NAD Masters M33 -- first review

[ismarketing]

Today I have got my M33. First impressions are very good. Functionality (software/OS, remote, display) is great. It sounds very good, even without Dirac (not tested until now). It’s a clean, very detailed but “smooth”sound.  Not the deepest bass, but clean and punchy. I can’t imagine I will miss my 220Pro.

So how are you streaming to the M33 since it is not yet Roon Ready certified?    I personally am very curious as to how well it fairs with your Magico A3s compared to the 220 Pro.

After the M33 firmware upgrade the M33 is an "uncertified device" for ROON, so ROON streaming isn't possible at the moment, but this is a ROON problem, they changed their mind for new devices. It should be solved in a few weeks, when the ROON certification process will be finished.

So for the moment I am streaming with the BluOS app (for iOS an OS), which is very good and (other than the Devialet apps) fully developed. I think there is no better manufacturer streaming software on the market than BluOS (perhaps besides the Sonos software). I am using BluOS on may second system with an Bluesound Powernode 2i. The M33 can be used as a source device for all BluOS Systems (multiroom included).

The usability of the M33 is much, much better than that of the Expert. The display is perfect, the remote is a programmable device
with which you can control nearly everything - ok it is not as beauty as the Devialet remote. but it's a real remote not only a better volume control.

I do not have the best acoustic requirements in my room, so I was especially looking forward to Dirac. I have made the first attempts with Dirac and it is like day and night (although it was already better without Dirac, SAM was difficult for me). Even though I still have to adjust the Dirac corrections a little bit to my taste.

Unless the code running the M33 is radically different that the code in the M10, Roon streaming absolutely works.  It's not feature complete, but all basic playback functions for local and cloud libraries, along with proper decoding of MQA streams works.  At least on the M10, and has since release 18 months ago.  There are some quirks still, but that's for another post.