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Review: Audio-gd NFB-7
May 4, 2014 at 12:55 PM Post #77 of 201
considering one of these to replace my hiface2 and stagedac. just worried about the dreaded uk customs.
 
Sep 7, 2014 at 5:57 PM Post #78 of 201
Is there no appreciation thread for this beast?! 
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Dec 15, 2014 at 11:45 PM Post #81 of 201
I have been struggling between Master 7 and NFB 7 these days. The price gap is apparent (enough for me to buy a used flagship) .But from what I read everywhere, Master 7 is definitely superior. I am looking at DI-2014, too. Anyone know how it pairs with Master 7 or NFB-7? Will there be a huge improvement? Thank you, guys!
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 3:25 AM Post #82 of 201
soulorc said:
  I have been struggling between Master 7 and NFB 7 these days. The price gap is apparent (enough for me to buy a used flagship) .But from what I read everywhere, Master 7 is definitely superior. I am looking at DI-2014, too. Anyone know how it pairs with Master 7 or NFB-7? Will there be a huge improvement? Thank you, guys!
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Different sound. Master-7 needs to be pair with an OR5. If it's not, I prefer the much livelier sound of the NFB-7.
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 12:11 PM Post #83 of 201
ohhgourami said:
 
Different sound. Master-7 needs to be pair with an OR5. If it's not, I prefer the much livelier sound of the NFB-7.
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Thank you so much. You may just save me a lot of money.
 
Another question is: do I need a digital interface for NFB-7? And is Master 9 a good pair with NFB-7? Sorry for these annoying questions. I just joined head-fi community not long ago.
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 12:55 PM Post #84 of 201
With a good DDC, the Master-7 is more dynamic, more 3D, more defined than the NFB-7. Overall better technicalities all around.
 
The Master-7 has a somewhat romanticized sound with a lush midrange, strong bass (not very tight, but deep and well textured) and an overall warmish sound. The NFB-7 is more neutral, tighter and more agile.
 
I found the Master-9 + Master-7 slightly too bright with the HE-6. Lacking emotion. The NFB-7 would shift everything towards a brighter and thinner sound. That would be great if you have an Audeze or similar (Oppo, HD-6xx, ...). For Hifiman headphones, I'll take the M7 any day.
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 1:14 PM Post #85 of 201
clemmaster said:
  With a good DDC, the Master-7 is more dynamic, more 3D, more defined than the NFB-7. Overall better technicalities all around.
 
The Master-7 has a somewhat romanticized sound with a lush midrange, strong bass (not very tight, but deep and well textured) and an overall warmish sound. The NFB-7 is more neutral, tighter and more agile.
 
I found the Master-9 + Master-7 slightly too bright with the HE-6. Lacking emotion. The NFB-7 would shift everything towards a brighter and thinner sound. That would be great if you have an Audeze or similar (Oppo, HD-6xx, ...). For Hifiman headphones, I'll take the M7 any day.
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It's interesting that you find the Master 9 + Master 7 to be slightly bright but the Master 7 to be warm.  I find the Master 10 + Master 7 to be on the warm side. I also found the Master 3 to be on the warm side as well.
 
I will purchase the NFB-7 while I still have the Master 7 and compare the two with the Master 10.  My Master 10 is in the shop being upgraded to the Master 10 (2015) now.  
 
If the upgrade can give the Master 10 a little more air I will more than likely keep the Master 7 - If not I hope the NFB-7 can bring that tad bit of needed air to the mix. 
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 1:30 PM Post #86 of 201
preproman said:
 
It's interesting that you find the Master 9 + Master 7 to be slightly bright but the Master 7 to be warm.  I find the Master 10 + Master 7 to be on the warm side. I also found the Master 3 to be on the warm side as well.
 
I will purchase the NFB-7 while I still have the Master 7 and compare the two with the Master 10.  My Master 10 is in the shop being upgraded to the Master 10 (2015) now.  
 
If the upgrade can give the Master 10 a little more air I will more than likely keep the Master 7 - If not I hope the NFB-7 can bring that tad bit of needed air to the mix. 
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Very interested in what you'll think.
I wouldn't call either superior as they're both on almost equal footing component wise... It's rarely a clear cut
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 They're certainly different though, and what one prefers, the other might not 
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Dec 16, 2014 at 4:36 PM Post #87 of 201
preproman said:
 
It's interesting that you find the Master 9 + Master 7 to be slightly bright but the Master 7 to be warm.  I find the Master 10 + Master 7 to be on the warm side. I also found the Master 3 to be on the warm side as well.
 
I will purchase the NFB-7 while I still have the Master 7 and compare the two with the Master 10.  My Master 10 is in the shop being upgraded to the Master 10 (2015) now.  
 
If the upgrade can give the Master 10 a little more air I will more than likely keep the Master 7 - If not I hope the NFB-7 can bring that tad bit of needed air to the mix. 
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Well, the brightness is certainly coming from the HE-6 
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Plus, it's relative to the other amps I had at the same time (the Ragnarok, mainly). The M7 + M9 had a "super clean" approach to the sound that does not suit the HE-6 and my tastes very well. It wasn't bad by any mean, just not as involving / enveloping as the Rag with the same DAC and headphones.
 
The NFB-7 has a special synergy with the SA-31(SE). That's the setup I used to have in France (NFB-27 + SA-31) and I was reminded how great it was with the HE-5LE and HE-560 when I had gourami's NFB-7 in house!
I don't care much for the HE-560 or HE-5LE when I put the Master-7, for some reason... Synergy, synergy...
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 5:26 PM Post #88 of 201
clemmaster said:
   
Well, the brightness is certainly coming from the HE-6 
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Plus, it's relative to the other amps I had at the same time (the Ragnarok, mainly). The M7 + M9 had a "super clean" approach to the sound that does not suit the HE-6 and my tastes very well. It wasn't bad by any mean, just not as involving / enveloping as the Rag with the same DAC and headphones.
 
The NFB-7 has a special synergy with the SA-31(SE). That's the setup I used to have in France (NFB-27 + SA-31) and I was reminded how great it was with the HE-5LE and HE-560 when I had gourami's NFB-7 in house!
I don't care much for the HE-560 or HE-5LE when I put the Master-7, for some reason... Synergy, synergy...
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That screams my setup 
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 Plus the incoming DI-V2014. and Wyrd. 
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Dec 16, 2014 at 5:34 PM Post #89 of 201
clemmaster said:
  With a good DDC, the Master-7 is more dynamic, more 3D, more defined than the NFB-7. Overall better technicalities all around.
 
The Master-7 has a somewhat romanticized sound with a lush midrange, strong bass (not very tight, but deep and well textured) and an overall warmish sound. The NFB-7 is more neutral, tighter and more agile.
 
I found the Master-9 + Master-7 slightly too bright with the HE-6. Lacking emotion. The NFB-7 would shift everything towards a brighter and thinner sound. That would be great if you have an Audeze or similar (Oppo, HD-6xx, ...). For Hifiman headphones, I'll take the M7 any day.
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Neutrality, tightness (bass?) and agility are also IMO technicalities and it's nice to hear that those areas are still the domain of the NFB-7. Surprised you feel the M7 is more dynamic as that is a strength of the Sabre32 chip and a weakness of many 1704 dacs including older Audio-gd REF series.
 
The NFB-7 is very far from being bright or thin so your second comment makes me feel the Master-7 is overly lush/full to be neutral, I know the old REF 7.1 and 5.32 were.
 
I am someone who has never found the HE-6 to be even slightly bright. Even with the brighter NFB-7, more neutral Master-6 and silver interconnections with Silver/gold headphone cable its still far from bright to my ears ( even the HD800's in exact same system don't come across as bright! ).
My HE-6 sounds closer, tonally, to the LCD2.2 just with more treble presence.
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 5:42 PM Post #90 of 201
nigeljames said:
 
Neutrality, tightness (bass?) and agility are also IMO technicalities and it's nice to hear that those areas are still the domain of the NFB-7. Surprised you feel the M7 is more dynamic as that is a strength of the Sabre32 chip and a weakness of many 1704 dacs including older Audio-gd REF series.
 
The NFB-7 is very far from being bright or thin so your second comment makes me feel the Master-7 is overly lush/full to be neutral, I know the old REF 7.1 and 5.32 were.
 
I am someone who has never found the HE-6 to be even slightly bright. Even with the brighter NFB-7, more neutral Master-6 and silver interconnections with Silver/gold headphone cable its still far from bright to my ears ( even the HD800's in exact same system don't come across as bright! ).
My HE-6 sounds closer, tonally, to the LCD2.2 just with more treble presence.
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Pairing the M7 with an OR5 transforms it significantly. Weaknesses of the 1704 simply disappear with an OR5. Without something as good as the OR5, I prefer the NFB-7 greatly.
 
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