[Cya|\|]

My nfb-3 arrived a few days ago. I´m glad in the end everything went ok. DHL really does a poor job in Germany (and in Italy too) when you are not at home. And i could never be at home, as i´m alwas at the university during the day. We had to call them 4 days in a row to make them understand to contact the house keeper in case i was not at home. 2 more days, and they would have sent the package back to China...That was indeed a close call.
It lookds very big, but now i´m regretting only getting 0.5m rca cables, should have taken 1m ones, so i could have placed the amp in a better place.
I feel very sad that i won´t be able to use the ACSS with my lovely cube amp, but i´m extremely excited i could get a fully discrete dac for only 330 euros (everything included, custom fees too).
About custom fees, kingwa only declared 120 dollars i think, but still i had to pay 34 euros. Well, i´m happy i had to pay less than 20% of the price (i think it´s about 10% what i paid).
Won´t be able to try it before 1-2 weeks. My audeye lcd-2 are still in preorder, and shipping from America to Germany isn´t very fast.

 

[.Sup]

Thanks for all the info Cyan. DHL sure are greedy when it comes to VAT. The call me and wake me up asking to send a paypal receipt so they can charge me the real fee and not the one declared on the package. Greedy bastards

 

[jzkpr]

This is a great thread.
 
I just ordered an NFB-2 and have one of those USB vs. optical toslink questions.
 
I'll be outputting my iMac (ALAC files) into the NFB-2. My options are using a USB port or the toslink. I've been reading a bunch about people converting their usb to spdif rca before heading into the DAC (as in the opinion of many, this is superior to toslink) but I'm wondering if I should bother with this if the USB connection is good enough.
 
I should note (and this is not a 1-1 comparison) but when I swapped my Audio-gd Compass from the USB input to the toslink input from my iMac, I found the toslink to be a much cleaner path. 
 
I'll clearly play with both the USB and toslink into the NFB-2 but am curious on people's thoughts.
 
Any comments and suggestions would be great. Many thanks for a great thread.
 

 

[Fidelity Castro]

I´ve ordered a NFB-3 for a friend, looking forward to hear it, possibly get one for myself if it´s noticebly better than the DAC part of my Arcam Amp

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

This is a great thread.
 
I just ordered an NFB-2 and have one of those USB vs. optical toslink questions.
 
I'll be outputting my iMac (ALAC files) into the NFB-2. My options are using a USB port or the toslink. I've been reading a bunch about people converting their usb to spdif rca before heading into the DAC (as in the opinion of many, this is superior to toslink) but I'm wondering if I should bother with this if the USB connection is good enough.
 
I should note (and this is not a 1-1 comparison) but when I swapped my Audio-gd Compass from the USB input to the toslink input from my iMac, I found the toslink to be a much cleaner path. 
 
I'll clearly play with both the USB and toslink into the NFB-2 but am curious on people's thoughts.
 
Any comments and suggestions would be great. Many thanks for a great thread.
 

 
Congratz jz. 

 
 
NFB-2 nice!  In reference to the inputs, I have tried all three on the NFB-3, but the last week or so, it has been solely usb.  It sounds great.  I have not compared all three at the same time to see the differences, but all three produce black backrounds and great sound.  I also have the DI, but it so happens that I have been using it more with the DAC-19 than the NFB-3.
 
Keep us posted on your delivery....
 
 
Keep 'em coming guys.....
 

 

[Cya|\|]

I´m sad i didn´t order the coaxial cable. I thought the included one would still be of sufficient quality, but it´s a normal rca cable of the lowest quality. I hadn´t got much money and thought i could be fine with a cheap coaxial cable for a few months. But actually, it´s cheaper than cheaper.
So, i´ll have to listen to the nfb-3 through the optical cable.
Btw, do you know how much is shipping cost for cables from audio gd to europe?

 

[IPodPJ]

Blue Jeans Cables has high quality, inexpensive, studio quality cables.

 

[Cya|\|]

Thanks, i´ll look into it.

 

[FauDrei]

Per Peete's (and perhaps Punk_Guy's) suggestion: a 0,5-1m of Furutech's FX-Alpha-Ag wire and a couple of Furutech FP-3-117 BNC connectors can make a high quality digital cable. You can ask the seller to attach the connectors for a small fee.

 

[Mad Max]

How does that compare to Belden 1694A or Canare L5CF with Canare RCAPS?
Heck of a lot more expensive.  =\

 

[Currawong]

Just get a Belden cable from BJC. In my experience, not using BNC connectors does more harm than not using some fancy wire, and there's no technical argument about it. 

 

[Pricklely Peete]

 
Quote:

How does that compare to Belden 1694A or Canare L5CF with Canare RCAPS?
Heck of a lot more expensive.  =\

Frankly 135USD for a 1M solid silver BNC cable is pretty darn cheap (compare against other cables that are solid silver...the prices range from borderline crazy to insane)...that being said the Furutech cable really is in another performance class vs the Canare/BJ or other cables of similar cost & construction. Does anyone absolutely need this cable to enjoy their gear ? No of course not, but I would classify this cable as a reasonable expenditure for a decent tangible boost in performance.
 
Peete.

 

[middachten]

Quote:

Just get a Belden cable from BJC. In my experience, not using BNC connectors does more harm than not using some fancy wire, and there's no technical argument about it. 

Well, we can easily start an argument about this if you want

.
What about impedance matching? Any HF connection will benefit from careful impedance matching. A BNC connector (with the right characteristics) is exactly designed to do that.
 

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

On those interested in the head to head, what are qualities of interest to you?  What differences would you be interested in between the two?  I would love to run specific "tests" if anyone is interested, then maybe compile a chart between the two.  It would be a joint effort.......

Well if its not too much of a hassle could you compare them how musical they are? Thanks! 

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

Well if its not too much of a hassle could you compare them how musical they are? Thanks! 

Hey .Sup,
LOL, never a hassle, always a pleasure...

 
Well, from your sig you have the Ref-5DSP as well as the DacMagic.  If my memory serves me right, I believe you are listening to the DM a bit more as of late.  I always try to decipher on A-GDs site the musical and neutral flavors but my gear has been from the neutral column.  Out of those two which do you find musical?  I have the DM as well and maybe having some sort of comparison it might be easier for me to tell on the musicality.  I guess several factors come into play especially genres.  I consider musical not dry or analytical.  I can say neither of them (19DSP or NFB-3) are dry sounding.  You notice nuances in the music, but in a good way, if you will.