NECO SOUNDLABS PORTABLE V.2 AMP - Page 10

Very tempting, that it could compare with the Burson, which is one of the best amp I heard with great, rich tone which is antithetic to or missing in many solid state design. Would it be over stretch to expect the same tonality ? Other than the HE-5 anyone tried this with other planar magnetic design ?

Android-powered smartphone Samsung Galaxy S3 & Neco V3:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/315#post_8707637

 

stock Galaxy S3 > digital audio stream >> USB OTG cable >> ODAC (i.e. Epiphany Acoustics E-DAC) >> Neco V3

 

 

 

That must be a great sounding portable rig! Does the USB DAC work with your S3 with original FW?

Yes, it does.

Plug and play!

very nice pictures...

 

anyone know how this compares to Pico amps?

Very interesting amp indeed, looks like a solid contender to the O2. Would anyone happen to know if the V3 pairs well with the HD800?

I have a V2, I changed the opamp to OPA627AP. They are good with IEMs. When I used them with my HE-6, I fried the opamps. So be careful using them for hps.

Where did you get that USB OTG cable with the mini usb at the end?

It’s a combination of two cables: micro-A to standard A cable and standard A to mini-B cable.

 

Micro-A to mini-B cable from Lindy:

http://www.lindy.co.uk/usb-firewire/usb-cables/usb-otg-on-the-go-cables/type-micro-a-to-mini-b-usb-otg/

 

Micro-A to mini-B cable from VentureCraft:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/315#post_8708233

 

Galaxy S3 > digital USB audio out >> VentureCraft Go-Dap X 

 

 

 

Micro-A to mini-B cable from xDuoo:

http://translate.google.fr/translate?tl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.erji.net/read.php%3Ftid%3D1320392%26page%3De&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dxduoo%2Busb%2Bdac%26hl%3Dfr%26biw%3D910%26bih%3D436%26prmd%3Dimvns&sa=X&ei=4GxdUKTrIaal0AXmr4HoDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCcQ7gEwAA

 

Galaxy S3 > digital USB audio out >> xDuoo XP-1

 

Hi guys

 

Just to revive a bit here I will be receiving in a few days the upgraded Neco V3 (lithium battery, opa8310, bass port). I made however a specific request that stroke me as soon as I saw the regular unit photos: flush star type torx screws for the box. The box itself will look slimmer and better (maybe will be adapted for future releases) instead of just philips screws straight on.

 

This will be used to drive a Sony NWZ A-866 walkman and either the JVC PXT-90 or the ATH-M50 in turns (meaning either outside or inside home)

 

Although the Sony apparently does not have a true line out - there is no DAC per se, instead Sony uses their own developed digital domain amplifier into a low pass filter so you cant escape it, and that´s not necessarily a bad thing in fact it´s a good thing as far as my ears can tell. Also for the required job (portable music) this was my choice, have you seen the size of the Sony A series ? it´s so tiny! for android larger devices I already have a galaxy SII so no need.

 

 

 

 

So I will also give it a go and am waiting to get from the mail a LOD interconnect and port to jack adapter from

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ecbuyonline2008/Hi-End-Cable-/_i.html?_fsub=1584730016&_sid=781928146&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

 

Specifically order a mod, neutrik right angled jacks for the 8 cm cable which of course drove the price a bit higher but there was good comms with the seller Rudy and he showed himself up to the task

 

So if you guys are still hanging around this thread and have interest in I can post a few photos when I get the whole package together as well as my own impressions of the (little) beasts

 

best rgds

 

nuno

Edited by ninogui - 10/11/12 at 2:14am

be great to see Ninogui... you thoughts using both the line-out & the headphone-out on the Sony would be real appreciated.

 

I have a Sony so am well interested

Edited by OK-Guy - 10/11/12 at 3:03am

1. I had a Burson HA-160D. After lots of A-B testing, I sold the Burson. And bought another Neco. No, I'm not exaggerating, nor was that a crazy decision. Look at my profile for my gear. Neco's amps are the real deal.

2. I've used my Neco v3 with my LCD-2s, my HE-500s and yes, even my HE-6s. As you might expect, the HE-6 isn't an ideal pairing, but not terrible, either. But the HE-6 is an extreme case.

1. I had an O2. It's an excellent amp, no doubt. Very well done. But again, I did lots of A-B comparisons and sold my O2. The Neco V3 is smaller, has MUCH better battery life (I have the battery upgrade, which I highly recommend), has better build quality (not that the O2 was bad....the Neco is just better), has a better volume pot, has optional bass boost, a cleaner top plate and, in particular, better sound. Even with the bass boost off, the Neco has more bass weight. It's not coloration, it's just that the O2 is slightly light on bass. The O2 has the advantage or a more easily accessible gain switch.

2. It pairs extremely well with the HD800. In the office, I mostly use it with HD600s. At home, mostly with HD800s. I have zero qualms about recommending that combo.

Regards,
Adam

I sent Neco an e-mail and asked a question about combining two units to drive balanced headphones like this:



That might not happen until next year but what if I were interested in creating that balanced config on my own?

Could I simply order two units and pay someone to make a cable similar to the one as shown above? That could have enough power to drive HE-6 with balanced headphone cable.

I've asked Neco in the past about creating a balanced amp. There are a couple of problems, however. First and foremost, this is essentially a hobby for him. He has a "real" job during the day that keeps him pretty busy.

 

As for what you've shown above, as a non-tech guy with little understanding of how stuff works, I notice a few potential issues based on my (mis)interpretation of things I've read elsewhere:

 

- The inputs on the amps would still be unbalanced. Maybe not a big deal if all you are going for is power, but your inputs would be signal and ground, instead of positive and negative.

 

- Again, I may be wrong, but I'm not sure that using two amps would actually be more powerful than one when used that way. Consider speaker amps. I don't think there is a difference in power between driving two speakers with one amp, vs. driving two speakers, each with a separate amp, unless the amps are "bridged". Otherwise I think you are just using half of the amps' power for each speaker, so you might as well just use one amp and drive both speakers. So you would have to find out whether Neco can somehow "bridge" one of his standard amps. I have no idea what that entails...or if anything I just wrote is actually true.

 

- You would have to control the volume for the left and right channels separately. Not a huge deal, but annoying. Maybe you could connect the volume pots using a silicone band so that they would turn simultaneously?

 

- The cable shown above has two 1/8" plugs, but they both appear to be TRS/stereo. I think it would probably make more sense to work with two mono plugs (although it probably doesn't matter if you just don't connect the 3rd conductor to anything in the XLR plug).

 

Best,

Adam

Edited by amcananey - 10/19/12 at 7:26am