[donluca]

Thanks a lot for the infos semeniub, enjoy your dac!
 
Meanwhile I've been re-reading the thread and I convinced myself that, to start, the NFB-2 with the DIR9001 will be more than enough.

 

[semeniub]

Thanks, donluca. I'm sure that you are going to enjoy your purchase as well.

 

[caracara08]

anyone know how these stack up to the Wyred 4 sound DAC1 priced at 999 or the DAC2 at 1499?

 

[donluca]

Just wondering... those of you that ordered the Digital Interface... did you get it with Solen or Nover caps? Any audible differences between the two?

 

[franklyshankly]

Sorry, what is this digital interface? Does this make the USB section sound better?

 

[donluca]

Quote:

Sorry, what is this digital interface? Does this make the USB section sound better?

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/USBface/Digital1EN.htm
 
It is supposed to reclock the signal, thus sending a clearer and interference free signal to the DAC.

It should bring just a small benefit for most of us, especially with the linear power supply.
 
 
Today I've ordered the NFB-2 DAC along with a pair of their interconnect cables.
I hope everything will go well!

 

[middachten]

Quote:

For an electrical Neanderthal like myself, can you explain the difference in sending a signal via a voltage-based interface, compared to a current-based?  How does the conversion to current from voltage, in relation to this method of signal transfer, work?
 

 
I've been off-line for a short holiday, hence my late relply.....
 
The answer to the first question goes something like this:

1. the connection between two pieces of equipment is susceptible to external noise sources and the quality of the connection (cable) itself.
2. Due to the nature of a current source/receiver interface (=low impedance) its less critical to both of them. 
3. So: less cable influence and less quality degradation due to external interference.

 
The answer to the second question:

1. it usually starts with a current (most DAC chips have current output), so there is no conversion. Only buffering (to provide higher current).
2. Conversion the other way around (from current to voltage) is by simply putting a resistor in parallel. this is easily seen in the schematic diagrams on the Audio-GD website.

 
If you are familiar with Archimedes law I could give you a fluid based explanation of this

.
 
 

 

[attenuated 3db]

Quote:

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/USBface/Digital1EN.htm
 
It is supposed to reclock the signal, thus sending a clearer and interference free signal to the DAC.

It should bring just a small benefit for most of us, especially with the linear power supply.
 
 
Today I've ordered the NFB-2 DAC along with a pair of their interconnect cables.
I hope everything will go well!

Beyond clock stabilization and the ability to resample at the hardware level, the Digital Interface is a USB-S/PDIF interface, and as such brings a rather noticeable improvement in sound quality vs. going straight from a computer's USB port directly to the Tenor USB receiver chip in the DAC.  If you gave me a choice between an NFB-3 with a Digitial Interface or an NFB-2 without one, I would not hesitate to opt for the former.  The power supply implementation and component quality of the NFB-2 offer an "on paper" superiority to the NFB-3, but the Digital Interface going into the S/PDIF coaxial input of either unit will provide a clearly audible improvement in sound quality.  Of course, a "DI" as they are called along with an NFB-2 would be the better combination.   The debate rages over how much of an improvement the independent power supply for the Digital Interface that Kingwa designed largely as a response to consumer demand actually makes on "SQ."  A lot depends on how clean the USB power coming out of your computer is.  But the DI itself will bring more than a "small benefit" to anybody compared to using the USB input on any DAC.
 

 

[ninjikiran]

ugh those small PC's suck hardcore, even for music in my experience unless your making a headless box off of a hyper efficient installation. 
 
Running Win 7 on a similarly configured Zotac resulted in random pops soon as something else took priority, and it just didn't seem right connected via USB directly to NFB-2 and or the Halide Bridge.  Needless to say it only took me a week to go back to microcenter and trade it up for a corsair 800d case to silence my high powered build.
 
But that is just my experience...
Quote:

Hi all,
 
after lurking for a month the forums (and this thread) I decided to show up
 
So, I decided to buy an Audio-GD NFB-2 due to the great reviews it has got here, I'm about to order it as now I don't have money on my paypal and I'm going to recharge it on monday.
 
My setup will be:
 
Asus eeeBox
NFB-2
Rotel RA-04SE
Castle Conway 3
 
Can't wait!

 

 

[franklyshankly]

Thank you donluca and 3db! Very helpful, more to think about.

 

[Proglover]

 
Quote:

Quote:

Beyond clock stabilization and the ability to resample at the hardware level, the Digital Interface is a USB-S/PDIF interface, and as such brings a rather noticeable improvement in sound quality vs. going straight from a computer's USB port directly to the Tenor USB receiver chip in the DAC.  If you gave me a choice between an NFB-3 with a Digitial Interface or an NFB-2 without one, I would not hesitate to opt for the former.  The power supply implementation and component quality of the NFB-2 offer an "on paper" superiority to the NFB-3, but the Digital Interface going into the S/PDIF coaxial input of either unit will provide a clearly audible improvement in sound quality.  Of course, a "DI" as they are called along with an NFB-2 would be the better combination.   The debate rages over how much of an improvement the independent power supply for the Digital Interface that Kingwa designed largely as a response to consumer demand actually makes on "SQ."  A lot depends on how clean the USB power coming out of your computer is.  But the DI itself will bring more than a "small benefit" to anybody compared to using the USB input on any DAC.
 

Now it comes up, I'd like to get one thing straight, sorry for my lack of knowledge, but If you're already using a SPDIF coaxial output from your computer, straight to the NFB-3 coax input, a DI would not add anything, or am I wrong?
 

 

[attenuated 3db]

Quote:

Now it comes up, I'd like to get one thing straight, sorry for my lack of knowledge, but If you're already using a SPDIF coaxial output from your computer, straight to the NFB-3 coax input, a DI would not add anything, or am I wrong?
 

I think I'll demur to a true expert like PricklyPeete on this one.  I think the DI would still offer some sonic improvement, or they would not sell a version of it that has both a USB and coaxial input, for people feeding it a signal from an S/PDIF source (like a CD transport) and then going into the DAC from there.  But my efforts to explain why it would improve the sound (at least in theory; all individual implementations vary) would probably not be technically literate.  So we'll wait and see what someone else has to say on the subject...
 

 

[aspenx]

An update of my "journey" so far.
 
January: Lurk around this thread
April 14th: First enquiry with Edwin
May 18th: Finalised order
May 22nd: Paid up through PayPal
May 26th: Audio-GD acknowledged payment
June 11th: Supposedly shipped via TNT
June 14th: Received tracking number from Audio-GD. Goods are in HK for transit
??? ??th: Become a happy owner of a Audio-GD NFB-2
 
I've got to figure out where to place the new DAC and the other existing gear before it actually arrives, which I hope is soon enough.
 
Update: Clearing customs now!

 

[donluca]

Quote:

ugh those small PC's suck hardcore, even for music in my experience unless your making a headless box off of a hyper efficient installation. 
 
Running Win 7 on a similarly configured Zotac resulted in random pops soon as something else took priority, and it just didn't seem right connected via USB directly to NFB-2 and or the Halide Bridge.  Needless to say it only took me a week to go back to microcenter and trade it up for a corsair 800d case to silence my high powered build.
 
But that is just my experience...

I have Mac OS on the eeeBox (sea turtles, you know) and I tried it already with Fidelia using exclusive mode and it goes great even with 96/24 files.
The sound output, obviously, sucks big time, and the optical out isn't recognized by the hacked extension driving the audio card, that's why I need a USB DAC.

 

[middachten]

Quote:

Now it comes up, I'd like to get one thing straight, sorry for my lack of knowledge, but If you're already using a SPDIF coaxial output from your computer, straight to the NFB-3 coax input, a DI would not add anything, or am I wrong?
 

This largely depends on the quality of your SPDIF output. But in most(all?) cases the DI would be noticeable improvement. All the jitter specs of SPDIF interfaces that are published (e.g. WM8805 v.s. DIR 9001) are just indications of what the chip is capable of. If the quality of the incoming signal is better, the interface chip has to make fewer corrections and the performance is better.
 
The output of the DI is much cleaner and low-jitter than any standard SPDIF output of a computer. Hence the input receiver has to work less hard. Resulting in a lower jitter overall.