[yupoet]

Are there any discussion about the comparison between NFB12 and NFB10WM? They are both using dual WM8741, the only difference is that NFB10WM is balanced DAC + balanced headphone amp.Will there be a great advantage for the sound quality ? considering I am using Fun in the past and I am now going to upgrade my DAC + Headphone. BTW my headphone is Geman Maestro GMP450. Thank you in advance for any sugesstion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Elanzer]

Well, are you going to be using balance-cabled headphones or are you going to be using a standard 6.3mm stereo jack terminated headphone?
 
If you aren't using balanced headphones, there's not really much point in getting it.

 

[Slaughter]

The Icon is weak in comparison to the NFB-12, actually the HDP has weak output compared to the 12 as well. The NFB-12 has a beefier power supply from what I can tell. And the NFB-12 is being sold at cost I believe and the HDP is being marked up some ridiculous amount because it looks good and they have to make money. The HDP also uses an opamp (OP2134 I believe) that generally gets swapped out in most amps due to its fuzzy, flabby sound. I would expect the NFB-12 to sound better in most situations unless you just don't like the sound flavor.
 
HDP - 288mW @ 30ohms / 152mW @ 300ohms
NFB-12 - 3.5W @ 25ohms / 300mW @ 300ohms
 
 

 
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sorry for my assumption that you only needed a DAC. It always good to check, and the NFB-12 will be more like the Nuforce Icon, but without speaker connection. and added coaxial/optical input. 
 
That would be a nice comparison, as i have seen some people asking about it in the NFB-11 thread. My GF has the Nuforce Icon+S1+W1 setup withs is nice, but i don't feel that the Icon is a good headphone amp, not my ms1000 or Pro900 anyway. 
 
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[thuantran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slaughter /img/forum/go_quote.gif
the NFB-12 is being sold at cost I believe and the HDP is being marked up some ridiculous amount because it looks good and they have to make money.

You made it sound like audio-gd does not have to make money .

 

[Slaughter]

Yeah, I realized that after, but didn't have time to edit it. Obviously AGD has to make money, but it's cool that they release promo products which allow us to get some high quality gear at a much lower price than a retail price. I would even say their regular priced gear is of equal or better quality than a lot of other gear priced much higher. I wish the NFB-12 had a better looking front panel, but then we would probably have to pay more. I like their no nonsense approach.
 
Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slaughter /img/forum/go_quote.gif
the NFB-12 is being sold at cost I believe and the HDP is being marked up some ridiculous amount because it looks good and they have to make money.

You made it sound like audio-gd does not have to make money .

 

[Poetik]

Are any of you guys gonna be using this with the audio-gd digital interface? I'm trying to gauge if I should buy one of those or not.  I emailed audio-gd and they said it would warrant an improvement but just how much of an improvement would be left up to my ears to decide. 

 

[Dynobot]

Quote:

Monday is quiet specefic, i only got this answer:
 
"Now we are arranging the NFB-12,and because it need to prepare so that we will arrange it shipping near these day."

That means they are putting your NFB-12 together now and because of that it will ship soon.

 

[vrln]

Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slaughter /img/forum/go_quote.gif
the NFB-12 is being sold at cost I believe and the HDP is being marked up some ridiculous amount because it looks good and they have to make money.

You made it sound like audio-gd does not have to make money .

The price will go up after the initial run, it´s more of a promo product to advertise the move to the Sabre32 chip Fantastic value, I´m really looking forward to seeing the first reviews. So close to ordering one too, even though I don´t need any new gear...

 

[Uri Cohen]

I don't have the money for it right now but I want to see how more costly it will get after the first run? 

 

[Slaughter]

I'm not sure if this is the reason, but the after the 12 was announced the 10WM now has the 8805 SPDIF chip, so I think the 12 was to test out the new chip. The 11 is a steal and I wish I would have ordered both the 11 and 12.

 
Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slaughter /img/forum/go_quote.gif
the NFB-12 is being sold at cost I believe and the HDP is being marked up some ridiculous amount because it looks good and they have to make money.

You made it sound like audio-gd does not have to make money .

The price will go up after the initial run, it´s more of a promo product to advertise the move to the Sabre32 chip Fantastic value, I´m really looking forward to seeing the first reviews. So close to ordering one too, even though I don´t need any new gear...

 

[FeiJai]

Quote:

Quote:

Can this be used with headphones and 2.1 speakers? Do you connect the speakers, via RCA, into DAC Out? I'm not tech savvy and want to be sure if it is compatible with what I am looking for. Thanks.

If they're powered speakers with RCA connection, yeah you can use the DAC out. Powered speakers are speakers the amplifier built in, so you would still be doing DAC -> amp -> speakers.
 
DAC out is very similar to a headphone out (which would also work with your speakers), the only significant difference is the DAC out is set to a fixed volume level and goes through less stages of the amp.

 
I have another question that is off topic. I was looking at the Audio-GD FUN and it has DAC out, Line In and Line out. What would be the difference in connecting speakers, via RCA, into line in or line out as opposed to Dac out. Thanks.
 

 

[olor1n]

DAC out of the FUN is fixed volume and bypasses the Fun's amp section. Volume would have to be controlled through your speakers (if they're active). Line out is variable meaning it goes through the Fun's amp and ACSS stage (high gain). Volume can be adjusted on the Fun although it's recommended the volume dial be between 10 and 2 o'clock for best results. Line in on the Fun will allow you to connect an external device (ie another DAC) for the Fun to amplify.

 

[BuFFys]

 
You should never connect speakers with a headphone amp! use a speaker amp!
 
Line-in: this is used for connecting source to amp in the FUN. you should only connect speaker here if you want to use them as a microphone! (so NO!), This connection is missing in the NFB-12.
 
Line-out: this is used for preamp, connection to a power-amp. So if you turn the volume-knob the signal will change. this is the same as the DAC-out the NFB-12 to variable output-level signal.
 
DAC-out: this is used to send out a fixed output-level signal, same as the NFB-12 DAC-out set to fixed output-level. used to connect to a normal amp.
 
None of this will work directly to passive speakers, only to active speakers!
And if you really need to connect them to passive speaker, you should use connect them where you connect your headphone. The result can be sound very bad!
 
You can change between fixed/variable with a jumper in the NFB-12, while in FUN you have two different outputs.

 

[jermng]

Anyone thinks the NFB12 will be an upgrade over a DACMagic?

 

[FeiJai]

Thanks for the quick replies and helping me out.
 
Quote:

DAC out of the FUN is fixed volume and bypasses the Fun's amp section. Volume would have to be controlled through your speakers (if they're active). Line out is variable meaning it goes through the Fun's amp and ACSS stage (high gain). Volume can be adjusted on the Fun although it's recommended the volume dial be between 10 and 2 o'clock for best results. Line in on the Fun will allow you to connect an external device (ie another DAC) for the Fun to amplify.

 
Quote:

 

You should never connect speakers with a headphone amp! use a speaker amp!
 
Line-in: this is used for connecting source to amp in the FUN. you should only connect speaker here if you want to use them as a microphone! (so NO!), This connection is missing in the NFB-12.
 
Line-out: this is used for preamp, connection to a power-amp. So if you turn the volume-knob the signal will change. this is the same as the DAC-out the NFB-12 to variable output-level signal.
 
DAC-out: this is used to send out a fixed output-level signal, same as the NFB-12 DAC-out set to fixed output-level. used to connect to a normal amp.
 
None of this will work directly to passive speakers, only to active speakers!
And if you really need to connect them to passive speaker, you should use connect them where you connect your headphone. The result can be sound very bad!
 
You can change between fixed/variable with a jumper in the NFB-12, while in FUN you have two different outputs.