Straight out of the box and into my stereo rack, the NAD was easy to install, played all of the cds I've tested so far, some fairly old and pretty beat up. I haven't heard any skips or anything. It is getting more musical the more I break it in, which is nice. I am currently using the internal DAC, but may try the emotiva via coax at some point, but for now enjoy my very old and worn cds. One thing, it takes a little getting used to hearing one artist for an entire album after streaming various artists during playback sessions. It's nice though. I am enjoying it. I have a very small vinyl collection, with way more cds, so I got this to revive that collection. I would recommend for sure.Feeding the NAD CD player -> Emotiva preamp -> Emotiva BasX amp -> KEK Q350s and Rhythmic Subwoofer.