[Khragon]

I thought the M11 now is a tad on the warm side already, which I enjoyed alot, does NOS mode take you all the way?  Maybe too warm for me.  I guess I will have to stop being lazy and open it up to switch to NOS.

 

[bimmer100]

Hi Bimmer, may I come up to you with one question?

As a proud owner of a Nfb29, I was thinking in upgrading my amp/dac to a Master-11. I'm not fond of bright, harsh sound that a -perhaps- HD800 or a T90 could come across with when paired to my Sabre dac...

How would you compare the M11 to the Nfb28 in terms of PRaT, soundstage and treble? I've read that perhaps the 1704uk chip is more focused into vocals but loses punch compared to the 9018 one.

Thx in advance!

To my ears the master 11 sounds better in every aspect over the sabre DAC. Nfb28 2015 edition with amanero combo 384 upgraded. The m11 simply sounds sensational with the hd800 and a pair of T90's. I can't stand the glare of the sabre DAC either. And agd dacs are the most tamed of sabre dacs too! Haha

The NOS doesn't work for some , as the clock actually causes issues with the right channel which overall makes it mis balanced for some units. Kingwa has fixed this issue entirely with the nos11 with a dedicated master clock. Otherwise he explained the m11's mck is on the right channel and causes interference or bandwidth issues with most setups. Making it hard to hear instruments placements when channels are slightly left dominant. Try to set jriver with a +4db to right channel and let me know what you hear. it's not perfect but it's a huge improvement if you are experiencing that problem.

I'm going to convert my m11 to nos11 with the dedicated master clock for dsp. It will eliminate all known issues with NOS dacs and truly sound spectacular. I can't wait to get mine back.

I also am having some occ silver wire installed, EiZZ connectors all around and XLR 3pin male and female and all RCA's too. Tullerium copper with gold plating. I believe it should arrive to them on the 5th. Hope to have back a few weeks from then. I have the nfb28 for now.. But that's my wife's...
Lol, my amp on my desktop is the objective 2 amp I just built last week for my father in law as a gift.
Meh. I'm trying to build my dual dam1021 project with "the wire" BAL BAL amp and SE SE amp, along with quad parallel lt3042 psu's for everything!

 

[Khragon]

That's is going to be one nice Master (NOS) 11.  Looking forward to seeing photos and your listening impressions.  I'm on the fence if I should buy NOS 7.  I'm just not very familiar with NOS sound so not sure what to expect.  Will wait for your souped up NOS11 impressions and decide.

 

[hidehide]

To my ears the master 11 sounds better in every aspect over the sabre DAC. Nfb28 2015 edition with amanero combo 384 upgraded. The m11 simply sounds sensational with the hd800 and a pair of T90's. I can't stand the glare of the sabre DAC either. And agd dacs are the most tamed of sabre dacs too! Haha

The NOS doesn't work for some , as the clock actually causes issues with the right channel which overall makes it mis balanced for some units. Kingwa has fixed this issue entirely with the nos11 with a dedicated master clock. Otherwise he explained the m11's mck is on the right channel and causes interference or bandwidth issues with most setups. Making it hard to hear instruments placements when channels are slightly left dominant. Try to set jriver with a +4db to right channel and let me know what you hear. it's not perfect but it's a huge improvement if you are experiencing that problem.

I'm going to convert my m11 to nos11 with the dedicated master clock for dsp. It will eliminate all known issues with NOS dacs and truly sound spectacular. I can't wait to get mine back.

I also am having some occ silver wire installed, EiZZ connectors all around and XLR 3pin male and female and all RCA's too. Tullerium copper with gold plating. I believe it should arrive to them on the 5th. Hope to have back a few weeks from then. I have the nfb28 for now.. But that's my wife's...
Lol, my amp on my desktop is the objective 2 amp I just built last week for my father in law as a gift.
Meh. I'm trying to build my dual dam1021 project with "the wire" BAL BAL amp and SE SE amp, along with quad parallel lt3042 psu's for everything!

What genre of music do you mainly listen to? I'm deciding to get the M11 or the ES9018 version as I sent them email and they say I may want to consider the ES9018 version as I mainly listen to metal and rock music.. And occasionally string/orchestra as the band I listen to is a mixture of classical and rock music..

I'm currently using an O2 amp as well and with my MacBook Pro since JDS suggest me not to get the ODAC+O2 version as they said there won't have much difference given the respectful DAC in the MacBook Pro..

 

[patrikh]

I appreciate that the M11 has the option to switch between oversampling options since NOS isn't necessarily a neutral way to go. It's like having tubes distorting the sound which is occasionally nice but as a reference unit, not so much.

 

[Bombik]

I had the imbalance as well when I tried NOS mode a while back.
 
->For me and on DAC19 2x oversamling solved this issue.

 

[pervysage]

Found a program that solved my occasional popping/crackling issues through Windows mixer when using USB input on the M11. 
 
This program allows you to stream any PC audio straight through ASIO to the M11's DAC using ASIO Combo384 driver (whether it be Spotify, Youtube, etc.) Effectively bypassing the crappy Windows mixer.
 
http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Cable/index.htm
 
(DIRECT DOWNLOAD link: http://vbaudio.jcedeveloppement.com/Download_CABLE/HiFiCableAsioBridgeSetup_v1007.zip)

 

[mtoc]

I'm waiting for the ES9038 versiom NFB27, it would be a big big killer, but who knows.

 

[casper3127]

Does anyone know which are the sound differences between 9018//9038 Sabre chips?

 

[mtoc]

You could kill and skip the famously infamous ASRC in the ES9038 but 9018.

 

[patrikh]

  Found a program that solved my occasional popping/crackling issues through Windows mixer when using USB input on the M11. 
 
This program allows you to stream any PC audio straight through ASIO to the M11's DAC using ASIO Combo384 driver (whether it be Spotify, Youtube, etc.) Effectively bypassing the crappy Windows mixer.
 
http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Cable/index.htm
 
(DIRECT DOWNLOAD link: http://vbaudio.jcedeveloppement.com/Download_CABLE/HiFiCableAsioBridgeSetup_v1007.zip)

Trying this right now. I have too heard some pops from time to time.

 

[patrikh]

For me this fixed the issue of delayed sound startup. All sources have always started a second late for me and, for example, having to pause and continue youtube videos really brought out the worst of this problem. Now it's much more responsive.

 

[johnzz4]

  For me this fixed the issue of delayed sound startup. All sources have always started a second late for me and, for example, having to pause and continue youtube videos really brought out the worst of this problem. Now it's much more responsive.

I've been using that app for a while.. I love it.  Very stable, virtually no delay and sounds excellent.  Using jRiver as an ASIO bridge, I can't get the delay short enough to watch netflix, etc.  Hifi Cable fixed all that.

 

[johnzz4]

Okay, so below is my current chain.  I'm curious to see what some recommendations are for upgrades and what I can expect for a sound difference.
 
Laptop w/ Tidal playing through Hifi Cable ASIO bridge -> Supra USB Cable -> ifi iUSB3.0 -> Supra USB Cable -> M11 (Amanero USB - factory settings) -> Balanced high-end Audeze cable (not the black rubber one) -> LCD-4 200 ohm
 
It sounds amazing, but I'll forever be afflicted with wanting more and better.  Based on what I'm reading, I'm guessing my best bang-for-the-buck upgrade would be an external USB interface (via I2S - I have the factory installed HDMI input to replace the Ethernet port).  Looks like there are some new cards (X1 or something) that look promising.  Any thoughts?  Thanks!

 

[patrikh]

The biggest problem I had with that issue was when I used an app to solve some mundane puzzles in a game, the instruction sounds didn't work because the instructions stopped and started continuosly, rendering the app virtually useless.