[sphinxvc]

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It really annoys me when mine's defective ;~;
 
Just to update on the situation...Kingwa is a little slow to respond which I understand, but he told me not to use FedEx to ship it back which really throws a wrench in my plans as I work from open to close for other shipping places all week and am going out of town this weekend...He hasn't responded with the preferred shipping service.
 
Can't be too bitter yet though as he seems willing to handle the situation. We both just have to jump through a few hoops I guess.

  
 
I was looking forward to your impressions, as there doesn't seem to be a simpler, more cost-effective combination that can be bought for $1,500 than what you were putting together.  Hopefully you're able to get another one.  
 
Audio-GD's return shipping process is silly.  They ask you to use USPS and declare low -- so low that insurance is a waste of time and shipping back amounts to little more than a big risk.  If your package is lost in transit you're screwed.  What might be safer is shipping with Fed Ex and declaring low.  I would ask Kingwa if you could do that.  
 
Hoping to hear the 10SE at the upcoming NYC meet.  

 

[HaVoC-28]

If your package is lost , you can send a proof for that like your receipt etc , audio gd will cheak it with ems or what ever and if ems confirm that package is lost , i don't think that audio gd will say something like : " hahaha you are screwed , we can nothing for you go to hell 

"   they will just send you another unite , but it will take time (confirmation for the lost etc etc they are not barbarians as i know)
 
 

 

[MorbidToaster]

I don't think I will be getting another, to be honest. Not because I'm bitter (although I am, only slightly), but I finally had a PayPal dispute clear up a good chunk of my money and I'm going to skip up a level and just go for my high end rig. Haven't decided whether to get my SA8004 and use that DAC until I upgrade, or get my LF first and purchase the SA8004 later. First world problems. (Though I could see this unit making its way to my office if I get a nice comfy desk job).
 
They do have a ridiculous return process though...I was of course going to declare low via FedEx, but I just went ahead and hit up the USPS office this morning and sent it out. Now 84 dollars of my money is tied up until it gets there and they decide it wasn't my fault. I'll be watching this package like a hawk considering my last PayPal shipping situation almost lost me $350. Not going to let crap like that happen again. I'll be asking for a refund of my initial shipping cost as well. 
 
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I was looking forward to your impressions, as there doesn't seem to be a simpler, more cost-effective combination that can be bought for $1,500 than what you were putting together.  Hopefully you're able to get another one.  
 
Audio-GD's return shipping process is silly.  They ask you to use USPS and declare low -- so low that insurance is a waste of time and shipping back amounts to little more than a big risk.  If your package is lost in transit you're screwed.  What might be safer is shipping with Fed Ex and declaring low.  I would ask Kingwa if you could do that.  
 
Hoping to hear the 10SE at the upcoming NYC meet.  

 
 
 

 

[sphinxvc]

Hmm, best of luck with the shipping.  A LF and SA8004, huh?  Nice.  You're leaping forward by bounds after that step back.  

 

[MorbidToaster]

Hopefully all goes well. I'm really just blowing smoke and I consider that a pipe dream until I see the gear on my desk. I might be getting a loaner LF this week and I think after some time with it I'll be able to make a firm goal and decision. Though that Dark Star keeps getting good impressions...
 
Either way I'll still be following the 10SE to see how everything goes for other people. Kind of sad I had the experience as I've never tried and Audio-gd product before. 
 
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Hmm, best of luck with the shipping.  A LF and SA8004, huh?  Nice.  You're leaping forward by bounds after that step back.  

 
 

 

[GeoD]

I received my NFB-10SE in the mail from DHL today.  For reference on time, I sent payment on October 3rd so it took me exactly 3 weeks from purchase to delivery to NY.  I fired it up with no problems, but unfortunately have my headphones being reworked for balanced use.  I'm hoping to get them back before the weekend so I can put some serious listening time in and report back.  I got out of the game for a while, but here's a picture of my last setup. 
 

 
I'm excited to hear how close the NFB-10SE in balanced mode compares to the balanced RudiStor NX-33 and Cambridge Audio DAC Magic, because going this route certainly cost me a lot less.  The headphones getting work done are almost the same, except my new ones have a thicker gauge wire and I won't have the wooden cups yet.  I managed to dig up some JVC HA-RX900's I had laying around just because I was itching to make sure the unit was working properly and to see if I could get any initial impressions.  So far I am noticing that you cannot turn the volume up much, especially in high gain mode, but most people probably already know that.  If I researched a bit more prior to ordering, I probably would have opted to scale down the gain, I'd recommend looking into that if you plan on ordering the unit.  I did notice the relays when changing the volume, but only if I had the headphones off my head and this was something I expected to hear since I read about it.  I have already found myself reaching for a volume knob a couple of times, but I'm sure I can get adjusted to the digital volume.
 
So far I'm really impressed with the unit as a DAC.  The soundstage and detail have impressed me so far even on cheap headphones.  It could be just from being away from a higher end source for a while, but I do think I'm hearing some new things in songs I've listened to dozens of times in my previous setup, which is promising.  The true test will be when I get my Denon's back to judge how well it stacks up to my previous setup.  I always wished that I had a little more juice pushing the D2k's than the RudiStor offered me, so I'm excited to see where this thing stands up.  Further impressions and some pictures to come once I get my Denon's back.

 

[Cya|\|]

Nfb-10 arrived

. Listening to it with my speaker system (with true ribbon tweeters). So far the impressions are positive

.
Just one thing: I had to put the volume at 43 in low gain, with my amp volume almost at max, to have decent pressure.

 

[HaVoC-28]

whyt not use high gain ? , with my C2.1 as preamp , in ACSS (it's automatiquely using high gain) and no prob  
 
and AMP at full volume is not normal ... (for me at least) . (with your previous setup did you have to turn your amp soo much too ? )

 

[Cya|\|]

No, the volume was at hour 10-11 with the nfb-3. With the nfb-10SE at low gain, and volume set at 43 (max is 48) I have to set the amp at about 3 hours.

 

[HaVoC-28]

Hum i don't have the same setup , but for me this is odd , if you plug a headphone in your NFB-10SE despite using low gain it's not bearable to hear no ? (too much loud ?)

 

[Cya|\|]

Probably with the rca ouptut, the voltage is lower.

 

[HaVoC-28]

With my C2.1 volume Knob about 10h (same for Headphone or as prea amp) and my Luxman LV-91 amp (9-10h around that) . It's not the same product but ... 

 

[Cya|\|]

it seems to me that the volume via rca output in low gain, is more like a limiter. So at 48 and the amp volume at max, I get it's maximum power.

 

[HaVoC-28]

hum wait for someone else using a NFB-10SE to see if the same happens .peraphs low gain is a limiter , soo it's not working like on my C2.1 in low gain ,(i juste have a lower soud do to low gain in RCA mode but i don't have to push a lot the knob to get about the same volume than in high gain) 

 

[Cya|\|]

Well, by the way I don't mind. I'm going to buy a minidsp to put between the nfb-10SE and the speaker amp. The minidsp accepts maximum 2v input, so I can't drive the nfb-10SE above 2v (and the nfb-3 is 2.5V, as is the nfb-10SE in fixed output mode).