[purrin]

Since the new M7 USB is really good, saving up and getting M7 should be seriously considered. Not many DACs have Ms7s combination of smooth sound, natural timbre, and good resolving capabilities. NFB-7 is more grainy and as a treble sheen. Timbre doesn't seem as natural.

 

[Clemmaster]

But it is also more dynamic ("brutal") and overall livelier sounding. The NFB-7 is just great with rock!

 

[jacal01]

Thanks, this is end-game setup for me, i don't plan to spend more than 1500$ for a new dac (the best dac i have is the centrance dacmini), i just got master 9 + hd800 recently so i need a better dac to pair with them but since there are so many good impressions for the m7 compare to nfb7, I don't know if i should save up more for m7. I mostly listen to newage and a little rocks

 
The good impressions and reviews are there for a reason, and not all of it is fanboyism...  Some of these guys have a lot of comparative experience (e.g. purrin), but then even that is mitigated by their personal tastes and upsteam/downstream set-up components.  Short of trying them yourself and offloading the also rans, or attending one or more regional show/meets, it's somwhat arbitrary, as long as you're sufficiently satisfied with the results in your system.  I would suggest you do a lot of reading up front (user impressions, reviews, technology/topology discussions, etc.) and then pull the trigger on at least a trial.  And then timing is critical vis-a-vis new product.  For instance, the Yggdrasil DAC release is being fairly anticipated right now.
 
The $1500... is that a hard ceiling/max, or would you entertain ≤ $2500 if the product is sufficiently exceptional/transcendental for its price point?  How about $2995? 

  Then there are some that say that the mother of all DACS is just waiting out there at a mere $10K.  You see what I mean?  Which is supercedant for you, budget or sonic quality?

 

[purrin]

But it is also more dynamic ("brutal") and overall livelier sounding. The NFB-7 is just great with rock!

 

[Clemmaster]

 

Without the OR5 

.

 

[Tom W]

Thanks, this is end-game setup for me, i don't plan to spend more than 1500$ for a new dac (the best dac i have is the centrance dacmini), i just got master 9 + hd800 recently so i need a better dac to pair with them but since there are so many good impressions for the m7 compare to nfb7, I don't know if i should save up more for m7. I mostly listen to newage and a little rocks

 
Everyone is different but I have a 'cheap' Audio-GD amp (C-2) with plain ole HD650's and I listened to a few $1500 DAC's.
 
In the end I spent quite a bit more than $1500 on my DAC/Source. Even the HD650's allowed me to hear 'issues' with some of the DAC's I auditioned and then of course there's personal preferences on presentation, tone, etc..
 
If you don't want to spend more than $1500 on a DAC my advise is not to listen to any that cost more than $1500 - especially with your current amp and phones.
 
You might be happy with a $1500 DAC but it may not be your first $1500 DAC, or your second $1500 DAC, or even your third $1500 DAC and that's OK - Enjoy the journey! 

 

[Yukinari]

thank guys, i dediced to go with M7. Living in a hot 3rd world country there are very very scarce high-end stuff available here so trying and testing are out of option, we have no choice but to relies on the reviews and impression around the net (but everyone tastes are different ><), selling unsatisfied/used products also very hard .
Audio-gd products are one of a few i can get with the best prices.

 

[jacal01]

Good choice.  I think you'll find that the M7 is a DAC that you can be satisfied with for a long while if you so choose.

 

[lieberung]

RJ45 was fine when I used it. I tried different ethernet cable types and made my own cables. The LVDS board for DACLadder simply makes the sound consistent regardless of HDMI cable used. The differences or improvements are slight. In other words, it's still OR via i2s, which seems to be better than any other USB solution that I have tried.

I haven’t had any problem with the rj45 interface between M7 and Offramp 5. My experience is that the Offramp 5 does everything better or much better thru 12S than thru M7’s USB32 or Offramp 5’s S/PDIF.

Ok, Ill take that into account as well. Thnx.

 

[d4nim4l]

Man I am so torn! I really want to buy a M7, but my NFB10-SE has no analog inputs, so I would want to buy something like a Master 9 to go with it and I don't want to drop $4k all at once.  This has led me towards the ref 10.32, but I am not sure how far apart those two options will be.

 

[drez]

Could always buy m9 first.

 

[ccschua]

In my opinion, I think Master 7 is still the most value for money C/P. I am thinking of upgrading to Master 7.
 
has anyone tried DI v4 with the Master 7 ?

 

[ciphercomplete]

  In my opinion, I think Master 7 is still the most value for money C/P. I am thinking of upgrading to Master 7.
 
has anyone tried DI v4 with the Master 7 ?

 
I see you have the C-3 preamp.  That is a badass preamp.  A friend loaned me his right before I bought the Master 1.  Easily bettered the Wyred 4 Sound SE pre I had at the time (as did the Master 1).    

 

[d4nim4l]

Could always buy m9 first.

I was thinking about that, but I had read a number of things about the M7 possibly being discontinued along with the PCM 1704 phase-out.

 

[ccschua]

   
I see you have the C-3 preamp.  That is a badass preamp.  A friend loaned me his right before I bought the Master 1.  Easily bettered the Wyred 4 Sound SE pre I had at the time (as did the Master 1).    

I wonder how would C-3 compare to the master 1. C-3 is 2 chassis while the master 1 is single chassis. somehow after trying all the expensive XLR cables, it just cant be as neutral as cheap ACSS connection.