Audio-GD NFB-12 - Page 137

 

Already did.

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/524263/audio-gd-nfb-12/1905#post_8272336

Any reason to sell my NFB-12 and buy the NFB-15.1? I still dig my 12.....just itching to buy something else.
 

 

I doubt the difference would be audible. the NFB-15 is more of a technology update than a sound quality upgrade. You might as well get an NFB-5.2 or NFB-10.2 if you're after a serious upgrade. But if you just want something different, there's enough non-audio-gd stuff out there to satisfy your craving. 

 

And to come back to the TE8802 drivers, it turns out it's NOT working with Linux out of the box. There is a bug in the TE8802 firmware that corrupts the initial handshake. It's currently being worked on, and patches are being tested. See http://www.head-fi.org/t/609062/ for more details.

If you want an upgrade, go to the NFB10SE but I would upgrade your headphones first personally.

I concur.

Differences between amps/DAC's are nothing compared to the differences between headphones, both sound quality and character (e.g. frequency response).

I am using Grado RS1i's........so you say I should upgrade those?

It said RS80i when I posted, did you just update your signature? RS1i is nice for sure so I would not recommend doing a near sideways move to the NFB15. Grado's balanced are very nice.

Yeah, my sig was a little old......I was looking at the 15 so I could mess with the filters easier then popping the top off.

 

Any other thoughts or comparisons between the O2 and NFB 12.1?  I'm looking at both of these.  People say the NFB is more warm and the O2 more lean?  What about strength of the bass?

Bass is quite strong on NFB-12 out of Included HP out. Stronger than out of my other two amps I tried. I'm using one of the 8x filters, not sure how much the filters change the bass level as I haven't played with the filters much lately.

I agree. So I use the 2x or 4x filters when I have a headphone that is bass light. But for a bass heavy headphone the 8x minimum apodising filter is the one I found has less bass.

About so yeah. Both are accurate and in that sense "neutral" but teh O2's like you said are more lean and clean(not meaning the NFB;s are muddy, it's just the easiest word to use) while the NFB's add more punch to it and are warmer and have more "soul" to it. On a lot of music western music, the NFB's are the way to go however for Asian songs that I like, many will favor the O2 more.

 

Thanks!  This is very helpful.  I'm actually considering the nfb-15.1.  It's supposedly a little more neutral.  I guess that puts it in between the 12 and O2.  I'm also thinking about the Nuforce HDP.  The HDP has more input options.  I wish there were RCA in on the nfb-12.1 like there are on my Compass.
 

 

NFB12 has 3 inputs - USB, optical, and coax (RCA)

And for clarifications sake, no, you can't plug your "component RCA" cable from your computer's regular output (3.5mm to component RCA) into the NFB. I guess you may be able to use a component RCA cable instead of a Digitial Coaxil cable if you don't have one but I have never tested it. 

If you wish to use Coaxil with the NFB 12.1, you need a S/PDIF Coaxil output on your computer or device, of which for best results you have a Digital Coaxil cable linked between the NFB 12.1 and said device. The Digital Coaxil cables that use the RCA connection format(there isn't another format, they just use the RCA connector format) have a orange stripe on the ends. And after you use that cable, you just set your NFB to COA input.