[Lazerboy2000]

I'd really love to see this compared to the Maverick D1. The price and features are fairly similar, but I've heard the Maverick's headphone amp being described as "meh". I'd like to see how the NFB-12 stacks up. The tube-out of the Maverick is nice, but not a deal breaker for me.

 

[Slaughter]

Don't assume the 650 is better than the 600. To me and a lot of others, the 600 is superior. They sound different enough that I think you would need to try both if you are going with the Sennheiser sound.

 
Quote:

Are you thinking about HD650 level headphones or even higher? Right away I can spend about 400-500$ to improve my SQ as much as I can.

 

[movi]

i should receive mine in a couple of weeks. i will post a quick review and comment on synergy with HD-650 and D2000 for those interested.

 

[dre2000]

We need a E7/E9 combo comparison

 

[olor1n]

I doubt the more congested and less refined WM8740 found in the E7 would stand a chance next to Kingwa's implementation of dual WM8741 in the NFB12.

 

[ericdube]

Quote:

i should receive mine in a couple of weeks. i will post a quick review and comment on synergy with HD-650 and D2000 for those interested.

 
Congratulations on the purchase!
 
Please report back on how it works out for you as I'm definitely all ears. I've been contemplating the NFB-12 for sometime now. I would really like something to drive my HD-650 during the summer months when it gets much too hot to run my Cary SLI-80 (unfortunately my office doesn't have air conditioning.)

 

[runnin17]

Got an email saying mine should be shipped. Just waiting for the DHL tracking number. Hopefully I have it in a week or so.

 

[dre2000]

Is it possible to plug in my xbox 360 audio cable and active speakers at the same time with the nfb-12? I know you can with the e9 since there is a line in, but I don't see one on the nfb-12. thanks

 

[Passingthrough]

Received my NFB-12 today from EMS/USPS.  I've only had time to listen for a couple of hours but am very pleased so far.
 
     Squeezebox Duet (FLAC) > Coax > NFB-12 > Virtue One.2 w/ upgraded power > NEAR 10M (fairly revealing monitors)
     Squeezebox Duet (FLAC) > Coax > NFB-12 > Senn HD-580
 
First impressions:
 

1. Sounds really good out of the box.  I have not A/B'd yet but seems to have nice clarity without any harsh edginess (I removed a tube buffer that helped tame the Duet's poor DAC and am not missing it).
2. The small form factor is great and case is more solid than I expected.
3. Comes with several jumpers (to set Fixed option) plus an optical and USB cable.  A nice touch.
4. Powers my HD-580 (300 ohm) with ease even on low gain setting.  I can't imagine ever needing the high gain.  My JDS cmoy amp will get only travel duty now as its bass boost was a little too much for my phones but no boost was too little and the NFB-12 has a rich, full sound without overdoing the low end.  Caveat: as always, without A/B blind testing this is only an initial subjective impression.
5. I love that the headphones don't have to be disconnected in order to use speakers.

 
I also have a Maverick D1 (with 1950's Bendix tube) and a Valab NOS DAC.  Time permitting I may do some A/B testing.

 

[mikop]

Thanks for the impressions!
 
Patiently waiting for mine, but great to know the NFB-12 has shipped since they last updated the shipping page on Jan 6.  

 

[Slaughter]

Thanks for the impressions. HD580 is 300 ohms. The high and low setting use different topologies (diamond vs ACSS), so even if the volume is not needed, they should have a different sound. Let us know.

 

[dubai2000]

Great....they are shipping.....nevertheless: their email behaviour is the worst I've ever encountered 

. Even politily expressing dissatisfaction on the special address mentioned above did not lead to any response.....to be honest: that's really bad business behaviour IMO

.

 

[BuFFys]

 
Quote:

Got an email saying mine should be shipped. Just waiting for the DHL tracking number. Hopefully I have it in a week or so.

Well i got my package before i got the new tracking number from Audio-GD when they shipped with DHL! I hope this happens to you too!
 
Quote:

Is it possible to plug in my xbox 360 audio cable and active speakers at the same time with the nfb-12? I know you can with the e9 since there is a line in, but I don't see one on the nfb-12. thanks

 
Do you mean to connect the xbox360 with optical SPDIF to the NFB-12, then have your NFB-12 connect to the active speakers with the DAC-out (two RCA connections)? Then yes, with this connection you will be using the build in DAC to your Active-speakers, and you can have DAC+AMP to your headphones.
 
THE NFB-12 do not have any analog input (only a analog output), but all xbox360s has luckily a optical output.
 

 

[olekrst]

I tried using my nfb-12 as a dedicated DAC and it seems like both "Variable" and "Fixed" is actually a variable line out setting. They sound identical and i can control the volume with the volume knob. Im guessing my "variable and fixed / variable only" jumper is set to variable only(havent checked yet), which is weird because Audio-GD's site clearly states variable/fixed is the default.
 
Infact, why would anyone want to flip the jumper to variable only when the other mode gives you the option to choose from the front panel? 

 

[Passingthrough]

 
Quote:

 Infact, why would anyone want to flip the jumper to variable only when the other mode gives you the option to choose from the front panel?

 
You would want to disable the Fixed output if you are using a true amplifier (one without volume knob) so that you don't accidentally set the NFB-12 to fixed (full) and blow your speakers.  I assume audio-gd decided to ship it that way to be safe.   In my case my amp does have a volume pot but I've bypassed it so would never want the Fixed option on the NFB-12 to work because my toddler will surely flip it on one day.