NAD C 538 Compact Disc Player

CD Player That Sounds Detailed and Natural, with Dramatic Dynamic Contrasts

For over 45 years, NAD Electronics has earned a renowned reputation for creating great sounding products at amazingly affordable prices, and nowhere is this more evident than in NAD’s CD players.

When it comes to CD players, NAD’s veteran engineers know exactly where to spend just a little extra money for a better-quality part, in order to extract the absolute best sound from compact discs. CD players use mechanical, digital, and analog technology to produce sound, and all three forms of engineering greatly affect the end result and require careful design and engineering.

"Worthy of Serious Consideration"

"A solid CD player worthy of serious consideration," notes What Hi-Fi? magazine, August 19, 2020. "We played a range of discs and the NAD isn’t fazed by the variety of musical genres played. It’s enough of an all-rounder to please with both classic and modern rap alike, having a good balance of refinement, subtlety, and attack."

"If you enjoy listening to compact discs, this player does a fantastic job of it," observes Andrew Dewhirst, futureaudiophile.com. "In the time I spent listing to Compact Discs on it, I really enjoyed the crisp but neutral sound that it reproduced. I certainly recommend it to anyone..."

A Very Solid Mechanical Foundation

A solid mechanical foundation is paramount in reducing external vibration and providing precise location of the CD drive mechanism. This allows smooth operation and a minimum of tracking errors. Heavy gauge steel and non-resonant plastic moldings are carefully engineered to provide optimum results. The transport is mounted on reinforced steel rails and over 30 fasteners are used to lock the assembly together and maintain precise dimensional integrity.

Superior Engineering

Precise clocking of the digital data stream allows the Wolfson 24-bit DAC to provide accurate linearity for the PCM data conversion to analogue waveform. Audio OPAmps buffer the output without adding noise or distortion to the music. Multi-layer PCBs using surface mount components allow for an enhanced circuit layout with very short signal paths. Powering these elements is a custom designed active power supply that provides multiple regulated voltages to the transport, digital circuits, analog circuits, and the control and display circuits. The result of this careful engineering is a sound that is at once both detailed and natural, with dramatic dynamic contrasts.

"That Soundstage Revealed Itself in All Its Glory"

Listening to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on the C 538, soundstagexperience.com reviewer Art+Tech observes, "That incredibly rich, realistic soundstage is always a powerful draw with that gold CD. After the drawer of the C 538 slid closed, that soundstage revealed itself in its glory, but with a new depth and something else, as well. Cobb’s drums have never sounded this present. I could feel the weight of the stick in his left hand as he hit his snare drum and the bite of his cymbal strikes."

Desirable Features Enhance Listening

The NAD C 538 includes many desirable features that enhance listening experiences. Front panel controls are duplicated on the hand held remote allowing Play, Pause, Skip, and Scan functions. In addition, many more features are available from the remote handset, such as Random: Tracks/files are played at random mode, Program: Enter or exit program mode, Repeat: Track, file, or whole disc is repeated, and RPT A-B: Playback sequence is repeated. The dimmable dot matrix display shows tracks, total playing time. Track time, disc time, and remaining time are all available.

The C 538 can also play CD-R discs, allowing you to play customized CD’s burned from your computer. Because these songs are encoded in MP3 or WMA, you can fit up to 10 hours of music on a single disc which is perfect for party mixes or ambient listening. There are also both optical and coaxial digital outputs that allow connection to an external DAC or digital component (like an AVR) to provide the most efficient and best sounding system setups.

At audiokarma.org, C 538 owner Porpoisepete lauds this player as "sleek and simple, yet sonically very clean and precise. I'm running mine with a vintage Philips receiver, and an old pair of Bose 301 Series IV speakers and absolutely love the soundstage and precision - especially during busy moments with heavy layers of sound."

Product Features

Plays CD/CD-R/CD-RW
Supports MP3/WMA playback
Wolfson High Spec 24/192 DAC
Stereo Analog Output
Coaxial and Optical Digital Outputs
IR Remote
Programmed playback
Random Playback
Repeat: Track, File, Folder, All, A-B
Time Display: CD - Elapsed/remaining playback time of current track, disc remaining playback time
Time Display: MP3/WMA - Song Title, Artist Name, Album Name, elapsed playback time of current file

Product Specs

Output level: Analog: 2.2 ± 0.1 V
Frequency response: ±0.5 dB (ref. 0 dB 20 Hz-20 kHz)
Total harmonic distortion: ≤0.01% (ref. 1 kHz, Audio LPF)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio: ≥110 dB (ref. 1 kHz, A-weighted )
Channel balance: ±0.5 dB (ref. 0dB 1kHz)
Channel separation: ≥90 dB (ref. 1 kHz)
De-emphasis: -4.6 ±0.8 dB (ref. 0dB 1 kHz, 5 kHz); -9.0 ±1.0 dB (ref. 0dB 1 kHz, 16 kHz)
Standby power: <0.5W
Idle power: <7.5W
Dimensions: 17-3/16 x 2-13/16 x 9-13/16 inches
Weight: 6.6 lbs.

Product Warranty

2 Years

Parts & Labor

NAD Electronics Warranty Information

"A solid CD player worthy of serious consideration… Once properly warmed, the C 538 is a good, solid performer. It doesn't set new standards for budget CD players, but does deliver enough in the way of detail and clarity to keep most people happy."

"We played a range of discs and the NAD isn’t fazed by the variety of musical genres played. It’s enough of an all-rounder to please with both classic and modern rap alike, having a good balance of refinement, subtlety, and attack."

"The player’s soundstage remains solid throughout and instruments are located with a good amount of stability."

- What Hi-Fi? magazine, August 19, 2020

"If you enjoy listening to compact discs, this player does a fantastic job of it. The build quality of the C 538 is fantastic. Outside of the disc tray opening, you never hear it running."

"In the time I spent listing to Compact Discs on it, I really enjoyed the crisp but neutral sound that it reproduced. I certainly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a Compact Disc player, and if you understand exactly what the player is and isn’t designed to do, you are unlikely to be disappointed."

- Andrew Dewhirst, futureaudiophile.com, April 26, 2023

"That incredibly rich, realistic soundstage [of Kind of Blue] is always a powerful draw with that gold CD. After the drawer of the C 538 slid closed, that soundstage revealed itself in its glory, but with a new depth and something else, as well. Cobb’s drums have never sounded this present. I could feel the weight of the stick in his left hand as he hit his snare drum and the bite of his cymbal strikes."

- Art+Tech, soundstagexperience.com, December 2020

"Sleek and simple, yet sonically very clean and precise. I'm running mine with a vintage Philips receiver, and an old pair of Bose 301 Series IV speakers and absolutely love the soundstage and precision - especially during busy moments with heavy layers of sound."

- Porpoisepete, audiokarma.org, May 31 2020

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