Let’s assume that you’ve decided that it’s time to go shopping for a new CD player.

When you start looking around, you’ll find (aside from “toys”) a two-part market: ultra high end players which often take the form of separate CD transports and accompanying DACs and more basic models which resemble what one might call vintage or classic CD players in general form and function.

For the past five years or so, the NAD C 515BEE player (part of the second group) has been at the top of many reviewers’ and music lovers’ lists of players that sound really good and carry relatively relaxed price tags. Now NAD Electronics is replacing that with a +1 model: the NAD C 516BEE. It’s a modest reworking of the 515, but given general advances in audio electronics in the past five years, a welcome one.

NAD explains it this way in its press notes:

The C 516BEE features the latest generation Cirrus Logic 24/192 D/A Converters for more accurate dynamics and a finely-tuned analog stage for even lower distortion compared to its predecessor. Audio specific OP Amps assure accurate musical sound while standby power consumption is reduced to a tiny trickle (<0.5 watts), saving energy while still allowing full function remote control. The C 516BEE offers a choice of COAX or Optical digital outputs.

They’ve done a cosmetic upgrade, too. It’s not a radical change.  Essentially the design team rounded off the upper and lower edges of the front panel and squared off the corners a bit. That’s just enough to make the C 516BEE look more like today than ‘way back in 2008. Appropriate visual presence is a fine thing since we see our electronic gear more hours of the day than we hear it.

Hearing the NAD C 516BEE is a particular pleasure. The usual caveat about source material applies, of course. But given a CD that was properly mastered from a quality source, this NAD player is going to put the best the CD has to offer down the electronic path to your speakers, thence into your listening room, ultimately arriving in your cerebral cortex.

I particularly appreciate the C 516BEE’s ability to communicate a satisfying soundstage. This, by the way, is the case even for older monaural recordings in which depth of image is very apparent, once again only when the recording has such depth to offer up.

I ran into just one issue when using the NAC C 516BEE. With one CD it started sticking and skipping. I gave the CD a visual check. I could see burnishing on the playback side of the CD. The look of the burnishing told me that it was most likely due to harsh treatment by the eject mechanism in a slot load car stereo. I’d carried that disc with me a few times.

I tried the the same on various other optical disc hardware at hand: CD players, BluRay player, computers. All handled the disc with no problem. A week later I thought I’d try the offending disc again in the 516 and it played just fine. I don’t put a lot of stock in the idea of burning in audio gear, but in this case I’m pretty sure that this brand new NAD C 516BEE needed either a bit of loosening up of its mechanism or possibly even a settling down of its mechanism after its long trip from Pickering, Ontario to Tucson, Arizona.

Getting back to the visual, the simple, easy to read, nicely sized, and communicative vacuum fluorescent display is a pleasure to view and use. It even has three levels of brightness, four if you count “off.” If you do turn the display off, the 516 will remember that choice the next time you fire up the player and show you nothing. Press DIMMER on the remote and the display will turn back on.

The display logic changes if you’re playing a CD-R with various folders of MP3 music files. Like its predecessor, the NAD C 516BEE will play discs of files saved in either MP3 or WMA format.

I didn’t check the musical performance with WMA files, but I did play a few MP3s. It wasn’t awful, in fact, it was pretty darn good. Still, I’d recommend MP3 CDs for background music at a party, dinner, or evening of board games. Maybe in the next five year model rotation, NAD will throw in FLAC decoding for better experiences when listening to compressed music files.

The CD7 remote is basic but well laid out and totally intuitive when playing regular CDs (except for finding the pause button the first time). I didn’t use the programming functions, but then who does? And the traversing of folders of MP3 files needed a bit of thoughtful consideration, but it was just a bit and I didn’t have to go to the manual for support.

By the way, the manual is in PDF form on a CD-ROM packed in with the player. I like that. You don’t have to keep track of a printed manual and you can put copies on various digital devices for quick consultation or just a feeling of security. If you find you have use for a hard copy, you can print out only those pages that you need.

Finally, there’s the matter of price. NAD is holding the line at $299 (intentional rhyme there), the price of the C 515BEEs predecessor. That’s an attractive MSRP for a machine of this quality…and heft, for that matter. Sure you can play a CD on a $40 DVD player you pick up at the drug store, but the music you love deserves better treatment than that and you deserve something that looks good and is a pleasure to operate.

That’s the NAD C 516BEE.

 

I’m strolling down one of the aisles in the South Hall at this past January’s International CES and hear myself being hailed from the Audio-Technica booth.  It was Frank Doris, writer, guitarist, and in this case PR guy working in support of Audio-Technica.  We caught up a bit and at the end of the chat he passed me a set of Audio-Technica’s ATH-CKP500 earbuds (okay, in-ear headphones) in a classy package.  I’m pleased, but wondering about the hooks attached to the working parts of the buds.  They look potentially uncomfortable, if not downright dangerous.

When I got back to the hotel room that night, I unpacked the set, read the details, and started coming to terms.  A quick test fit revealed that the hooks were not only comfortable themselves, but they helped position the buds gently in place.  No more screwing little buttons into one’s auditory canals and hoping that they wouldn’t come popping out.  I did have to replace the medium sized ear tips with one size larger for good fit and best sonic balance.

The tip variety is prodigious.  You get eight sets.  There are four smooth sizes (XS,S,M,L) which provide the most isolation and presumably best bass performance.  There are also four ridged tips in the same sizes.  These, Audio-Technica says, allow less isolation and may be preferred for using in situations where audible connection to the surrounding environment is important for safety or perhaps social reasons.  For my purposes, I’m good with the added isolation and I didn’t try out any ridged tips.

As you see in the photo, the ear hooks come in three sizes and given their extreme softness and flexibility, one of the three should work well with almost any pinnae.  The medium do a great job for me.  A-T also provides an extension cable and a clip.  I kind of understand what they might be for, but can’t imagine ever finding them useful.  Others might.

There are two things about the ATH-CKP500 that seem really pointless, but I find them less bothersome in use than I expected.  First is the asymmetric cable.  The wire to the right ear is about a foot longer than the one for the left ear. A-T says this “keeps cable out of the way and helps prevent tangles.”  At first, it seemed inconvenient.  After a break-in period allowing compensatory adjustments in my consciousness, the asymmetry isn’t an issue.  A-T also points with pride to the angled housings that direct the cords behind the neck.  I guess they could if you wanted them to.  I don’t so they don’t.

I haven’t yet tried out one of the more unusual features of the ATH-CKP500: waterproofing.  According to A-T, these phones have a lab tested IEC rating of IPX5 which assures us that they are protected against a low pressure water stream from any angle.  In practical terms, they’re washable under gently running water.  That’s a nice thing.

Most of this is what they call “circumstantial” in detective stories, as is the apparent availability of the ATH-CK500 in red, white, and blue as well as black versions.  There are really only two significant matters of goodness about headphones:  comfort and sound quality.  In both of these matters, the ATH-CK excels handily.  These are, to put it bluntly, the most enjoyable in-ear phones to wear and to enjoy music through that I’ve ever had the pleasure of using at length.

Curious but meaningful note:  I was listening to the “Blue Monk” recorded live at Newport with Charles Ellsworth (aka Pee-Wee) Russell guesting with Thelonious Monk’s quartet, not the most inspired pairing in jazz history, but never mind that.  About midway through the pianoless strolling section of Charlie Rouse’s tenor sax solo, I was startled by what sounded like a low male voice in the room with me.  It was from the recording.  I’ve listened to that track numerous times in the past through speakers, headphones, whatever and never heard that before.  I have to give high marks to ATH-CKP500 for definition.

The comfort stuff is pretty well documented above.  Let me tell you about the music.  First off (and this astounds me), the imaging is totally credible, in headphone terms.  Obviously, it’s not going to be just like a pair of proper full range speakers in a well arranged listening room.  But it’s damn close.  Front-to-back placement is uncanny and this is the case with good mono as well as stereo recordings.  Instrumental timbre (the sine qua non, for reproduced sound) is more lifelike than I’ve ever heard with earbuds.  Bass extension is excellent, with the right choice of ear tips.  Treble is also extended…A-T claims to 23,0oo Hz…and notably smooth and well balanced.

Okay, there are other considerations of goodness, too.  For most of us, one is price.  A-T lists the ATH-CKP500 at about $75.  Over at Amazon, the prices top out 40 percent less than that, but I note that most of the vendors are in Japan.  In addition to price, general quality of materials and construction matters.  The ATH-CKP500, at this stage of my experience with it, seems to excel there, too.  The wires feel more substantial than many and the insulation has a good rubbery feel.  I’ve run into other earbuds, including major brands of similar price, in which the insulation cracked and exposed bare wire after a while.  (A tiny dab of Shoe Goo fixed that, by the way.)  Other, cheaper earbuds have tended to suffer from stiffening of the insulation, apparently from contact with sweat and body oils.

Finally, these are listed by Audio-Technica as SonicSport phones, note the body oil and sweat comment above, with the admonition not to “sacrifice great sound when you hit the gym.”   You know what?  I often go to sleep in mine and I’m happy not to sacrifice great sound (and great comfort) when I hit the pillow.