Sony HAP-Z1ES or NAD M51?

Yes, the Squeezebox Touch is a wireless streamer and can support 24/192 with some tweaks.

Yes, I like the connectivity of the NAD M51.

However, just looking for folks who have heard the Sony HAP-Z1ES and how its sound quality compares to other high-end DACs like NAD M51.

Thanks for the responses! So far 2 votes for the M51 :-)

JazzontheH: Where did you get your power supply upgrade for the touch? May be the cheapest solution to upgrade fever :-)

Thanks for all the feedback on the NAD, folks! Seems like a lot of fans out there....

Still curious if anyone has compared to the Sony HAP-Z1ES purely as a DAC.

I have ordered both and will let u know what I end up keeping.

Have been listening to the Sony HAP-Z1ES for the last week. Have to say very impressed. The thing is built like a tank - weighs 30 lbs!!

Sound quality is definitely amazing - a big jump over my touch/benchmark combo - much more detailed, bigger soundstage and better low end performance. Transferring files is a pain though - almost a week for copying my 1TB collection - admittedly over wireless.

So far I am a believer! Have not tried the NAD - so can't compare - but if I am enjoying this - plus get DSD - I may just have to keep this puppy!

Hi GFC,

How can I describe this - definitely on the brighter side (especially with DSEE/DSD re-master on) but not in a bad way - you just hear a lot more detail on the high frequencies at least compared to the Benchmark. Overall the biggest difference is in the size of the sound stage - almost seems like a went from 2 channel to quad channel or something....hope that makes sense, as I don't have a good audiophile vocabulary :-)

A month in ... and must say the HAP-Z1ES is sounding better every day. Very smooth sound with great detail/highs and massive soundstage. Loving it. Awesome job by Sony...