Hello, I'm new to this forum but it's helped me purchase Denon C700 and Nuforce NE8, so here's a quick review for the NE8 and some photos (to supplement Hooran's thread)
In short: Very good sound quality, much better than expected for the price range, but cautious recommendation due to minor fitting and bass issues. My impression may improve later if I can solve those 2 problems.
My sources are Cowon A2 and Zen Stone. EQ and volume disclaimers below. FLAC or VBR 256+ tracks. Past IEM experience is limited to Denon C700, Shure E2C, Sennheiser CX300. I got the ne8 on Thursday.
I think ne8 is lightyears ahead of e2c and cx300, and almost better than c700 (slightly larger soundstage than c700, but slightly less overall presence due to shallower bass)
On vocal and classical, it was about as clear and balanced as I've ever heard with anything (in-ear or over-the-ear). Compared to c700, generally the sound appeared slightly wider and more spread-out (but not hollow). It also sounded smoother on the highest notes.
Same with pop-rock, electronic, trance and dance-pop, for the most part. But this is where it fell a little short, and requires some explanation...
The left earphone looks like this from the outside:
and from the inside:
I had (have) trouble getting a good seal. It came with 3 rubbery tips (small, medium, large) and a large double-flange tip. The middle-size was best for me, but really none of them did justice to what it required for proper sound. In fact, initially I was quite disappointed because no matter what I did, the sound was bass-less and lacked a firm presence in delivery.
So I had to adjust the source EQ:
A2 w/o EQ: c700 pretty good, ne8 unimpressive except for clarity
Zen (no EQ control anyways): c700 pretty good, ne8 pathetic/useless (so it's no good for me to jog with ne8 & Zen)
A2 EQ (lowest +7, low +3, mid 0, high 0, highest 0): c700 even better, ne8 getting good but still lacking
So I activated A2's Mach3Bass up to 6 or 7 (of total 10) and then it was satisfactory. When it worked, it worked well. The resulting sound was now complete. Clear, detailed all around. The bass responded quicker (tighter) than c700, and was less prominent but of good detailed quality.
Right now, the bass on ne8 with A2 w/ EQ & Mach3Bass is still somewhat elusive, depending on the music genre. It does surprisingly well for dance-music, sometimes better than c700. Sometimes it hits just right and it's like a revelation (like the audio is coming from around me with good ambient bass to fill in the entire spectrum) and other times it gets close to the pathetic e2c. However it seems to be kicking out the preferred bass even when I can't hear it. When I gently push it into the canal with my fingers, I can definitely hear what I think I'm missing.
The around-the-ear fitting was very comfortable once I figured out the optimal contour. It's easily bendable so I experimented quite a bit to find the matching 3D topology for my ear lobe (down, up-right diagonal curve, straighten out and then sharp turn back-down):
In my case, I had to "lean back" the bud to fit the groove just outside my canal, otherwise it would pinch against the cartilage and make it hurt after a while. Here's my optimal routing:
This held very well and comfortably, so much that I fell asleep listening to it and hours later they were still firmly intact. And I didn't feel it protruding because it lies very flat against the ear.
The cable was very thin and very susceptible to rustling noise transferred to the phones. But the clip just below the Y-separation did a good job of holding the slack in place and prevented the cable noise problem.
The included case was like the Shure case, but hollow inside with a small pocket and an elastic strap:
Overall, a thumbs-up for packaging and ergonomics.
Size comparison with c700:
Compared to the small ne8, the c700 makes me look like a robot with antenna-ears sticking out.
Impedance comparison: c700 16ohms, ne8 12ohms. So lower volume compared to c700. For example, with c700 on A2 I used the volume range 7-15 (of total 40 clicks) and with ne8 the range 4-12.
Since A2's Mach3Bass helped add more power to the low spectrum, maybe I have an impedance issue here. Attenuation might help juice more power to fill that lower gap.
Perhaps a better seal is also what I need. Comply T400 has been suggested on this board.
I should try contacting the Nuforce people for advice.
Bottomline for those on the fence: I think it's a really good buy but only if you can EQ to compensate. Perhaps other DAPs will not have the problem I did. I do like it as a complement to c700. I think I'll keep both for now.
In short: Very good sound quality, much better than expected for the price range, but cautious recommendation due to minor fitting and bass issues. My impression may improve later if I can solve those 2 problems.
My sources are Cowon A2 and Zen Stone. EQ and volume disclaimers below. FLAC or VBR 256+ tracks. Past IEM experience is limited to Denon C700, Shure E2C, Sennheiser CX300. I got the ne8 on Thursday.
I think ne8 is lightyears ahead of e2c and cx300, and almost better than c700 (slightly larger soundstage than c700, but slightly less overall presence due to shallower bass)
On vocal and classical, it was about as clear and balanced as I've ever heard with anything (in-ear or over-the-ear). Compared to c700, generally the sound appeared slightly wider and more spread-out (but not hollow). It also sounded smoother on the highest notes.
Same with pop-rock, electronic, trance and dance-pop, for the most part. But this is where it fell a little short, and requires some explanation...
The left earphone looks like this from the outside:
and from the inside:
I had (have) trouble getting a good seal. It came with 3 rubbery tips (small, medium, large) and a large double-flange tip. The middle-size was best for me, but really none of them did justice to what it required for proper sound. In fact, initially I was quite disappointed because no matter what I did, the sound was bass-less and lacked a firm presence in delivery.
So I had to adjust the source EQ:
A2 w/o EQ: c700 pretty good, ne8 unimpressive except for clarity
Zen (no EQ control anyways): c700 pretty good, ne8 pathetic/useless (so it's no good for me to jog with ne8 & Zen)
A2 EQ (lowest +7, low +3, mid 0, high 0, highest 0): c700 even better, ne8 getting good but still lacking
So I activated A2's Mach3Bass up to 6 or 7 (of total 10) and then it was satisfactory. When it worked, it worked well. The resulting sound was now complete. Clear, detailed all around. The bass responded quicker (tighter) than c700, and was less prominent but of good detailed quality.
Right now, the bass on ne8 with A2 w/ EQ & Mach3Bass is still somewhat elusive, depending on the music genre. It does surprisingly well for dance-music, sometimes better than c700. Sometimes it hits just right and it's like a revelation (like the audio is coming from around me with good ambient bass to fill in the entire spectrum) and other times it gets close to the pathetic e2c. However it seems to be kicking out the preferred bass even when I can't hear it. When I gently push it into the canal with my fingers, I can definitely hear what I think I'm missing.
The around-the-ear fitting was very comfortable once I figured out the optimal contour. It's easily bendable so I experimented quite a bit to find the matching 3D topology for my ear lobe (down, up-right diagonal curve, straighten out and then sharp turn back-down):
In my case, I had to "lean back" the bud to fit the groove just outside my canal, otherwise it would pinch against the cartilage and make it hurt after a while. Here's my optimal routing:
This held very well and comfortably, so much that I fell asleep listening to it and hours later they were still firmly intact. And I didn't feel it protruding because it lies very flat against the ear.
The cable was very thin and very susceptible to rustling noise transferred to the phones. But the clip just below the Y-separation did a good job of holding the slack in place and prevented the cable noise problem.
The included case was like the Shure case, but hollow inside with a small pocket and an elastic strap:
Overall, a thumbs-up for packaging and ergonomics.
Size comparison with c700:
Compared to the small ne8, the c700 makes me look like a robot with antenna-ears sticking out.
Impedance comparison: c700 16ohms, ne8 12ohms. So lower volume compared to c700. For example, with c700 on A2 I used the volume range 7-15 (of total 40 clicks) and with ne8 the range 4-12.
Since A2's Mach3Bass helped add more power to the low spectrum, maybe I have an impedance issue here. Attenuation might help juice more power to fill that lower gap.
Perhaps a better seal is also what I need. Comply T400 has been suggested on this board.
I should try contacting the Nuforce people for advice.
Bottomline for those on the fence: I think it's a really good buy but only if you can EQ to compensate. Perhaps other DAPs will not have the problem I did. I do like it as a complement to c700. I think I'll keep both for now.
