Audio-GD NFB-11.32 (Delivery & Impression Thread)!!! - Page 19

Quote:

Originally Posted by manzano804 

Hi , i have been using my NFB 11.32 under Windows 7 with no problem , now i switched to an iMac cause it was a christmas present , however when i plug the NFB 11.32 via USB nothing happens , it is not recognized. What must i do to make it work in my iMac ? Is someone using it with a Mac ? If someone can help it would be great .
Regards.

Have you put the switch on the front to USB, gone into System preferences > sound and switched to line out?

Also open Audio Midi Setup and find Line Out with USB icon, and set up your Output on the left as you would like the Format and Bit rate.

Me personally I have switched to using the headphone out as a digital to toslink for the last week.

I have not A/B except for 10 seconds about 1/2 hour ago coincidentally so take with a grain of salt (I am), I think it sounds better. And I have bought a $90. USB cable. So there is a lesson here, I'll leave to you to interpret.

Hope this helps.

PS: MACs rule :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by manzano804 

Thanks , Steve. Now it is working all right . I will try with digital out to try the SQ. Does digital support 32/192 or just 24//192 ? What player do you use ? Does foobar work ?

YW :>)

Foobar ~ There has been some experimentation with getting to work on MAC OSX however I do not think it has been successful. I believe the answer is no.

Digital supports up to 24, I am not sure about up to 192. I use iTunes having 7700 songs give or take a few. Whatever CDs I have (re-ripped) or purchase, or if I'm given any music, I copy into iTunes into ALAC which is 16/44100. With USB when I first got the 11.32 I sampled up, to 32/96000. I stopped doing that for various reasons. I now output at 24/88200 max.  I don't think I would hear the difference between 16/44100 and higher anyway. It's a big debate about bit and sample rates, whether ALAC would sound any better which ever side of the debate one finds themselves.

I have tried Amarra and Audirvana +.  Right now I'm just using iTunes primarily and sometimes the VLC media player.

I am debating whether to invest in Audrivana to run with iTunes.

Hope this helps.

There's still some problems with driver v1.22 and NFB-11.32 under windows 7, 64 bits : if the 11.32 in on when I boot (or reboot) it’s not seen by windows and the sound is off. Audio-gd deck doesn’t want to run. I need to switch off and switch on the 11.32 for it to be seen by windows. It's not really convenient.

One more thing : ASIO disappeared yesterday without any action on my part. It was working the day before and then… Neither JRiver nor foobar saw the VIA ASIO driver (ASIO4All was still there and working, KS worked flawlessly) VIA ASIO needed full uninstallation and reinstallation to work again.

Now the good part : The driver can play from 44.1KHz to 192KHz @ 32bits in direct link under JRiver MC 18 and it’s the first time I think VIA ASIO does as well as KS and even, IMO, better than KS…

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredG 

There's still some problems with driver v1.22 and NFB-11.32 under windows 7, 64 bits : if the 11.32 in on when I boot (or reboot) it’s not seen by windows and the sound is off. Audio-gd deck doesn’t want to run. I need to switch off and switch on the 11.32 for it to be seen by windows. It's not really convenient.

 

One more thing : ASIO disappeared yesterday without any action on my part. It was working the day before and then… Neither JRiver nor foobar saw the VIA ASIO driver (ASIO4All was still there and working, KS worked flawlessly) VIA ASIO needed full uninstallation and reinstallation to work again.

 

Now the good part : The driver can play from 44.1KHz to 192KHz @ 32bits in direct link under JRiver MC 18 and it’s the first time I think VIA ASIO does as well as KS and even, IMO, better than KS…

Bad and good news.....

Thank you for sharing.

I think Kingwa mentioned that this driver (1.22) is in the test phase!?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterCraig 
Firmware #4 and Driver V1.22 using VIA ASIO seem pretty awesome to me now that I have lived with it for awhile.  My ears are sensitive to high frequencies and Firmware #3 and V1.1 was easier on them, but the new V1.22 has much better separation of instruments and vocals, and bass that is more toe-tapping.

Hello, Peter,

Would you please tell me where you took the V1.22 Driver from? On the audio-gd website, I found only V1.21 which comes along with Firmware #4:

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/USB32/USB32EN.htm

Now I am looking through the whole thread and cannot catch the moment where the source of V1.22 mentioned.

Thank you!

Alek

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allek 

 

Hello, Peter,

 

Would you please tell me where you took the V1.22 Driver from? On the audio-gd website, I found only V1.21 which comes along with Firmware #4:

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/USB32/USB32EN.htm

Now I am looking through the whole thread and cannot catch the moment where the source of V1.22 mentioned.

Thank you!

 

Alek

http://www.audio-gd.com/AudiogdUSB32ASIOv1.22forwin1220.rar

http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm

turokrocks,

Thank you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allek 

turokrocks,

 

Thank you!

Please comeback with your feedback about your experience with the new driver.

New members and their fresh impressions are really welcomed .

The driver original install folder can't rename or move . This had note in the install guide file.

If the original install folder have rename or move, the ASIO will lost.

Quote:

Originally Posted by turokrocks 

Please comeback with your feedback about your experience with the new driver.

New members and their fresh impressions are really welcomed .

Oh, sure! I think I'll play with the old and new driver this weekend to feel the difference and then comeback with my impressions.

Ok, I have tried the new driver v1.22 with the FW#4 to compare it with the v1.1 on FW#3.

Now I am ready to form and state my first impressions on this comparison.

But before I tell about the comparison results, let me briefly describe my setup as I believe that setup components may dramatically affect the feelings from suchlike comparison, so I think info on setup is worth to take into account.

So, I use:

Win 7x64 >> F2K >>USB port >> NFB 11.32 (TXO upgraded) >> Exposure 3010S2 preamp/Exposure 3010S2 poweramp >> AE Aegis Neo One speakers.

Now about my impressions from the comparison.

In both cases (v1.1 / FW#3 and v1.22 / FW#4) everything operated smoothly without any fails or drop-outs.

In the 1-st case (v1.1 / FW#3) I set the driver sound deck to 32/384 kHz, in the 2-nd case (v1.22 / FW#4)  - to 32/192 kHz. I didn’t face any problems with operation on these maximum settings.

Now about the feelings from the listening.

Earlier, I found the v1.1 / FW#3 with KS HIEND USB output most optimal to me, so I chose this option as a “reference” to be compared with subsequent v1.22 / FW#4 options.

v1.22 / FW#4, ASIO KS output:

Well, I heard some base and middle improvement making them a bit more distinctive (especially base) in comparison with v1.1 / FW#3. The high middles and highs seemed to be more detailed and emphasized as well. Overall sound seemed more full and mature as compared to v1.1 / FW#3. But at the same time it sounded too bright and unbalanced to my ears. I would not say that the whole picture was comfortable to listen to for more than 5-10 minutes. The detailing and emphasizing the highs (in my case it felt as rather emphasizing than detailing) caused ear fatigue of sharp highs, especially it was represented by sibilants. Highs were too accented to my ears.

Unlike the v1.22, the whole sound picture of the v1.1 perceived mild and balanced though with a bit less distinctive base and, maybe, middle. The highs of v1.1 do not get crazy and sit tight and properly in the sound picture which perceived more delicate and “aerial”.

v1.22 / FW#4, Wasapi (push/event) output:

When switching to Wasapi (push/event) output I noticed that the highs are not so wild which made the listening more comfortable. But the whole picture did not sound as “full” as with ASIO KS output.

To be honest, I could not catch the difference between v1.1 /KS HIEND USB output and v1.22 / FW#4, Wasapi (push/event) output. The switching took some time for flashing firmware and install/uninstall drivers so I would not say for sure about the difference. Nevertheless, the wasapi output of v1.22, seemed to me less “full” in sound than the v1.1 /KS HIEND USB output. Anyway, I think the difference is possible to notice only upon fast switching between drivers.

Probably I should live on both v1.1 and v1.22 drivers for a couple of days to have more “brushed up” opinion on the difference, but I think it would not change much.

I think it would be great to have full and distinct base/middle of v1.22 / ASIO KS output and delicate highs of v1.1 / KS HIEND USB output at the same time.

However, as I said before, the difference described above may vary depending on individual setup used.

In my case, I would prefer to stay on v1.1 with KS HIEND USB output so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allek 

Ok, I have tried the new driver v1.22 with the FW#4 to compare it with the v1.1 on FW#3.

Now I am ready to form and state my first impressions on this comparison.

But before I tell about the comparison results, let me briefly describe my setup as I believe that setup components may dramatically affect the feelings from suchlike comparison, so I think info on setup is worth to take into account.

So, I use:

Win 7x64 >> F2K >>USB port >> NFB 11.32 (TXO upgraded) >> Exposure 3010S2 preamp/Exposure 3010S2 poweramp >> AE Aegis Neo One speakers.

 

Now about my impressions from the comparison.

In both cases (v1.1 / FW#3 and v1.22 / FW#4) everything operated smoothly without any fails or drop-outs.

In the 1-st case (v1.1 / FW#3) I set the driver sound deck to 32/384 kHz, in the 2-nd case (v1.22 / FW#4)  - to 32/192 kHz. I didn’t face any problems with operation on these maximum settings.

 

Now about the feelings from the listening.

 

Earlier, I found the v1.1 / FW#3 with KS HIEND USB output most optimal to me, so I chose this option as a “reference” to be compared with subsequent v1.22 / FW#4 options.

 

v1.22 / FW#4, ASIO KS output:

 

Well, I heard some base and middle improvement making them a bit more distinctive (especially base) in comparison with v1.1 / FW#3. The high middles and highs seemed to be more detailed and emphasized as well. Overall sound seemed more full and mature as compared to v1.1 / FW#3. But at the same time it sounded too bright and unbalanced to my ears. I would not say that the whole picture was comfortable to listen to for more than 5-10 minutes. The detailing and emphasizing the highs (in my case it felt as rather emphasizing than detailing) caused ear fatigue of sharp highs, especially it was represented by sibilants. Highs were too accented to my ears.

Unlike the v1.22, the whole sound picture of the v1.1 perceived mild and balanced though with a bit less distinctive base and, maybe, middle. The highs of v1.1 do not get crazy and sit tight and properly in the sound picture which perceived more delicate and “aerial”.

 

v1.22 / FW#4, Wasapi (push/event) output:

 

When switching to Wasapi (push/event) output I noticed that the highs are not so wild which made the listening more comfortable. But the whole picture did not sound as “full” as with ASIO KS output.

To be honest, I could not catch the difference between v1.1 /KS HIEND USB output and v1.22 / FW#4, Wasapi (push/event) output. The switching took some time for flashing firmware and install/uninstall drivers so I would not say for sure about the difference. Nevertheless, the wasapi output of v1.22, seemed to me less “full” in sound than the v1.1 /KS HIEND USB output. Anyway, I think the difference is possible to notice only upon fast switching between drivers.

 

Probably I should live on both v1.1 and v1.22 drivers for a couple of days to have more “brushed up” opinion on the difference, but I think it would not change much.

 

I think it would be great to have full and distinct base/middle of v1.22 / ASIO KS output and delicate highs of v1.1 / KS HIEND USB output at the same time.

 

However, as I said before, the difference described above may vary depending on individual setup used.

In my case, I would prefer to stay on v1.1 with KS HIEND USB output so far.

Allek, thank you for sharing your experience. As you said its all about personal preferences and setups.

I would suggest to try Jriver18, its free to try and have an amazing asio and wasapi support, also easy to configure, please have a look into it.

You may want to try Cplay, as for me, its the best music player, very simple , and only restricted to asio, but man it sounds amazing...have a look into it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by turokrocks 

 

Allek, thank you for sharing your experience. As you said its all about personal preferences and setups.

I would suggest to try Jriver18, its free to try and have an amazing asio and wasapi support, also easy to configure, please have a look into it.

You may want to try Cplay, as for me, its the best music player, very simple , and only restricted to asio, but man it sounds amazing...have a look into it.

turokrocks, thank you for the advice on the players, actually I've not tried many players, one player was  winamp of an ancient version, and the second one was foobar which I've been staying on for years. Never tried other ones. I think it would be interesting to try Jriver18 and Cplay. Do you think they may sound with NFB 11.32 better than foobar? I heard that foobar is the most honest player used for digital transporting but I've never compared it with other players. Did you notice any difference when using Jriver18 and Cplay as compared to foobar?