Amazon.com: Customer reviews: NAD C 538 CD Player - Wolfson 24-bit DAC, CD-R/CD-RW Playback, Optical/Coaxial

Top positive review

No nonsense, well made piece of equipment - absolute gem paired with a dac

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024

I am using this as a transport to an SMSL do300 DAC and it sounds phenomenal. If you need a transport that won't break the bank, do not hesitate to get this.
Feels very solid, the tray motor is a beast , so dont put your face down there or you will get punched in the face lol - and that's a good thing - this thing is well-built.

One person found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

failed to read all CDs right out of the box

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2024

Forget what NAD did 20 years ago, this is now. I bought this NAD C 538 new, but sat it undisturbed in the box on a shelf before my living situation enabled me to set it up. When I was finally able to connect it (in March 23) not one CD I put into the device will load. All it does is give an error message "TOC Err," meaning "table of contents error" - which means the laser cannot detect the data on the CDs. It's worthless and feels like a theft of the 400 dollars I paid for it. I strongly recommend against buying this junk-making brand!

147 total ratings, 67 with reviews

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From the United States

SCOTT GIBSON

No nonsense, well made piece of equipment - absolute gem paired with a dac

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024

Verified Purchase

One person found this helpful

Helpful

RichW

A good performing and inexpensive CD Player

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2023

Verified Purchase

I've beed using the NAD C538 for almost 2 months. Kudos to ListenUp (the seller), for their fast shipping! Right out of the box, the unit sounded good, and improved after a few hours of listening. I definitely like the sound quality and the simplicity of this unit. It uses a Wolfson DAC (WM8740, I believe), has co-ax and optical digital outputs for using an external DAC, has a non-captive AC mains cord, and comes with a remote control (which I don't use). The CD drawer opens and closes quietly, the display is unobtrusive, and there have been no glitches so far. Sound quality with good recordings can be described as detailed and well balanced tonally, with a good sense of real instruments being played in a real space. Female vocals, in particular, can sound absolutely stunning. To sum up, there aren't that many decent reasonably priced CD players on the market any more. This might be one of the last.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

failed to read all CDs right out of the box

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2024

Verified Purchase

Helpful

Excellent high end value player

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2024

Verified Purchase

Great value high end component. I have mine connected to my old Cal Audio processor to give it a more natural tonal quality. It plays all my cds! RCWs, and all! Has really good sound stage depth. Excellent details and separation of the instruments and vocals.
Love cranking it up and doesn't skip from my subwoofer. Ha! I've known about NAD components for over 25 years! They rarely disappoint. It's one of the reasons I preferred this one for the $.
My only con is the remote is a bit cheesy. Small hard to read in the dark. No lighting feature. Or how to use it. I had to play around with it until I could figure it out. Other than that, an exceptional cd player for the $$!! Would recommend.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

crs

Great Sound

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

The CD player has very good sound quality. This CD player is replacing an 11 year old Onkyo. The old CD player started having problems and finally failed. The new one seems well built and works very good. The one problem, that I have is the remote is not very powerful. It has to be pointed at the player, without a lot of angle from the face of the CD. I tried new battery's but it made no difference. It is kind of a pain, but over time you get the pointing figured out.

3 people found this helpful

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BB56WA

NAD C 538

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024

Verified Purchase

Quality product. No unnecessary features, good remote and sounds great.

Helpful

AmazonCustomer786

Excellent sound at a great price

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

The NAD C538 is an entry-level audiophile quality CD player. Excellent tonal quality and soundstage imaging adds up a pleasing listening experience and a great value. What it gives up compared to much more expensive players is the solidity of its low end - it sounds slightly lighter than those players. It replaced my (now finally dead) Rega Planet which i had loved for many years, and i'm happy with the choice. Highly recommended

Helpful

J. Monforton

Easy to Use and Sounds Great.

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024

Verified Purchase

It is simple to use, plays CDs with great sound, and looks good as well. Very happy with it.

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jake-a-zon

Designed to Perform as Advertised

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

I was looking to replace my Denon 5 disc changer, and decided I only needed a single disc player. This performs above my expectations. The sound quality is exceptional - better than the 25 year old Denon - and the interface is exactly what one wants. Simple. And it looks great for a black box. If you want to spend a thousand dollars more, sure. You could find a better device(s), but for the money, this thing is great. NAD is a known commodity and has a good history, as far as I can tell. Hard not to recommend. . .

8 people found this helpful

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giovanni groccia

Amazing Detail.

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is a great player. I was using an older NAD DVD player for cd playback in my bedroom before replacing it with this. The amount of detail this player retrieves is amazing in comparison. This is a great sounding and well built player for the money.

3 people found this helpful

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