This content is a comparative review of three popular all-in-one digital music players: the NAD M10 V2, Naim Unity Atom, and Cambridge Audio Evo 150, evaluating their build quality, setup, features, performance, and musicality to determine an overall winner.
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welcome to Hi-Fi I'm Marcos this is Kurt
and today we've got a hell of a treat
for you
we're doing a big three showdown of the
NAD M10 V2 the name Unity atom and the
Cambridge audio Evo 150.
why are these the big threes arguably
these are some of the most popular
all-in-one players that are are on the
market right now
this is our first comparison video which
seems to be a lot of work uh so if you
like it please subscribe and hit that
like button
so the rules are simple we're going to
rate it out of five the winner gets a
five and everything else is based on
that reference
and if you watch our other videos the
categories are going to be based on the
same thing
as you all know this Trio are all in one
digital music players
they all feature similar Tech and they
first on the list will be the NAD M10 V2
braided at 100 watts per Channel priced
at 3 800 Canadian or around twenty eight
hundred dollars USD
we've got the name Unity Adam
rated a 40 watts per Channel
priced at 4 800 Canadian or around
thirty five hundred dollars USD and
right in the middle we've got the
Cambridge audio Evo 150 rated at 150
watts per Channel priced at forty two
hundred dollars Canadian around 3 100 USD
USD
first thing we'll be looking at is the
overall build quality of each unit
so we awarded the winner
the name and the reason for this is the
overall build quality when compared to
their arrest it just it feels a lot more
heftier and it is partially indeed
heavier and one thing is the little
details you know you can see all that
thick aluminum casing in the front on
the top and even the heatsinks on the
side we also thought the display
actually I think was a lot better than this
this
um than compared to the others and also
to even the overall build of the unit so
when turning that volume control there's
almost no play at all in that volume
control and it was it's it's also like just
just
smooth coming in at a score of 4.5 is
the Cambridge audio Evo 150. the overall
build of the Evo 150 is really really
nice and the one thing that stuck out to
us the most is the interchangeable wood
paneling and also the tactile Source
selector and volume control
and based on the other scores the NAD
comes in at a four and the reason for
that is I still think it's I think
incomparable it may not have that the
hefted the others do but the way that
the screen kind of just fills the entire
unit and one thing I think it's the
slickest looking out of them all
the second category is the overall setup
of the units so the winner the category
and the score of five will be is the NAD
M10 the reason for this is I think in
the Hi-Fi world it's the most polished
app when you're setting it up it's one
of the only ones that actually guides
you through kind of like like a wizard
where it's almost like a step-by-step to
help you get through the process
also the app is really easy to navigate
compared to the others especially when
you're using title on there one thing is
title even when you're using the search
on it it's the only one that I think
really keeps intact like the original
experience on title
so I do like to on the software on the
blue OS is that it's it really keeps
everything intact so whether in title
you're using the search functions within
the app itself it kind of maintains that
same consistency I find a lot of the
other units is when you're using the
search it doesn't populate it uh
properly as compared to what's found in
the blue OS
coming in at four out of five rating are
both the Cambridge audio Evo 150 and the
name Unity atom the reason why they came
in at a tie is because the setup is
quite good but they both have their
quirks one thing I really like with the
Cambridge audio Evo 150 is the graphic
interface of that app is really good
it's nice and clean it's pretty easy but
I find it's pretty light on information
so when it comes to the name app it's a
lot more simple looking it's a little
bit rough around the edges but one thing
that I really like if you do select an
album you can hit
the I logo and it will show you a whole
bunch of information about that album so
if you're a big music lover and you like
to really dig deep the name app might be better
coming in as our third category will be
features not only the physical features
but also the digital features scoring a
five out of five will be the Cambridge
Evo 150. the reason why the camera Geva
150 is very feature Rich so it has
balanced inputs moving magnifono stage
both A and B speaker zones and many
different inputs for digital and analog
also to note it does have a headphone
output as well
coming in second at a score of 4.5 is
the NAD M10 when it comes to inputs and
actually features is probably one of the
least out of the bunch and the reason
why we're scoring it quite high and
right after the Cambridge is Direct on
there so a lot of a lot of you guys
might know what that is is room
correction and people that need it this
is actually I think a big feature that I
wish the others had coming in in third
place is the name Unity Adam scored at
three and a half out of five
why is that it's because the name Unity
atom is pretty feature light uh the
biggest feature about it I would say is
the HDMI ARC input when you
consider all the rest of its inputs it
only has a single analog in and a
pre-out uh whereas the NAD also has dual
sub outs one thing with the unity atom
though it does have a quarter inch
headphone socket and multiple USB inputs
if you want to add some hard drives or
USB sticks
so whatever categories just like in our
other videos is our low and high volume test
test
this time we're gonna do a little bit
different we're going to do it more on
long term so we're going to play a full
bandwidth track that's got a lot of bass
and we're going to see how it performs
over a longer period of time so starting
with a low volume the winner of this
which is in a score of five was the name
Unity atom the thing is at low volumes
at that 60 DB car which is normal
conversation level just find that you
just hear everything the most it seems
to have the most texture especially in
the base region it was really still
quite authoritative at those lower levels
levels
rated out of four is the Cambridge audio
Evo 150. we just found when listening
compared to the name it was just a
little bit less authoritative on the
bottom end and it just didn't seem to be
as commanding
coming in at third with only half a
point in difference between the
Cambridge at a three and a half it was
really quite close in low in low volume
listening the only difference is I would
say is the base was that just that
little bit better on Cambridge and the
reason why it it scored a little bit lower
when it came time to our high volume
listening test we did a little bit
differently this time so we measured it
at a full bandwidth for over a minute long
long
coming in at a rating of five is the
Cambridge audio Evo 150. it maintained a
respectable 86 decibels in our Listening
Room what really stood out with it is
how composed it was and how articulated
the base presence was and everything
else it was really good and coming in second
second
with a score of four and a half was the
name right at the lowest power at 40
Watts actually hit 83 decibels which was
almost the same amount as the NAD and
only three decibel less than the
Cambridge audio and sometimes he shows
you that sometimes wattage really was
rated under manufacturer's specification
doesn't always relate to real world
conditions at louder levels the name was
probably the most easy to listen to but
probably the least amount of fatigue and
across the bandwidth when it comes to
the base and the top end nothing really
broke down coming in at third place was
the M10 which maintained a
pretty high 83.5 decibel
the reason why we rated it in third
place was because we found at the higher
volume levels it did seem to compress
the base or almost kind of cut it down a
little bit so that's why it came into third
our next category will be musical performance
performance
when I came down to considering musical
performance we want to know the
performance of each amplifier across
many different genres of music and the
genres will be contrasting each other so
we're looking at jazz EDM and Rock
first category is jazz we listen to
Vince Guaraldi and Bola Set uh the song
called Ginza Samba
this is not typically like a true jazz
song more like a Bossa Nova song and
what I really like about it right at the
start of it it starts off quite a quiet
and builds up and
Vince Guaraldi starts playing the piano
and it's impactful it's nice it's Jammy
and I really like the flow of this song
so our favorite in this category and
giving a score out of five was the name
when listening to this recording you can
tell it's really mixed and sounding like
it's more of a smaller venue and you you
really have your the piano just kind of
right off kind of right on center and
the strings on the right and then
percussion on the left one thing is what
kind of made this this name really stand
out is on the rim top you can really
tell that he rested the butt of the
stick close to the edge and this is
something that I think the name just
does so well in terms of texturing that
I felt it did compared to the other ones
and one of the biggest things too is the
is just even in in the detail and again
just the way the the strings sounded
there was just so much texture uh than
the others again making the name just
really stand out in this category
one thing you can really notice is when
they're using a sustain pedal or holding
their keys it becomes a lot more
apparent the the name is just able to
really it really just just really pick
it up more and and it becomes a lot more
noticeable uh which I think was just
just a really good strength of this of
this unit
and the Cambridge audio coming at in a second
second
in which we scored this at four
things sounded obviously in comparison
sound a little bit more cleaner sounding
but that's the thing is
um why I why why we both felt that it
was it was under the name uh it's
because it just the name just just
sounded a little more live and a little
bit extra texturing is is why we might
be put it just under however though if
you like a little more cleaner accurate
sound the the Cambridge not a bad it's
also another good option the NAD coming
in at three and a half so really close
to the Cambridge and the reason why I
say this because sonically on job it
sounded really close for the exception
of the bass I think the bass was a
little bit more controlled and we can
both agree that it was a little bit more
present the reason why it just slightly
came in behind at that 3.5
the second song we listened to we
decided to pick an EDM or dance track
and the song we picked was Armin Van
Buren and shivers which kind of was a
throwback for me because I kind of grew
up listening to trance music dance music
like this so I really enjoyed it one
thing I really love about these old
school dance tracks is just they start
off heavy hitting and fast the bases
impactful there's a lot of spatial
effect and then they always
in the middle dive right down and get
really quiet and they have this big
build until it picks back up again and I
always love listening to tracks like
this they get my heart thumping and my
legs moving for sure
and taking the top spot with a score of
five uh was the Cambridge audio
when it comes to EDM I just like when
the backgrounds Distortion are just so
low which the Cambridge evil has and
because it's got such wall control on
the base
um it just sounds better when things
sound a little bit more accurate and
really tight and precise sounding so we
really had to give it to the Cambridge
audio on this one
and coming in second let me give it to
the M10 you know really similar sound to
the the Cambridge audio was in the way
of presentation again it's just that
base I think the Cambridge audio just
has a little bit more Fuller in that
bass so when it comes to EDM it just
creates a little bit like just just
again a little bit more body and and
half to to the music
and that's the reason we only scored it
at half a point less at 4.5
and then third with a score of four uh
we gave it to the name I think you know
in a lot of ways some people actually
might like the way it sounds better on
on the name just because names are more
a little bit more diffused but again for
us uh I think that's why we we we kind
of just give it a little bit less but
you know what there would be surprised
that some of you guys actually might
actually might prefer it better for EDM
and with a name because things are a
little bit more diffused it's just you
know having that that darker color or
that jet block uh low Distortion
background in both the name and the NAD
things just don't really seem to to pop
out as much and again for ADM that's
kind of what you want
and lastly when it came to listening to
the Rock we threw it back to the 90s
Pearl Jam
and the song we listened to was why go
and why did we pick the song it's super
busy it's got a lot going on it seems
like they threw all kinds of distortion
and Reverb on everything
every single instrument and it just has
this crazy energy to it the drums are
impactful the vocals are loud and clear
and the guitar is just right up in your face
face
I came down to this tune Kurt and I
really came to a Crossroads and we had
to give the same score to two different
amps I personally picked the Cambridge
audio evil 150 as my number five the
reason why I just thought it kind of
cleaned things up a little bit the snap
of the drums was a little bit cleaner it
didn't sound quite as distorted or quite
as like live I guess so to me it sounded
a little bit more listenable in a weird
way for me I do think it was close uh
however the reason why I I think we have
to do this at a time and give the name
like at least the same score is because
it just more it was just a lot more to
me a lot more live sounding the thing is
especially when you're listening to rock
and anything like that things are not
supposed to sound as pinpoint and they
purposely put in a lot of distortion and
stuff in there
um to make things sound a little bit
more diffuse than everything a little
bit everywhere so to me it just sounded
more more live for example like on the
snare when the snare comes in you know
usually that would if you're listening
to it and things sound more live instead
of sounding so pinpoint and that snap in
that snare uh it would it would just
kind of diffuse with the rest of the
music and I don't know that's why I had
a little bit of a trouble on this one
um however though you know what we'll
just we'll call this a tie it shows you
should always listen to it because
everybody's own preference is different
so for everybody out there just listen
for it for your for yourself
and so what we did we still gave the NAD
a four the thing the reason for that it
does sound very similar again to the
Cambridge however just with a little bit
less texturing especially on the Bay
Side so
so I don't know if you were keeping your
calculator handy during this whole
breakdown of all of our categories but
here's the overall winner
coming in at 36 and a half over 40
points was the Cambridge audio Evo 150.
the name came in at a close second at 36
and the NAD came in at 33 out of 40. you
may be wondering what makes the
Cambridge audio Evo 150 the overall
winner and when you consider all of our
categories so the design the specs
the interface and its features and its
musical performance the Cambridge audio
comes out ahead because it has so many
features to it and it's musical
performance is actually very good
although when it comes to points the
Cambridge did come out on top however
very close to the name only by half a
point difference there are some things
to consider you know I would say if
you're the type that puts music first
maybe doesn't need those kind of
features really audition uh the name
because overall across the board on a
lot on I see the most of the genres 200
2003 actually almost all of them I would
say the music really came out on on
pretty much came on top when it comes to
me and or both of us to musical performance
performance
and other than that scored the lowest we
also have to remember that it's also
priced the lowest by between 25 to 30
percent lower
but overall it really held its own and
one I think one big thing that it has it
has direct that the other ones don't and
I think this can be the single most
important feature you know so for
example say you know that your your
speaker setup your room conditions your
environment are not exactly the best you
know the thing is I would say that
little bit better than sound quality
that the Cambridge and the name has
in all honesty you really can't go wrong
with all three of these amplifiers they
all have their shining benefits thing
you always want to keep in mind is your
connectivity needs your usability needs
and also its musical performance so the
best way to choose as always is to just
give them a good listen out of local
dealer and see what you think and also
in the comments you know any any
constructive criticism is we'd be more
to happy to to hear from you
thanks for watching our video today and
we'll see you in the next one [Music]
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