NAD CS1 Endpoint Bluetooth Network Streamer

Product Information

Before the NAD CS1 was released, all streaming audio components from Lenbrook’s brands used the company’s BluOS multiroom music platform. No app means no messing around with settings or complicated menus, and no real data-logging concerns.

For music enthusiasts who want to enjoy their large music libraries with a dedicated server delivering Hi-Fi quality, the Zen Mk3 represents new value for money in digital audio performance. ELAC Discover Z3 Wireless Speaker with 140 Watts of powerful built-in amplification means all you do is plug it in and listen!NAD’s affordable CS1 Endpoint Network Streamer lets you add music streaming capability to any stereo or home-theatre system.

Just keep in mind that some network streamers have built-in amplifiers that let you connect almost any set of passive, wired stereo speakers — or you can run their signals into your stereo system. If your music consumption has revolved around physical media, but you want to add streaming capability, the CS1 will let you do that easily and inexpensively. My jaded ears cannot distinguish between WAV and FLAC (and there is academic evidence to suggest that the vast majority of people can’t), so I can sit back and enjoy the music, rather than fret over the barely discernible technical differences. Believe it or not, if you want to connect a Bluetooth device to the CS1, you’ll need to grab something thin and pointy and use it to press the button that’s hidden in the hole.With Chromecast, you can choose the music you want to hear in any Cast-enabled app on a mobile device or personal computer, then transfer playback to the CS1 at up to 24-bit/96kHz resolution. I'm about to pull the trigger not the Wiim Pro as I'd like to add Airplay 2 into my main rig via digital RCA Coax. That means listeners don’t have to install a dedicated app to use the CS1; they can control playback with the music apps they use every day. I wanted to ask the question first to see if there was a ‘no brainer’ solution, rather than download lots of random apps that may or may not work effectively. Unlike the CS1, the Node doesn’t support Chromecast, but it does support AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and Tidal Connect; and it’s Roon Ready.

Mehldau’s piano was rendered on a wide soundstage that extended beyond and behind the speaker plane. The bass performance is as I would hope for through this DAC pre and power arrangement that I am now very happy with.Under this Agreement NAD grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicenseable, royalty-free limited license to use the program or online documentation for use solely for the purpose of upgrading NAD Products. NAD will not be liable for damages, either direct or consequential, arising from the use of this product or from the inability to use this product, even if we have been informed in advance of the possibility of such damages. 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! As an endpoint device, it’s designed to work with a variety of third-party apps and services, and will faithfully follow the commands issued by those apps.