[nicholars]

I am looking at getting either an Audio GD 3.2 DAC or a Audio GD 5.2 Headphone amp/DAC.... Is there a significant difference in sound quality with these two products?
 
Also is audio GD good for headphone amps? Or are they just good for DAC's?
 
I am wondering if I would be better off with
 
Audio GD 3.2 > NAD 326Bee integrated > HD650
 
OR
 
Audio GD 5.2 headphone jack > HD650
 
I want the DAC for use with my external speakers also.... WIll there be a big difference between the NAD and the Audio GD headphone amp?

 

[ShaolinGrump]

I have an Audio-gd NFB-11 (2015) at my bedside. It is silent running my Campfire Jupiter and Acoustune HS1650CU IEMs. Both IEM are sensitive to noise floor hiss on my xDuoo TA-10R and iPods. It powers my Audeze LCD-2 Closed Back just fine.

I am trying to sort out a DAC for my speaker amp system. The NFB-11 sounded okay. I also now am testing an Audio-gd R2R11 (2018) as the speaker DAC. It also sounds okay. But there are so many things going on in the speaker system (source, tube buffer, amp, cables, power supply, room acoustics, speakers, etc.) that I can't tell if the Audio-gd units are helping or hurting the final subjective listening experience.

 

[sajunky]

Give it an hour to warm up. If sound doesn't improve, disconnect all other interconnects and test it on a headphone amp feeding it from a celphone (Android 8 with OTG cable) or a DAP (better) to eliminate ground loops. R2R-11 has the same headamp as in NFB-11, so you have a comparison. Be aware that a celphone as USB source can give a poor sound quality, but you need to compare it with NFB11.

I've got very good pairing R2R-11 with HD-600, also good on speakers.