[curentatu]

i didn`t know that.
Can you recommend me some headphones that take in a balanced connection without having to mod them ? HD600/650 excluded.

 

[phthora]

i didn`t know that.
Can you recommend me some headphones that take in a balanced connection without having to mod them ? HD600/650 excluded.

Any headphones with a cable jack on each cup can be balanced. Likewise, any IEM or earbud.

I think the best value around right now is the HiFiMan HE400i, which goes for about $180 new these days. A great balanced cable can be found for them for $80 (Periapt) or less. They sound awesome on the 28 too!

 

[jcadduono]

28.38 here, have you guys ever ran into serious issues with the volume knob? I've had to replace 2 now, first one was fighting me when trying to change the volume (it would go -1 or -2 after going +1 from a turn) and I then replaced it with the extra supplied one and that issue was fixed...
2 days later I'm listening to music at 22 (out of 63), and then I suddenly hear a massive string of click noises followed by me nearly going deaf!
The darn (new) digital volume knob went from 22 all the way to 63 out of nowhere!
...so in goes the 3rd knob that came with my replacement Amanero order. (old one was shutting off after a few hours activity)

Fortunately it was an M1060 that was plugged in and it was willing to take a beating at that voltage.

I'm going back to analog petentiometers lol this is too risky for my gear and ears. Up on CAM it goes.

 

[xpt1]

hello guys
about 28.38 if i go from low or high gain to super or fast gain it will burst my headphone even when i lower the volume ?!! like hd6xx
and is there any idea how to shut off super and fast gain ( i want my headphones to be alive when i'm outside )
i dont have this unit yet i will probably buy it next month
any suggestions are welcome for good amp dac under 1000$
with great soundstage and great sound quality like this used for everything music gaming movies

 

[WildSeven]

Planning to get the NFB28.38, do I need a separate DAC to work or it can be plug in HP and use both the DAC and AMP function?

 

[phthora]

Planning to get the NFB28.38, do I need a separate DAC to work or it can be plug in HP and use both the DAC and AMP function?

No DAC needed. Once you install the drivers, it's plug and play.

 

[WhiskeyJacks]

Planning to get the NFB28.38, do I need a separate DAC to work or it can be plug in HP and use both the DAC and AMP function?

It is plug and play after driver installation like phthora said above. The DAC does a considerably competent job with this amplifier for an all in one unit. I have one of the older model's still and it still sounds really good even with the newer DAC's and amplifiers that have come out since I got it few years ago. I think you will be really happy and it should do a great job at driving any hard to drive headphones you own in your collection.

 

[carlman14]

Hello everyone, I just got the new NFB-28.38 and I want to see if any of you guys can help me out with an issue I'm having. There is a very noticeable popping sound in the audio. It's not continuous popping but rather one or two pops every 5-30 seconds. This is only over USB in windows 10.

So far, the combinations I've tried are:

windows 10 + optical: no issue
windows 10 + USB: popping sound
linux + optical: no issue
linux + USB: no issue

Because there is no popping through USB in linux, I doubt this is a hardware issue, but rather some driver issue. Regardless, here are the things I've tried to fix the issue.

1. uninstall and reinstall the amareno driver from audio-gd's website (version 1.0.62).
2. tried different USB cables.
3. tried all USB ports on my motherboard.
4. tried different sample rates / bit depths in the windows sound configuration.

After all that, the popping issue is still present. I suppose I can just use optical in windows 10, but I would really like to figure this out. Also, I have been in contact with Kingwa, and some of the things I listed were his suggestions.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

 

[phthora]

Hello everyone, I just got the new NFB-28.38 and I want to see if any of you guys can help me out with an issue I'm having. There is a very noticeable popping sound in the audio. It's not continuous popping but rather one or two pops every 5-30 seconds. This is only over USB in windows 10.

So far, the combinations I've tried are:

windows 10 + optical: no issue
windows 10 + USB: popping sound
linux + optical: no issue
linux + USB: no issue

Because there is no popping through USB in linux, I doubt this is a hardware issue, but rather some driver issue. Regardless, here are the things I've tried to fix the issue.

1. uninstall and reinstall the amareno driver from audio-gd's website (version 1.0.62).
2. tried different USB cables.
3. tried all USB ports on my motherboard.
4. tried different sample rates / bit depths in the windows sound configuration.

After all that, the popping issue is still present. I suppose I can just use optical in windows 10, but I would really like to figure this out. Also, I have been in contact with Kingwa, and some of the things I listed were his suggestions.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

My first suggestion would be to install ASIO or WASAPI protocols, which bypass Windows completely. You may need a different program to do so. Foobar2000 is free and supports both. That is likely the simplest solution.

 

[carlman14]

My first suggestion would be to install ASIO or WASAPI protocols, which bypass Windows completely. You may need a different program to do so. Foobar2000 is free and supports both. That is likely the simplest solution.

Hmmm ok. I've never used either ASIO or WASAPI. I'll play around with those tonight and see what happens.

Thanks!

 

[carlman14]

Ok, I've made some progress. I downloaded foobar2000 and the ASIO plugin. I also downloaded and installed ASIO4ALL. I went to set the output to ASIO, and I noticed that an option was Combo384 ASIO 1.03. If I remember correctly, that's something that the Audio-GD driver executable installed. I switched to that, and it works perfectly. No popping sound! But now I have more questions lol.

1. Is that Combo384 ASIO 1.03 different than selecting the Amanero USB output in windows? Because in windows, you click the sound icon in the bottom right corner, and you can select Digital output (Amanero Technologies USB driver version 1.0.62).
2. Also, When selecting Combo384 ASIO as output, I can be on any of the 1-6 inputs on the NFB-28.38 and still hear audio. Not sure if that's supposed to happen.
3. If you select the Amanero driver as output in windows, you can go into the sound configuration of windows and select output sample rate and bit depth. Is that possible using Combo384 ASIO as the output?
4. Is there a global solution for using ASIO? It looks like you have to specify ASIO output per application, but I would like pop-free audio for everything of course.

Sorry for all the questions. This is all new to me

 

[phthora]

Ok, I've made some progress. I downloaded foobar2000 and the ASIO plugin. I also downloaded and installed ASIO4ALL. I went to set the output to ASIO, and I noticed that an option was Combo384 ASIO 1.03. If I remember correctly, that's something that the Audio-GD driver executable installed. I switched to that, and it works perfectly. No popping sound! But now I have more questions lol.

1. Is that Combo384 ASIO 1.03 different than selecting the Amanero USB output in windows? Because in windows, you click the sound icon in the bottom right corner, and you can select Digital output (Amanero Technologies USB driver version 1.0.62).
2. Also, When selecting Combo384 ASIO as output, I can be on any of the 1-6 inputs on the NFB-28.38 and still hear audio. Not sure if that's supposed to happen.
3. If you select the Amanero driver as output in windows, you can go into the sound configuration of windows and select output sample rate and bit depth. Is that possible using Combo384 ASIO as the output?
4. Is there a global solution for using ASIO? It looks like you have to specify ASIO output per application, but I would like pop-free audio for everything of course.

Sorry for all the questions. This is all new to me

This is bumping up against the edges of my knowledge on the subject, but here goes... ASIO and WASAPI are audio transfer protocol that simply bypasses all the Windows processing of the audio information and sends it directly to external hardware, in this case the DAC in the 28. That means Windows never gets grubby mitts and clumsy paws all over the audio to cause things like pops and cracks or noticeable degradation in sound. These protocols take Windows out of the equation. The Amanero drivers are for decoding rather than transferring the audio information, so you will need both. Amanero is very highly regarded, despite being less prevalent than XMOS (which does the same work). As a transfer protocol, ASIO or WASAPI will apply to any of the digital inputs on the 28 since those protocols deal with the computer side of things. The Amanero driver, AFAIK, will only apply to the USB input. In fact, optical and I2S exist to bypass even the USB drivers for more even direct transfer/decoding.

On question three, I'm not quite sure what you're asking... It should still be possible to use ASIO and DSP or EQ functions. In Foobar, you can also do things like adjust dithering and upsampling. I imagine Windows would have similar options, but to keep Window stinking, hands off the audio I would use Foobar (or similar program) to do all that stuff. On that note, if you have the option between 'event' and 'push,' choose 'event.' That has to do with how the buffer is filled and whether the computer or the 28 controls the timing of that. You want the 28 to do all that sort of work, so event is the way to go.

On question four, ASIO or WASAPI bypass Windows, so all those Windows sounds (as for notifications and such) should not come through. If you want to use the 28 and ASIO for things like YouTube, mine seems just to do that automatically. If that's not that case for you, I'll take a look and see if I can figure out how that option is enabled.

 

[carlman14]

This is bumping up against the edges of my knowledge on the subject, but here goes... ASIO and WASAPI are audio transfer protocol that simply bypasses all the Windows processing of the audio information and sends it directly to external hardware, in this case the DAC in the 28. That means Windows never gets grubby mitts and clumsy paws all over the audio to cause things like pops and cracks or noticeable degradation in sound. These protocols take Windows out of the equation. The Amanero drivers are for decoding rather than transferring the audio information, so you will need both. Amanero is very highly regarded, despite being less prevalent than XMOS (which does the same work). As a transfer protocol, ASIO or WASAPI will apply to any of the digital inputs on the 28 since those protocols deal with the computer side of things. The Amanero driver, AFAIK, will only apply to the USB input. In fact, optical and I2S exist to bypass even the USB drivers for more even direct transfer/decoding.

On question three, I'm not quite sure what you're asking... It should still be possible to use ASIO and DSP or EQ functions. In Foobar, you can also do things like adjust dithering and upsampling. I imagine Windows would have similar options, but to keep Window stinking, hands off the audio I would use Foobar (or similar program) to do all that stuff. On that note, if you have the option between 'event' and 'push,' choose 'event.' That has to do with how the buffer is filled and whether the computer or the 28 controls the timing of that. You want the 28 to do all that sort of work, so event is the way to go.

On question four, ASIO or WASAPI bypass Windows, so all those Windows sounds (as for notifications and such) should not come through. If you want to use the 28 and ASIO for things like YouTube, mine seems just to do that automatically. If that's not that case for you, I'll take a look and see if I can figure out how that option is enabled.

Thank you so much for the explanation! That clears things up considerably. However, the thickens...

I discovered that in Tidal, you can set the output device from within the application. The Amareno usb driver was available. I selected that, and I have no popping at all. Before, I was selecting the amareno usb output from windows 10, through that bottom right sound icon dropdown I mentioned earlier. So it seems that the Amareno usb output does work properly... just not when I select it from windows. That's too bad... because selecting from the windows sound output dropdown is the "global" version of what I did in tidal. So this doesn't solve the global solution though. ASIO is definitely not working for everything. Only the applications where I specify ASIO as output. If you could find whatever option that is to enable it everywhere, that would be great.

Also, for the sample rate and bit depth confusion... I see now that in foobar2000, I can add a resampler DSP to increase the sample rate if I'm listening to an audio file that supports a higher sample rate. What I am more curious about is if I get ASIO working globally, how would I increase the sample rate and bit depth of the ASIO output, like if I was listening to a MQA file on tidal (which I believe is 96000 khz, 24 bit).

I super appreciate the help btw.

 

[butch111]

For my opinion Windows sounds horrible no matter wich driver I use. For audiophile usage I much prefer the OS Daphile on an old Laptop.

But my Prob: How Can I split the NFB USB for the Laptop and a PC without losing much soundquality?
I have tried several USB-Hubs (new ones) ...is there a kind of mechanic Splitter on market...or an other solution without changing the cables everytime?

 

[phthora]

For my opinion Windows sounds horrible no matter wich driver I use. For audiophile usage I much prefer the OS Daphile on an old Laptop.

But my Prob: How Can I split the NFB USB for the Laptop and a PC without losing much soundquality?
I have tried several USB-Hubs (new ones) ...is there a kind of mechanic Splitter on market...or an other solution without changing the cables everytime?

For that sort of use, it would be much easier to get a USB to SPDIF converter, then attach that to a SPDIF splitter. Optical out will be much easier to split without degradation (or expense) than USB. Here are two cheap examples of what to look for (please don't take this as a recommendation for these two specific products though):
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3ZH3RA6706
https://www.amazon.com/Signstek-Coaxial-Converter-Convert-Analogue/dp/B00FEDHHKE

Thank you so much for the explanation! That clears things up considerably. However, the thickens...

I discovered that in Tidal, you can set the output device from within the application. The Amareno usb driver was available. I selected that, and I have no popping at all. Before, I was selecting the amareno usb output from windows 10, through that bottom right sound icon dropdown I mentioned earlier. So it seems that the Amareno usb output does work properly... just not when I select it from windows. That's too bad... because selecting from the windows sound output dropdown is the "global" version of what I did in tidal. So this doesn't solve the global solution though. ASIO is definitely not working for everything. Only the applications where I specify ASIO as output. If you could find whatever option that is to enable it everywhere, that would be great.

Also, for the sample rate and bit depth confusion... I see now that in foobar2000, I can add a resampler DSP to increase the sample rate if I'm listening to an audio file that supports a higher sample rate. What I am more curious about is if I get ASIO working globally, how would I increase the sample rate and bit depth of the ASIO output, like if I was listening to a MQA file on tidal (which I believe is 96000 khz, 24 bit).

I super appreciate the help btw.

I tried to set the global sound output device to the ASIO, simply following a tutorial online. It works insofar as I got sound out of my 28. However, I could not recreate the popping issue through the Windows defaults, despite what I tried. That means, I have no way of knowing if what I am doing is fixing the problem (since I don't have the problem to begin with). Here's that tutorial: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...0/dff0530a-545e-436a-808e-5c0669829fa0?auth=1

For global upsampling and DSP, I'm pretty sure you need a program to direct the processing for that sort of thing. There may be some program out there that will do that universally for all Windows, but I'm afraid that's beyond me.