NAD CS1 Endpoint Bluetooth Network Streamer

Product Information

The NAD CS1's compact and minimalist design ensures it will seamlessly fit into any home audio system. 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. Built-in Bluetooth compatibility makes it easy to connect the CS1 to your smart devices, allowing you to stream your music wirelessly. THD + N (20 Hz – 20 kHz): <0.03% 20-20 kHz -1dBFS output, Signal-to-Noise ratio: -94dB (ref 2V), Frequency response: 20-20 kHz +/-0.3dB; 50 kHz -3dB, Native sampling rate: Up to 192 kHz, Bit depth: 16-24 Physically, the CS1 is pure NAD: solidly built and surprisingly weighty for a device that has no amplifier. If you take a close look, you can see why. NAD has used a metal chassis under the plastic skin, and I have no doubt that the internal components are equally robust, even though I can’t see them. A single button with a tiny integrated LED is the only visible physical control (though not the only button, which I’ll get to in a moment). You use it to wake the CS1 if it’s in standby mode or send it into standby mode. I have no idea why this button even exists. Most network streamers take care of their standby modes automatically.

You don’t have to install special apps to play music through the NAD CS1 Endpoint Network Streamer. Using Bluetooth, you can stream audio from any app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. You don’t have to install special apps to play music through the NAD CS1 Endpoint Network Streamer. Using Bluetooth, you can steam audio from any app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Through the DLNA support, you can stream music at incredibly high resolutions from applicable music apps. One more thing you definitely need to know: It’s easy to focus on the words “network streamer” in the CS1’s full product name (CS1 Endpoint Network Streamer), and skip right over the word “Endpoint.” But that word is more important than you might think. If yes, stress if, I thought it would be down to its analogue performance. WiiM sees the Pro being used mainly with external DACs, the sound quality of its analogue output passable at best. Fine, that’s a design decision, in part to keep the price down. If you lavish attention on both analogue and digital outputs does that give us the NAD CS1 though?Genuine Audiophiles, Not Salesmen: We aren’t just in this for sales. We're in it for the love of sound, and to enhance your auditory experiences. Supported 3rd party service providers: Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, DLNA, Roon.

According to NAD, the CS1 is built with audiophile-level components, allowing it to play high-res audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. It is equipped with Bluetooth, Ethernet, and dual-band Wi-Fi, and it’s compatible with commonly used streaming and casting services, including Apple AirPlay 2, GoogleCast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Roon. The CS1 comes in a relatively compact and minimalist design, measuring 140mm square (and 55mm tall) and with little in the way of displays or tactile controls. With Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi 5 support, the audio streamer offers more of a hands-off approach, with certification pending for DNLA/UPnP protocols to broaden its range of control options beyond the need for a single dedicated app – although as things stand, your standard smartphone, tablet or computer should still be more than enough. It also comes with RCA analogue, optical and coaxial outputs, plus a LAN Ethernet port, for those rather more direct connections. Founded in 1972 and now sold in over 80 countries, NAD Electronics is renowned for its award-winning line of high-quality components for audio, home theatre and custom installation applications. Since the beginning, NAD’s commitment to four core values – innovation, simplicity, performance, and value – have earned it a cult-like following that catapulted it to becoming a household name amongst audiophiles and music lovers alike. To this day, the brand continues to design and manufacture some of the most acclaimed and affordable hi-fi components that include modern features and technologies meant to appeal to a new generation of audiophiles. By the time it goes on sale in March, the company expects DNLA/UPnP certification to be in place, allowing users to control the unit from within their favorite music apps instead of needing a dedicated app like some streaming units do. The unit boasts full MQA rendering and decoding chops for master quality music from Tidal. Bluetooth 5.0 is onboard as well, for pairing to a smartphone, tablet, dedicated DAP or computer. Inside the CS1 is an ARM Cortex 1.5GHz quad-core processor and a Texas Instruments PCM5141 DAC. The CS1 can accept PCM audio up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution. In addition to ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity, the CS1 has a Bluetooth receiver.To be clear, the differences weren’t large, you had to listen for them. Once heard they couldn’t be unheard though.

And if your spouse is on Android, and not an iOS device? They have no control at all because even if the CS1 has been added to Google Home, that app thinks of the CS1 as a Chromecast device and it won’t understand that the CS1 is in the middle of playing an AirPlay 2 session. The only thing I was expecting when I excitedly read the review sample was coming was BluOS capability with NAD being in the same stable but that is not the case. I guess if you added BluOS, this becomes a Bluesound Node effectively at a different price point. Overall I’ve been listening to the CS1, digital out to the iFi Pro iDSD with a Chord Company Coaxial cable, I’ve used the optical output too. I’m using Atlas’ Hyper Ethernet cable to connect to the network. In a nutshell, the results were the same. The WiiM Pro produced a more measured sound than the CS1; if anything the differences were easier to hear. Particularly on ‘Ai No Corrida’ where the WiiM tamed a slightly splashy treble; add greater refinement to the WiiM’s attributes. The CS1 Endpoint Network Streamer supports the most popular network streaming and casting protocols, including Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast, so users can stream directly from devices like smartphones, tablets and computers. The CS1 can play high-resolution audio, up to 24-bit/192kHz, with MQA pass-through support for both digital outputs, enabling full decoding and rendering by a compatible external DAC for playing Master Quality Authenticated music.Some ideas are vanishingly simple, this NAD CS1 Network Streamer is one of them. It is a network streamer, some might call it a transport with digital output. It offers a streaming platform for most of the leading 3rd Party audio providers, like Spotify and Tidal via Apple and Google casting platforms. Similarly, if someone else in your home wanted to pause that music, they would need the Apple Home app on their own phone — and the CS1 would have to already be set up in the app. There’s no companion app, the NAD relying on a mix of Airplay 2, Chromecast, Bluetooth and Spotify/Tidal Connect for its music. It also has DLNA to play files on your home network (and other sources) using apps like BubbleUPnP. And the CS1 is Roon Ready, acting as an endpoint for the excellent (albeit expensive and complex) Roon music software. Apple AirPlay 2 support allows CD-resolution streaming from any audio app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac