NAD M15HD Surround Sound Processor - Page 18

Off course not :-)

The M55 was never "mine" to begin with. I just had to buy it in a deal involving a M25 which i needed badly.

I've been using a HTPC with a NAS server for many years now. Once you get used to the comfort of having all your music and films one click away, I don't think you could go back to a disc player again.

Hi Svend P, what about the sq, I suppose you use/stream flac then? What processor/ receiver do you use?

I just use a regular PC. Nothing fancy. I might be able to get a better sound quality from dedicated solutions, but I haven't bothered, since I'm under the impression the improvement might be neglible.

A friend of mine, who is obsessing about 2 channel sound quality, has made a linear (non-swithmode) powersupply for his Squeezebox and also for the external harddrive that supplys it. He says it makes a world of difference. In his expercience, it would not be worth it buying the Transporter instead.

The M15HD gave me another scare! I'm getting new amps for my subs, and had got a M25 in the mean time. So I made an Audyssey calibration with out subs.

I then found a temporarily amplifier for the subs, and wanted to use it. The M15 however, refused to send a sub signal out.

It turns out, you can't use Audyssey and sub out, if you haven't calibrated the subs. It was only when I turned Audyssey of, I was able to get a signal for the subwoofers.

I think it is not that well thought out, since you are allowed to turn the subs on the menu. And why not just send out a signal, calibrated or not?

Does anyone know how the M15HD compares to the B&K Ref 50 (original..not the series 2)

Are there any other prepros I should be considering that will do all the audio high rez formats, 3D capable and has very good sound quality....that doesn't cost a kidney.

Have you considered the Marantz av7005. It is what I own and have it mated with a NAD M25. Does HDMI 1.4 for 3d and has been getting very good comments from owners on AVS. It is very reasonably priced.

iNetRunner you may have a point with the measurement of the powerconsumption from the M15 being wrong because of the SMPS. I think it gets warmer than it should from using 45 W. Could most of the heat be coming from the M25 beneath it, mabye?

And a kid at the local store confirmed today that you can't upgrade the firmware yourself. Thats was unforntunately all he knew. He'll return when he finds out, what the new FW includes, and if I have to pay for it. But he was very specific about you had to use a COMPUTER to upgrade it, so it was noting for the normal user. When I told him Audyssey was no walk in the park, and that that also included a COMPUTER, he just stared blank at me.

Heard from the dealer today. At least in Denmark, the upgrade is free when it's still under warranty. But it would take them 10-12 days, and the improvements where apparently minor. They didn't tell me what they where apart from "improvements in dolby digital and DTS handling" I can't find anywhere what they are, so any help would be appreciated!

Svend I noticed that you had the m15hd stacked on your m25... do you have any problems with heat? i just bought a m25 and the manual has an insert that tells you not to do this.... does anybody else stack their components and do you have any problems if you do?

I wouldn't stack ANYTHING on a M25.
Amps can get very warm at times.

I have put 4 thick pieces of cork under the feet of both the M25 and the M15, adding around 1.5 cm of space between them and between the shelf and the M25. I will keep a watch on the M25 to see if it gets too hot after this, but I think it's ok. It does have a fan after all

My M25 runs pretty hot if left on for more then a couple of hours. I have about a 3 inch clearance above it and if I put my hand on it afte a few hours it is fairly hot.

@Svend P, It was nice meeting you and I have a new M55 lid now :-)

Are the light in the M55 display and power LED normally much weaker than in the M15HD?

The reason I updated to the new M15HD firmware was the possibility to store video setup in presets.
I don´t know which firmware I had before the update, so it could be that this change was implemented in older firmwares.
I was told by the dealer that I could not do the update myself, but they did the update in ten days and for free.
My firmware versions after the update are:
MCU 1.10
VXP 1.00
Video 1.04
DSP 1.04b

To display the current software version on your M15HD press Source Left + Source Right simultaneously, use Source Left or Right to browse.

@Rybner
I can't help you with the M55, but I know you can dim the display on the M15.

And welcome to this thread. It sometimes feels like "my diary" to me. There's not much activity here, compared to the Denon AVP/POA A1 thead I used to follow.

Thanks for the tip on the firmware. I'll check to see which version I have. I think it's less than clever that they don't list what the updates are, since I might just send my device in "just to be sure". If I knew exactly what the update included, I might not bother.

It is strange that they are not more forthcoming with the firmware updates. Sure they where pretty low-key with Txx5 updates too. And outside of N-America the firmwares are only available from the distributors on request, it they wish to provide them at all.

Sure, if the update requires changes to actual hardware then the update can only be done by the distributors, but the firmware software update is a simple pc executable that is installed over the RS-232 to NAD. I did the update few times on T175 when I had it. Nothing difficult there..

Sure, firmware/BIOS updates can sometimes go wrong, but I don't think that it is very common. (In pc world I have encountered one instance when the BIOS update failed in my 20+ years of computer usage..)


Thread activity really is not anything big. Could be that the NAD Master series price bracket vs T-models is so that people only buy the gear and enjoy it. =) And perhaps the setup is often done by installers.

im waiting (not so) patiently for the new cards to come out to buy my m15hd but its getting harder every day to wait any longer... i know that they are putting out the new t185... i think they are calling it a t187.... but are they doing something with the m15hd as well... maybe the new units will have an Ethernet port so they can do online updates...

I'm not sure what (low) thread activity does mean? I've been sort of surprised (since the inception of this NAD product) that there are'nt more owners represented here. I was very excited when it first came out, I was hot to get one. But seems the M15HD did'nt really catch fire. May be due to price (almost $4000.00)? I don't know?


hopefully NAD will incorporate etherNET, seems it's becoming a standard on most pre-pro's/AVR's.

$4000 is mid range nowadays...for anything decent anyway... Ive heard it compares very favorably with anthem stuff... and that goes for considerably more.... is there something that i am not getting?

I've been using an NAD T175 for like three-plus years now, I've been mostly very happy with overall performance- video/sound quality and reliability.

Knowing the M-Series is even more refined (especially in regards to sound quality) I'd trust that it performs and compares well to comparable products. NAD does a beautiful job in regards to build quality. I really wanted one actually, and am still intrigued with listening to one in-person. One thing I'm still confused with is whether the M15HD provides a true analog-bypass mode or not?

I recently got a Marantz AV7005 instead, could'nt resist considering combination of features/functionality for price. Still waiting to get things set-up.

As I have posted earlier. M15HD does NOT have true analog.
Only the 7.1 mch inputs completely bypass the DSP. my old T175 and a T175HD had "analog bypass". Not so on M15HD.

I think that means it DOES have true analog bypass but ONLY on the 7.1 inputs.

So I guess it depends on what you mean by "true".

If for you "true" means analog bypass on every input, then, no, it doesn't.

If for you "true" means analog bypass on at least one input, then, yes, it does.

Lol ok.
There are many other analog inputs on the M15HD. I was just stating a fact.
If one uses a DVD-A/SACD player that cannot pass multi-ch audio via HDMI then that is the only analog source available.
Kinda limits analog connectivity.

Agreed. It is a limitation for sure.

yes, this could be an issue.


I guess if you use, say, a universal CD/SACD/DVD-A player (ie. Oppo BDP-95, Denon, etc.,...), you can connect it's 7.1 multi-channel OUT's to the 7.1ch INP's on the M15HD. You can connect HDMI from this player to the M15HD for SD-DVD, BD, audio, etc.,...You should be able to play 2ch analog (CD's, SACD's, etc.,...) through the FL/FR channel's via-7.1ch multichanel INP's on the M15HD, am I correct?

Of course using 2ch INP's on the M15HD would be re-digitized.

Right. Not ideal but it won't stop me from picking up a used unit once NAD introduces a replacement model and this gen reaches my affordability range.

I've been using a Zektor switch on my M15 7.1 inputs. This has been a recommendation of Kal and others and it's a solid one. I find it very transparent, noticing no significant difference from inserting it into the chain. I can easily recommend it to someone with multiple high quality analog sources who wants a M15/M15HD. Get ready to deal with plenty of spaghetti though.

Did anybody ever compared the M15HD with the T175HD? I am tending for the T175HD (due to the price difference).

kay... i couldnt wait for the 1.4 to come out... i just bought a krell s12003d... got a good deal that was hard to pass up.... does this mean i cant play with you guys anymore

I would say most people would hear the difference between the 2 units. We have installed a few of each. If you can afford it the M15HD might be the best value in higher end processors

I fully agree here. Worth the price for sure.