Shopping Cart

Your cart is empty.

Your cart is empty.

NAD C 538 CD Player - Wolfson 24-bit DAC, CD-R/CD-RW Playback, Optical/Coaxial

4.7 (13) Write Review
Free shipping on orders over $29.99

$399.00

$ 99 .00 $99.00

In Stock

About this item

  • Wolfson 24-bit/192kHz digital-to-analog converter for high-resolution sound.
  • Precision clock circuit for accurate playback of all types of CDs.
  • Full-function remote control for easy adjustment of volume and playback.
  • Front-panel display for easy navigation and track information.


Product Description

C 538 Compact Disc Player

C 538 Compact Disc Player

NAD has an enviable reputation for creating great sounding products at very affordable prices and nowhere is this more evident than in NAD’s 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 very best sound from the Compact Disc. 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.

cd player

Careful Design and Engineering

NAD has an enviable reputation for creating great sounding products at very affordable prices and nowhere is this more evident than in NAD’s 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 very best sound from the Compact Disc. 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.

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.

Precise clocking of the digital data stream allows the Wolfson 24 bit DAC to provide accurate linearity for the PCM data conversion to analog waveform. Audio OP Amps 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.

The NAD C 538 includes many desirable features that enhance listening pleasure. 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, folder or whole disc is repeated, 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 also can play CD-R/CD-RW discs allowing you to burn songs from your computer for playback on your CD Playing system.

Because these songs are encoded in MP3 or WMA format, you can fit up to 10 hours of music on a single disc which is great for party mixes and 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.

Although music downloads and streaming continue to grow in popularity, CDs are still the primary listening source for millions of people around the world. NAD continues to innovate and improve its CD Players to get improved performance while keeping prices low. Whether you are creating your first home system, or upgrading your current CD Player, you should consider NAD’s 45 year record of excellence, and its commitment to music lovers everywhere, when selecting a new player.


N. E. Harris
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2025
Exactly what I hoped it would be!
Ron Miller
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2025
Bought this to replace an NAD CD player that finally died after nearly 30 years of excellent service. This new one sounds great even better than the older one. It may be because the new one has 24 bit playback while the older one was 16 bits.
Dave Miller
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2025
Replaced my Onkyo C 7030 which lasted about 6 or 7 years. I prefer my new NAD C 538. Sound is excellent and I like the control layout.
Vimercati Carlo
Reviewed in Italy on February 19, 2025
Ottimo lettoreCarrello silenzioso e suono buono per il prezzo pagato
Steve
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2025
I'm a vinyl lover all the way. Have a Rega TT with a really nice AT cartridge/stylus. Parasound pre-amp. CD's while good, always sounded so digital to me, lacking warmth etc. Too perfect. But it's been decades since I owned a CD player. I was cleaning out the storage room and found a bunch of old CDs. I decided, what the hell...let me look for an entry level CD player with a quality DAC. The NAD 538 looked like a perfect fit for experimenting with, and not breaking the bank. I fired up Steely Dan's Gaucho, and was impressed by how natural and clean it sounded, without the snap/crackle/pop of vinyl.Highly recommend if you are looking for a quality player on a budget.
Genoveffa
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2025
This player is simple no nonsense player, it's high quality sound has me falling in.love with my CD collection all over again. The 24 bit 96k sampling let's me hear things On my CDS I never heard before,with a shimmer and clarity I've not experienced before. I highly recommended this player for audiophile and lovers of CDS. It will not disappoint
braddman
Reviewed in Canada on July 31, 2024
plays well. i have it matched with a NAD receiver. sounds great.
Hans Müller, Belfast
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2024
A high quality CD-deck without a killing prize! It was like hear the CD's for the first time. I had a PhillipsCD-deck before but this NAD-deck top it.I can recommend this one with happyness!
Jonathan Barter
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2024
In keeping with NAD characteristics this CD player is simple to use and excellent quality.Functionality is enhanced through it's absence of superfluous gadgetry, lights and switches.Very happy with performance at a decent price.
Boston Bob
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2024
Sounds great, but will probably return due to control panel issues.
RichW
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2023
I've beed using the NAD C538 for almost 2 months. Kudos to ListenUp (the seller), for their fast shipping! Right out of the box, the unit sounded good, and improved after a few hours of listening. I definitely like the sound quality and the simplicity of this unit. It uses a Wolfson DAC (WM8740, I believe), has co-ax and optical digital outputs for using an external DAC, has a non-captive AC mains cord, and comes with a remote control (which I don't use). The CD drawer opens and closes quietly, the display is unobtrusive, and there have been no glitches so far. Sound quality with good recordings can be described as detailed and well balanced tonally, with a good sense of real instruments being played in a real space. Female vocals, in particular, can sound absolutely stunning. To sum up, there aren't that many decent reasonably priced CD players on the market any more. This might be one of the last.
pop255
Reviewed in Mexico on April 10, 2023
Buen envío, bien empacado, trabaja muy bien ahora que esta nuevo, chequen lo comentarios en cnet de Steve Guttenberg sobre el nad c538, si les interesa que tan buen audio da, en breve es muy neutro.
Blackdog
Reviewed in Germany on November 4, 2019
Mein alter (sehr guter Sony Player) hat nach über 20 Jahren etwas rumgezickt. Da Reparatur nicht lohnt, also ein neuer Player. Habe mich nach intensiver Recherche für den NAD entschieden, da ich schon viele NADs in Betrieb habe und das Design meinen Geschmack trifft. Aber jetzt: Ich entkoppele den alten (sehr guten) Sony Player, schließe den NAD an höre tätsächlich viel mehr als vorher (Höhen, Transparenz...) Das habe ich nicht erwartet bei so einem preiswerten Gerät und bin wirklich sehr positiv überrascht. Fernbedienung benutze ich nicht, deshalb keine Wertung. Empfehlung.