NAD T585

By Michael Wong

October 2007

NAD T585 universal disc player. $1800

NAD T585 (click for larger image)

While universal disc players have been on the audio landscape for nearly a decade, the T585 is only NAD’s second universal model, the first being the more expensive Masters Series M55. Like the M55, the T585 is not aimed at NAD’s traditional budget market but at the equally competitive, demanding $2000 price break.

The NAD plays all the common audio/video formats such as CD, HDCD, CD-R/RW, DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R, DVD-Audio, SACD, MP3 and WMA. Notable exceptions to the playlist are DVD-RAM, AAC and of course high definition video formats Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

Out of the box

Outside the T585 looks like your typical NAD. A simple box in NAD grey, with a full complement of clearly marked controls allowing operation without resort to the comprehensive but poorly laidout remote handset. Build quality is simply excellent, never has a mid-line NAD ever been so well made.

The rear panel is well equipped with the usual RCA audio outputs; multi-channel 5.1 and dedicated two-channel outputs. Video outputs include composite, S-Video, component, Scart, VGA and HDMI for digital video.

Inside the box

Inside we have a Sony sourced transport, with native SACD/DSD signal processing, 24-bit/96kHz Burr-Brown DACs. There is on-board 5.1 decoding, but only for Dolby Digital, DTS is only available through the digital outputs. Faroudja’s DCDi circuitry is used for video processing (de-interlacing and video upscaling to 720p or 1080i).

Setting up the NAD is a breeze but read the detailed manual if you want to get the best out of the T585. Onscreen menus are colourful and easy to follow however their depth means that adjustments on-the-fly are tricky to make. The flimsy plastic disc tray opens silently and closes with a muted but reassuring clunk. Disc initialisation is a little quicker than your average universal.

Workout

As per my usual practice with universal players, they first get a workout in the music system. Here the NAD shines brightly, with a caveat.

Music from CD is reproduced with gusto and toe-tapping tunefulness. Good dynamics, a sense of scale and realistic soundstaging helps create a believable, palpable listening experience. Bass has good extension and agility, midrange is smooth, highs are detailed and just a touch rolled-off. The caveat is that this is not a neutral sounding player. There is noticeable warmth from the bass up that adds roundness and weight, at the same time masking a bit of detail and giving the T585 a definite sonic character.

Switching to SACD and DVD-Audio only enhances the listening experience. Unlike many universals where SACD disappoints, a good SACD disc on the NAD opens up the soundstage, improving focus and allowing you to hear more of the recorded acoustic. Note SACD output is at a lower level than the other formats. DVD-Audio in turn brings a greater sense of detail and control, coupled to slightly more dynamic punch.

Visual

Theoretically the digital HDMI connection should give the best picture quality and so it was with the T585. In this age of advanced display technology any HDMI equipped DVD player should also allow the pass-through of native video (480/576i) as the video processing in many top of the line displays is often superior to all but the very best DVD players. It also allows the player to be used with stand alone video processors.

The NAD does not output any native video through HDMI, forcing the user to make do with the NAD’s built–in de-interlacing to produce a progressive 480/576p video signal.

Compared to the component output, HDMI was sharper and had less video noise. However colour was a little oversaturated and the digital interface introduced some visible artefacts, notably an occasional over-sharpened, etched outline to images and very noticeable chroma error and chroma noise in basic 480/576p mode. The colour and etching could be ameliorated by using the T585’s onboard video adjustments but not completely eliminated.

These problems were not as evident when the player was used in upsampled mode, which was the only real benefit to engaging upsampling, most of the time there was no readily visible picture improvement.

Swapping between HDMI and component also showed up another quirk; with HDMI the picture was visibly shifted to the left, enough for a window boxed image to lose the left side window frame. With component the picture did a large shuffle off stage right.

Not your usual budget NAD

The NAD T585 proved to be something of a mixed bag. This is not your usual budget NAD. Build quality is excellent and it’s easy to use, albeit with some idiosyncrasies as mentioned. It’s strength is in audio playback, euphonically coloured for sure but still very enjoyable. Video playback is quirky, generally very good, though not quite at the level expected of this price point, as exemplified by the leading $2,000 universal players from Marantz, Pioneer, and Denon et al.

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