic DAC though it is modern as opposed to older tech, and it does support 192/24. So here we have a seasoned reviewer claiming the NAD 516BEE as some of the *BEST* sound he as *EVER* heard at home.
Partnered with the Croft Phono Integrated ($1895), the C 516BEE contributed to some of the best sound I've heard at home. I do know, however, that the NAD wasn't out of place when matched with more expensive equipment.
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