[Currawong]

rlawli: Mine works with the Digital Interface up-sampling to 192k, using a Canare RCA digital cable.

 

[SP Wild]

Quote:

While Tarsik's mod of the NFB-11 is quite an accomplishment but I think he missed an important point. With his skill level he should have discovered before buying that the the digital section of the NFB-11 does not have the hive of WIMA bypass/decoupling caps surrounding the ESS-9018 chip like the higher end audio-gd NFB-10/1/7 digital sections have. The capacitors Tarsik added are still far away from the ES9018 pins. What I want to say is the performance of his mod-NFB-11 may at best be on the same level of the NFB-10/1 and still does not have balanced output. To me, any non-balanced implementation of the ES9018 is still "suffocating" the chip considering it is a 8 channel DAC chip.
 
I don't see the price/performance advantage from his mod excecpt the sound signature change with the tube output buffer, which is down to personal preference. For me, if I want to get the "tube" sound, I would just use the 100% free foobar VST adaptor and plugin. That is even higher price/performance.
 
The NFB-11 is a good DAC for its price. For DIY ES9018 DAC the better kit choice would be the Ackro DAC implementation.

Any chance you could provide a link for this free DSP plug in?
 
I roll my eyes at people condemning a solid state design, due to a personal preference to tubes.  I have a personal preference to tubes and NOS dacs...but am under no illusion that what I like is the harmonic distortion presented by these desgns...which I believe mimic harmonic distortions of physical sound waves propagating through atmosphere.  Distortions that were never in the recording per se.
 

 

[AlexRoma]

Hello again.. I did some do A-to-B comparison between my Audinst HUD-MX1  and NFB 11 (non usb) on HD600 headphones. No extra amp added, just direct connection to the amping section of both device (stock USB cable -> Audinst-> stock Toslink cable -> NFB11 ). The results are so strange, that I would not share them yet. I think there is something wrong in my chain, it could be the cheap cable, or maybe some hardware issue.
 
In order to make things clear, I would like to ask anybody here, who has both device (Audist HUD MX1 and NFB 11 TCXO), better cables and more experience, PLEASE make this experiment yourself and share with us. Comment the sound signature and stage difference you hear. Not necessary HD600 headphones, any high ohm phones will do . 
 
 

 

[dinkoy]

Quote:

Hello again.. I did some do A-to-B comparison between my Audinst HUD-MX1  and NFB 11 (non usb) on HD600 headphones. No extra amp added, just direct connection to the amping section of both device (stock USB cable -> Audinst-> stock Toslink cable -> NFB11 ). The results are so strange, that I would not share them yet. I think there is something wrong in my chain, it could be the cheap cable, or maybe some hardware issue.
 
In order to make things clear, I would like to ask anybody here, who has both device (Audist HUD MX1 and NFB 11 TCXO), better cables and more experience, PLEASE make this experiment yourself and share with us. Comment the sound signature and stage difference you hear. Not necessary HD600 headphones, any high ohm phones will do . 
 
 

 
Hi, based you setup, you were able to use the NFB11 as a standalone amp?
 
 

 

[AlexRoma]

Quote:

Hi, based you setup, you were able to use the NFB11 as a standalone amp?

 
No. I was able to use both device as DAC/AMP's the same time. Audinst has a toslink out that runs simultaneous with the working dac/amp section..   So... The signal came from my PC to Audinst and than passed through toslink to NFB 11. Both device were able to run individually, based on the same signal... I was able to use them both the same time, just switching my headphones` out from Audinst to NFB'11...
 
But.. As I previously said, the results I heard were not the one I'd expected.. So, I need someone make the same experiment, who's findings could help me clear the situation.

 

[sorue]

Quote:

Quote:

Hi, based you setup, you were able to use the NFB11 as a standalone amp?

 
No. I was able to use both device as DAC/AMP's the same time. Audinst has a toslink out that runs simultaneous with the working dac/amp section..   So... The signal came from my PC to Audinst and than passed through toslink to NFB 11. Both device were able to run individually, based on the same signal... I was able to use them both the same time, just switching my headphones` out from Audinst to NFB'11...
 
But.. As I previously said, the results I heard were not the one I'd expected.. So, I need someone make the same experiment, who's findings could help me clear the situation.

That is a terrible way of comparing the two. Connect both DIRECTLY to the PC. By using the toslink out of the audinst, you're adding one more component in the signal chain and that's never good. toslink is a severely flawed interface for audio and why spdif - even with its flaws - is still much better
 
 

 

[dinkoy]

So how did it go? Care to post a few of your findings? Maybe theres a logical explanation for that.

 

[AlexRoma]

dinkoy and the others, if you have both device (Audinst HUD MX1 and NFB 11), connect them please together, the way I had described previously. Than normalize volume level on both device with your headphone (more loud sound may give the illusion of better detail). Than start listening your reference audio , changing your headphone out from one device to another, in order to notice the sound difference as accurate as possible. Try to memorize the difference of sound signature , soundstage, separation and other nuances... Than post here your impression.. In the end, the thing I ask you is an ordinary A to B comparison between the two device, with the condition that NFB's signal comes out of Audinst's SPDIF toslink out. That's all.. I just try to find out the difference in sonic signature and quality of these device, for my(our) high Impedance headphones. 
 
If I tell you the issue bothering me after my comparison, as a result, it may influence your perception, and could have made this comparison inaccurate. 

 

[dj_surya]

 
btw for fellow australian who like nfb-11 without waiting..
 
http://melbourne.gumtree.com.au/c-Stuff-for-Sale-stereo-audio-NFB-11-Audiophile-DAC-SPDIF-COAX-W0QQAdIdZ281415903

 

[rlawli]

FYI:
 
The NFB-11 syncs well @ 176.4k and 192k using a TC Konnekt 24D firewire d/a, a/d, d/d audio interface:
 
Foobar2000 -> TC native Win7 32 bit ASIO driver --> TI based pci 1394a firewire card -> standard FW cable -> Konnekt FW port -> Konnekt S/PDIF out -> Canare LV77S 75 ohm digital cable -> either the NFB-11 BNC or RCA inputs. 
 
(Device drivers for Win7 64 bit and Mac OSX are available but I haven't tried them.)
 
Essentially, I'm only using TC audio interface as a PC to s/pdif passthrough device, turning off its other I/O ports and bypassing the mixer. This does have the merit of locating the "sound card" outside the PC. Also, the Konnekt (which is built like a tank) uses the TC DICE II I/O engine and JET PLL jitter elimination technologies. This chipset is used in a number of other current professional DAWs and digital interfaces, including the Weiss INT202 & 203. Although the bad news is TC is getting out of this end of the music business, I expect there soon will be a lot of this kind of TC equipment for sale cheap. Since they are still in it at the semiconductor and other professional production equipment end, they will need to maintain the firmware and device drivers for the i/o and jet technology.
 
How does it sound? Pretty good: no dropouts, low latency, the silences are dead quiet, no noise, no digital dross; and what I do hear is the cleanest and most neutral sound I've yet to hear through the NFB-11. Of course, I don't have an Audio-gd DI to compare it against.
 

 

[AlexRoma]

oh, come on, guys, are there no Audinst HUD-MX1 owners here besides me ? I don't think so. Once again, PLEASE, make an A to B comparison on them (no extra amp, use the build in amp section on both)... I had hard time comparing these two on my HD600. I'm afraid there is something wrong in my chain (USB->Audinst->Toslink->NFB11). You could helped me, giving your subjective A to B comparison results. 

 

[dinkoy]

Any updates on the respective owners?

 

[dinkoy]

Pairing it with my LCD2 right now. Very clean output at 24/96 tracks. 

 

[CJG888]

Audio GD NFB-3 or NFB-11?
 
I'm looking for a detailed, dynamic, revealing DAC for up to about USD 300 to go between an iPod Classic 160GB (AIFF only) in an Onkyo ND-S1 and a Little Dot Mk.III feeding Sennheiser HD600s. Warmth should come from the tubes, not the DAC! Musical tastes are classical and acoustic jazz.
 
So far, I am focusing on the Audio GD NFB-3 or NFB-11, with a suspicion that I will prefer the latter. It seems that the D/A converter in the NFB-11 is superior, whilst the NFB-3 has more elaborate casework and a "proper" PSU. The headphone amp of the NFB-11 is an irrelevance to me, as I have the LD Mk.III - as are the ACSS outputs on the NFB-3.
 
What do you think?

 

[AlexRoma]

Ok guys.. I have been waiting long enough for an adecvate comparison on NFB11 vs Audinst HUD MX1. So, I am gonna share my impression on the case, It might help CJG888 directly.
 
First of all , from day one till now, I had a constant impression that Audinst HUD MX1 sounds bigger than NFB11. A hilarious conclusion, considering the insides of both device. NFB11 looks much more high-endish, but in practice, I find it sounding not as impressive as expected. The main complain goes for soundstage presentation. It is vary flat, linear and narrow. Audinst has better 3D construction in comparison on my HD600's, NFB11 puts all the instruments in single line, vary closed to each other, almost no 3D at all. LittleDot MKIII, however, improve the situation, makes the sound more spacious, but it brings  Audinst the same benefit too. The bass quality, however, goes for NFB11, hat down... Wolfson bass is way too soft and simplified for my tastes.. 
 
First, I have thought I was a transport issue... I had tried past month lots of variations and combinations (Toslink, Coax, RCA, even Digital Interface). The results were same .