nuforce dac-9 dac 9 new high-end all-in-one solution

I think it's using the new sabre chip and will retail for $1250.

There is a review but it is in Spanish. Google translate works to see. I was suddenly regretting ordering a W4S Dac2 from reading the specs and maybe I should be. When I saw the pic of the inside of the Dac9 the layout doesn't look as good. I have no expertise in electronic design so I could be very wrong but just looking at the W4S or Weiss they just look a lot cleaner tome in comparison. Looks like a lot of electrolytic caps and RCA analog outputs use wires and connectors.

http://www.nuforce.com/hi/Documents/reviews-dac/DAC-9_ALTA%20FIDELIDAD_es.pdf

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaycalgary 

There is a review but it is in Spanish. Google translate works to see. I was suddenly regretting ordering a W4S Dac2 from reading the specs and maybe I should be. When I saw the pic of the inside of the Dac9 the layout doesn't look as good. I have no expertise in electronic design so I could be very wrong but just looking at the W4S or Weiss they just look a lot cleaner tome in comparison. Looks like a lot of electrolytic caps and RCA analog outputs use wires and connectors.

 

http://www.nuforce.com/hi/Documents/reviews-dac/DAC-9_ALTA%20FIDELIDAD_es.pdf

It sounds its best after warming up. Very full sound with great female vocals, comparable to mid/high-end CD players.  It is very "musical".  Google translate pretty much gets it.

Not much more than that.

Glad I ran across this.  Interested in a new DAC and this is very appealing.  Thanks.

 Gave it a brief rip today through the onboard head amp and lining out to a Woo Audio 6.

 Well Mad Max above refers to it sounding musical ~ this one

 is a live one that's for sure, very lively through the mid range,

 no doubt it sounds a little boosted through the upper mids

 at least. The readout on the left is for the pre-amp volume

 which is adjustable when lining out to the Woo 6.

 It's quite beefy so you find yourself not really using a heap of

 volume on the head amp as can be seen on the Woo 6 with

 the AT W1000X attached.

 It's only early days but as a Rega DAC owner, I found things

 to like, it's far from the warmish signature that you get with

 the Nuforce HDP ~ if anything it made the Woo 6 sound

 almost solid state-ish ~ someone else in the store seconded

 this notion.

 I'm still quite reluctant though to recommend this to just anyone

 out in the wide open space of Head-Fi. Overall, if I took a punt,

 a lot of people would grow tired of the DAC-9 ~ it's far from

 neutral sounding or relaxed in any shape or form.

 If you love Grados, jazz, funk, various rock ~ perhaps take a

 chance, if you're a stickler for a dead set neutral eg, Benchmark

 DAC1 sound ~ stay far, far, away. Best match of the day was

 by chance with a female vocal ~ Winehouse's debut ~ 'Frank'.

 Prat and tempo just sounded so right to my ears, even though

 I was missing my Grado's for such a definitive win over the Rega.

 I'll drop back over the next of couple of days as this unit has yet

 to see 6 hours.

 Headphones used were the snappy W1000X's and well trodden

 Senn HD600's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwarmi 
....... Well Mad Max above refers to it sounding musical ~ this one

 is a live one that's for sure, very lively through the mid range,

 no doubt it sounds a little boosted through the upper mids

 at least. 

.....~ it's far from

 neutral sounding or relaxed in any shape or form.

 

There you go, completely different appraisal to what I hear.  No point in arguing about what you hear but I question if that sound was the result of the DAC 9 or something else in the audio chain.

I do not find it at all lively in the mid range using the Sennheiser HD800s and my feeling is it is very neutral with great relaxing sound.

You hear what you hear and it is very possible it is not a good match in the setup you describe.  But is there any other situation/combination you can trial to see if what you hear is consistently attributable to the DAC 9?

This is the problem we always face appraising items - just what is it in the chain of audio causing that forward midrange etc?  My take is it is usually mediocre input from a player or other source.  Few players produce nice digital output.  GIGO applies as always.

John

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tassie Devil 

There you go, completely different appraisal to what I hear.  No point in arguing about what you hear but I question if that sound was the result of the DAC 9 or something else in the audio chain.

 

I do not find it at all lively in the mid range using the Sennheiser HD800s and my feeling is it is very neutral with great relaxing sound.

 

You hear what you hear and it is very possible it is not a good match in the setup you describe.  But is there any other situation/combination you can trial to see if what you hear is consistently attributable to the DAC 9?

 

This is the problem we always face appraising items - just what is it in the chain of audio causing that forward midrange etc?  My take is it is usually mediocre input from a player or other source.  Few players produce nice digital output.  GIGO applies as always.

 

John

 

 Admittedly it was feeding the Woo Audio 6 tube amp so perhaps that has played a part in terms of coloration.

 But even off the onboard head amp ~ it's a radical departure to my ears from some of the other Nuforce products like the HDP and Icon2.

 A few other people in the store thought the same, it's far from neutral but again it's all just impressions.

 Might try it through the SPL Phonitor at some stage and see what the result is, that thing is dead set neutral as an amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVU 

I think it's using the new sabre chip and will retail for $1250.

  It doesn't use the sabre chip. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tassie Devil 

There you go, completely different appraisal to what I hear.  No point in arguing about what you hear but I question if that sound was the result of the DAC 9 or something else in the audio chain.

 

I do not find it at all lively in the mid range using the Sennheiser HD800s and my feeling is it is very neutral with great relaxing sound.

 

You hear what you hear and it is very possible it is not a good match in the setup you describe.  But is there any other situation/combination you can trial to see if what you hear is consistently attributable to the DAC 9?

 

This is the problem we always face appraising items - just what is it in the chain of audio causing that forward midrange etc?  My take is it is usually mediocre input from a player or other source.  Few players produce nice digital output.  GIGO applies as always.

 

John

 

 Ok yet to try with the HD800 today - finally got the pre amp disabled on the DAC-9 and the out set to fixed - this is a really musical DAC - enjoying it immensely, Prat

 is excellent through the SPL Phonitor - playing everything from the B52's 'Love Shack' to 'Jeff Buckley's 'Grace'.

 Will give it a go today with my Audiophilleo 2 SPDIF transport to see how it sounds off the dedicated BNC connector off the DAC-9.

 Still a bit shocked that this DAC gets no love in the $1500-$1999AUD bracket, hype abounds with so many DAC's at times but

 this is no show pony. It deserves consideration by anyone shopping in that price bracket. It really does.