Audio-GD's NFB-10 or ROC + NFB-1 vs FUN

I haven't heard the combination you've mentioned above but I used to own Audio-gd ROC and K701 and still own DAC19.

First thing to note  - a balanced driven K701 is quite different from a single ended K701.

Quite frankly I wouldn't approach this headphone again without a balanced amplifier behind it.

If NFB-10 is what I think it is then you'll get your money's worth even from the amplifier circuit alone, the DAC being a nice bonus.

Kingwa said in the Audio-gd forum, that NFB-10 will have good C/P, but if you want hi-end performance you should go for seperate DAC+amp.

NFB-10 is not a traditional DAC+amp combo, and I believe it will be worthy of the money (so I ordered one). But no one has heard it yet.

Where are you guys getting your k702s (NOT k701s) balanced?? I can't find anything online about who does this, and I'm thinking about getting some balanced Audio gd gear in the very near future!

-Daniel

Quote:

Originally Posted by BournePerfect 

Where are you guys getting your k702s (NOT k701s) balanced?? I can't find anything online about who does this, and I'm thinking about getting some balanced Audio gd gear in the very near future!

 

-Daniel

Moon audio is one... you have to ship them there and have them shipped back. I would imagine aApuresound does it too...

If you are handy at all you can do it yourself. K701 is much easier to do as you only have to reterminate. from what I understand the K702 only have a 3 conductor cable and need to be fully recabled. 

K702 is easy to balanced mode, check this thread!

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/483861/guide-balanced-akg-k702-with-detachable-4-pin-mini-xlr-cable

Cheers

Pal

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek101 

Wish I had the courage to spend cash to get Phoenix + Ref5. May be in a few years. I ordered NFB-10ES too, had to get my AKG K702 balanced that set me off few hundred $s back. I will have to wait and see how this new rig will compare to my FUN ver A.

 

 

I for one have courage but not money to buy Phoenix. That digital volume control looks so appealing.
 

I just viewed the Audio-GD offer over again and came across NFB-10. This looks really cool. I wanted to buy a new DAC for Xmas. After that I wanted to buy a good ss AMP as well to see how it compares to my MiniMAX. Then my plan was to go fully balanced if I had time, enough money and severe upgraditis. This seems to be great. I have not enough money at the moment but I can hold on for few months.

The question is whether it is worth it or not. The idea of having balanced setup is great but in this price range I expect some compromises in the overall quality hence it may actually sound on par with high quality Single-Ended rigs in the same price range. The NBF-10 is going to cost me £670. I have already found a good AMP for £300 (~$500) so I would have another £370 (~$600) for a separate DAC. Do you think I can find anything that would be better than the NBF-10 DAC? It seems to be at least possible... Obviously people have not tested the NFB-10 yet (at least that's what I think) but according to the Audio-GD NFB-10 discussion thread it seems to be possible. Just speculating though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Sup 

I for one have courage but not money to buy Phoenix. That digital volume control looks so appealing.
 

It´s relay based, when you change the number showed in the LED screen, there is a nice click reminding of how awesome it is :) I never get tired of the "click click click click". I could do it just for fun!

If you were using a computer for a source would you still need to buy the digital interface for the NFB 10ES?  Is it basically the NFB 1 and ROC combined into one? 

"Is it basically the NFB 1 and ROC combined into one?" 

According to what I've read so far it's not. The design (external) + the information given on the Audio-GD website might imply that but it's far from the Roc and NFB-1 performance. At least from what I've read on head-fi so far. It's actually logical because no one would buy Roc and NFB-1 anymore. Also people, who bought very expensive Roc and DACs would be very disappointed seeing Audio-GD releasing new product that could beat their 'toys' and costing a half of what they payed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor00179 

"Is it basically the NFB 1 and ROC combined into one?" 

 

According to what I've read so far it's not. The design (external) + the information given on the Audio-GD website might imply that but it's far from the Roc and NFB-1 performance. At least from what I've read on head-fi so far. It's actually logical because no one would buy Roc and NFB-1 anymore. Also people, who bought very expensive Roc and DACs would be very disappointed seeing Audio-GD releasing new product that could beat their 'toys' and costing a half of what they payed.

Conceptually its not far off from an NFB-1+ROC. But in the practical implementation its a big difference. The NFB-1 has 2 separate transformers and the ROC has one too. Compared to that a single transformer in the NFB-10 will always be a compromise. In addition to this the headphone amp is not disturbed by any HF noise from the DAC board in the NFB-1+ROC combination. This will be the case in the NFB-10.

Still, the NFB-10 has relay based volume control (the best solution for a balanced circuit!) and the output of the DAC is directly fed to the input of the preamp/headamp. Reducing the interference on the long connection between two boxes. Even though this effect is greatly reduced when you use the ACSS connection.

All in all I would guess that the a NFB-1+ROC still beats a NFB-10. But Audio-GD is certainly making real high-end DAC/Headamps more affordable with every new product they release!

No one (apart from Audio GD staff) has actually listened to these combinations yet. So, any qualification (including mine) remains speculative.