[KevinFlippo]

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I finally did the same.
My ath-w1000x arrived today, he definitly needs a new buddy quickly !
Maybe a bigger upgrade (much) later with à nfb10 ?
 
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I contacted Audio-gd and decided to go with a Version A FUN HA/DAC.  They offered me the 5% discount on the FUN and they said they will be shipping it out in the next 4 days.  I feel that the FUN is bit of a step up from the NFB-11 in their product line.  Hopefully I will see it this next week.

 

If you order a FUN don't forget to get OPA EARTH or MOON (depending on your headphone and on your taste), MOON give you a big chesty medium and slightly wider soundstage, and smoother highs but you'll keep the extension in high frequencies...
 
For the EARTH i can't explain because i Don't own them, but i'm sure they sound pretty good too !

I received an email today that Audio-gd will be shipping my FUN tomorrow.  So, hopefully it will show up sometime next week. 

 

[milosz]

I have a FUN.  And a COMPASS, too.  And have pre-ordered /chosen to wait for the NFB-11
 
I like both the FUN and the COMPASS.  I have the EARTH OPA in the COMPASS and the MOON in the FUN.
 
The COMPASS has a chassis with a little more metal in it. Just a little fancier casework. I doubt this makes it sound better, but as listening is only part of owning something for me, I pay attention to the, um, "object-ness" of the piece in it's many aspects.  It's not just build quality but build style and so on.
 
Let's face it, I like gizmos.  Put a thicker aluminum panel on it and I'd probably buy it. Whatever it is.
 
That said, the FUN's casework is good quality, just not as chunky as the COMPASS. However, inside the FUN you have more going on than the COMPASS. First off, the FUN is packed with customizability, which for me is a big plus. I can play with my FUN in different ways, which is - well, FUN.
 
Then, the FUN has ACSS which is incredible at this price point. 
 
The FUN also seems to pay more attention to power supply considerations than the older COMPASS, though the COMPASS was not exactly a slouch in terms of power supply & regulation.  But the FUN does offer somewhat more sophistication in power supply.
 
They both are versatile- you can use them as DACs, DAC/HEADPHONE AMPS, or as DAC / Preamps. Or just preamps.  Or just headphone amps.  On optical.  Or USB.  Or SPDIF. 
 
Right now I am using my FUN as a USB DAC / headphone amp.  I also often just use it as a DAC with tube headphone amps.  I'm using my COMPASS as a DAC / preamp in a speaker setup.  Sounds great in that role.
 
So anyway, those who bought FUN will be getting a very nice product, I doubt you will be disappointed.
 
I look forward to getting my NFB-11 because I want to compare the ESS DAC against the Wolfson in an A/B test.  And then I may sell my Compass, I have way too many gizmos.

 

[miyinan]

Quote:

I have a FUN.  And a COMPASS, too.  And have pre-ordered /chosen to wait for the NFB-11
 
I like both the FUN and the COMPASS.  I have the EARTH OPA in the COMPASS and the MOON in the FUN.
 
The COMPASS has a chassis with a little more metal in it. Just a little fancier casework. I doubt this makes it sound better, but as listening is only part of owning something for me, I pay attention to the, um, "object-ness" of the piece in it's many aspects.  It's not just build quality but build style and so on.
 
Let's face it, I like gizmos.  Put a thicker aluminum panel on it and I'd probably buy it. Whatever it is.
 
That said, the FUN's casework is good quality, just not as chunky as the COMPASS. However, inside the FUN you have more going on than the COMPASS. First off, the FUN is packed with customizability, which for me is a big plus. I can play with my FUN in different ways, which is - well, FUN.
 
Then, the FUN has ACSS which is incredible at this price point. 
 
The FUN also seems to pay more attention to power supply considerations than the older COMPASS, though the COMPASS was not exactly a slouch in terms of power supply & regulation.  But the FUN does offer somewhat more sophistication in power supply.
 
They both are versatile- you can use them as DACs, DAC/HEADPHONE AMPS, or as DAC / Preamps. Or just preamps.  Or just headphone amps.  On optical.  Or USB.  Or SPDIF. 
 
Right now I am using my FUN as a USB DAC / headphone amp.  I also often just use it as a DAC with tube headphone amps.  I'm using my COMPASS as a DAC / preamp in a speaker setup.  Sounds great in that role.
 
So anyway, those who bought FUN will be getting a very nice product, I doubt you will be disappointed.
 
I look forward to getting my NFB-11 because I want to compare the ESS DAC against the Wolfson in an A/B test.  And then I may sell my Compass, I have way too many gizmos.

Good job on the FUN and Compass. I was looking at the FUN too a while ago but now waiting on the NFB-11 just because of its smaller footprint. Looking forward to your comparison between the FUN and NFB-11
 
 
Lee

 

[GourouLubrik]

 
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Originally Posted by miyinan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Good job on the FUN and Compass. I was looking at the FUN too a while ago but now waiting on the NFB-11 just because of its smaller footprint. Looking forward to your comparison between the FUN and NFB-11
 
Lee

 
I was also interested by the smaller footprint, because I'll bring it at work everyday along with my w1000x... Now i'm looking for a big & good backpack !
 
Quote:

If you order a FUN don't forget to get OPA EARTH or MOON (depending on your headphone and on your taste), MOON give you a big chesty medium and slightly wider soundstage, and smoother highs but you'll keep the extension in high frequencies...  
For the EARTH i can't explain because i Don't own them, but i'm sure they sound pretty good too !

I took an OPA Earth & OPA Sun, I guess I'll prefer the Sun because Ath-w1000x is soft by nature, and my music taste is quite dynamic music.
 
For those who maintained their order, may the patience be with you.

 

[Professor00179]

Would the NFB-3 beat the NFB-11? I curretly wanted to order a DAC and NFB-11 with Sabre chip sounds very appealing but I already have the AMP. I could also buy a source for a little but more than the price of the NFB-11. Would the NFB-11 still be good for me or there are other options for people in my situation? Theoretically the NFB-11 is amazing value but then again - it comes with the built-in AMP, small chasis, at very low price. If I was not limited by this budget (and could stretch up to NFB-3 or even something slithly more expensive), didn't want/need the AMP and the size of the DAC would not be an issue - do you think NFB-11 would still be a good choice? I can buy CA DacMagic for $25 less and NFB-3 for $60 more. What is good about the NFB-11 is it's lower price and (according to audio-gd website) should be more neutral and revealing (which is a good thing for me). Ehhh... This I hoped to order a nice piece of gear for Xmas and now I ended up in another situation where I have to pick on equipemnt over the others based on people's opinions. Not that I don't like you guys.

 

[BuFFys]

Hi am quite interested in the NFB-11 and I have recently bought a pair of Ultrasone PRO 900.
I wonder if anyone have tried the NFB-11 with a pair of Ultrasone headphones, or tried the A versioned Sparrow/Fun?

 

 

[Hifisound]

Though it may be speculative at this point of time, but do you guys think that NFB-11 headphone amp will as good as that of FUN ?

 

[Danutz]

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB12/NFB12EN.htm
 
 
NFB-12 Dual Wolfson 200$ 

 

[haloxt]

Whoa I saw the $200 price too... I mean... uh... is that a typo? And can someone ask Kingwa how it compares to sparrow/fun with single wm8741? I feel too scared to ask .

 

[Danutz]

 

[size=small]

[size=small]What's different between these popular chips 　[/size] 　​ [size=x-small]WM8741​ ​ [size=x-small]dual WM8741[/size]​ [size=x-small]AD1955[/size]​ [size=x-small]AD1852[/size]​ [size=x-small]WM8740[/size]​ [size=x-small]SNR[/size]​ [size=x-small]128 DB (Mono)[/size]​ [size=x-small]120 DB[/size]​ [size=x-small]120DB[/size]​ [size=x-small]114DB[/size]​ [size=x-small]117DB[/size]​ [size=x-small]DYNAMIC RANGE[/size]​ [size=x-small]128 DB (Mono)[/size]​ [size=x-small]129 DB[/size]​ [size=x-small]120DB[/size]​ [size=x-small]114DB[/size]​ [size=x-small]117DB[/size]​ [/size]

[/size] Difference: see this schema 

 

[audio-gd]

The schema had some typo, here is the correct.
 [size=small] 

   [/size][size=small]What's different between these popular chips
　[/size]

​	[size=x-small]Dual [/size][size=x-small]WM8741[/size]​	[size=x-small]ES9018[/size]​	[size=x-small]AD1955[/size]​	[size=x-small]AD1852[/size]​	[size=x-small]WM8740[/size]​
[size=x-small]SNR[/size]​	[size=x-small]128 DB (Mono)[/size]​	[size=x-small]120 DB[/size]​	[size=x-small]120DB[/size]​	[size=x-small]114DB[/size]​	[size=x-small]117DB[/size]​
[size=x-small]DYNAMIC RANGE[/size]​	[size=x-small]128 DB (Mono)[/size]​	[size=x-small]129 DB[/size]​	[size=x-small]120DB[/size]​	[size=x-small]114DB[/size]​	[size=x-small]117DB[/size]​

 

[BuFFys]

Hmm this just became a hard question! NFB-11 or NFB-12...
 
Should the NFB-12 192-320kbits mp3s?

 

[Danutz]

Wow, seems that Dual Wolfson is not worse than the Sabre (and without its problems 

)
 
Must add: I'm still awaiting my NFB-10WM which is delayed a few days, while they are testing, if there are no (unknown) problems (Edwin told me)
 
Cheers, 

 
Dan

 

[Zynaps]

When I will receive NFB-11, I will order at once NFB-12, it well will approach for my second sound system

My news from Edwin about delivery NFB-11: "Now our NFB-11 fix is in the final step,after we try it a few days confirm no problem that can be shipping out it,thanks"

 

[vrln]

In my opinion the Wolfson seems quite underrated. It would be interesting to know how a full size 3-Rcore dual Wolfson would perform. As it has a more forgiving, warmer sound signature it´s better suited for the many bright headphones on the market right now. That said, from what I´ve read it´s dramatically more transport-reliant than the Sabre. Coupled with a Digital Interfare the NFB-12 is probably going to rock a lot, I´m seriously considering ordering one when I have the extra cash. The Sabre32 NFB-11 on the other hand is more of a plug and play device, no Digital Interface needed (at least not as much I think) due to the Sabre chips great built-in hypersampling technigues. But it´s harder to find a suitable headphone for it...