[Netherwind]

   
My question was more about whether it would be a better choice to go with an all-in-one unit or separate units, so that I could continually update/upgrade pieces of the chain.
 
I don't know much about ISO regen, to be honest, except that it is something people often cite as a means of improving the audio chain and that it's something relatively affordable. But, I was just using it as an example.
 
For DACs, I looking at the Gustard X20 Pro primarily, but also at some options from Matrix, L.K.S., and Oppo.

You can use the NFB-28 as a DAC or AMP by itself as well, and it's the same price as a Gustard X20 Pro by itself.
 
Another option is the Questyle CMA600i or CMA400i for AIO units.
 
Nothing can really touch the NFB-28 for value as far as I can tell.  DAC+AMP for $880, and it's arguably a better DAC than Gumby as well.

 

[elwappo99]

 

  Who is the 'someone else'? Most Sabre implementations are garbage.
 
I wouldn't touch those 'regen' things, snake oil IMO.  Waste of your money you could use for other things.
 
Having a USB interface and then a reclock and then the DAC is just being absolutely paranoid for no real reason.  Did you want some $1500 cables too?
 
Just use S/PDIF if you're that concerned about USB.

 
My question was more about whether it would be a better choice to go with an all-in-one unit or separate units, so that I could continually update/upgrade pieces of the chain.
 
I don't know much about ISO regen, to be honest, except that it is something people often cite as a means of improving the audio chain and that it's something relatively affordable. But, I was just using it as an example.
 
For DACs, I looking at the Gustard X20 Pro primarily, but also at some options from Matrix, L.K.S., and Oppo.

 
 
I think the biggest problem is the NFB-28 has such a value proposition attached to it. 
 
It's a balanced DAC
It's a balanced headphone amp
It's a balanced preamp (for my active speakers, with remote)
 
I recently purchased a few new DAC and amps. Every time i go to through swapping out NFB-28, I end up needing it for some of the above. 

 

[phthora]

   
 
I think the biggest problem is the NFB-28 has such a value proposition attached to it. 
 
It's a balanced DAC
It's a balanced headphone amp
It's a balanced preamp (for my active speakers, with remote)
 
I recently purchased a few new DAC and amps. Every time i go to through swapping out NFB-28, I end up needing it for some of the above. 

 
I keep waffling between the NFB-28.38 and, say, the Gustard X20 Pro + NFB-1AMP combo. There are a bunch of spec and part differences that I wonder about, but the really big issue for me is that going with the 28.38 I would have to deal with an output impedance of 2 ohm, which would be a mismatch for several of my IEMs. Going the other route, for some reason, means dealing with 1 ohm output. I could, of course, connect up my portable amp to run IEMs, but that means the 28.38 is not an AIO for my purposes and I lose a bit of the convenience factor. Then I start thinking about the clock and the USB interface and the shared power supply and begin to wonder if those could be noticeably improved in some other product...
 
Anyway, I'm rambling. I appreciate everyone's advice. Whatever happens, Audio-gd will be doing the amping in some formation or another.

 

[elwappo99]

 

   
 
I think the biggest problem is the NFB-28 has such a value proposition attached to it. 
 
It's a balanced DAC
It's a balanced headphone amp
It's a balanced preamp (for my active speakers, with remote)
 
I recently purchased a few new DAC and amps. Every time i go to through swapping out NFB-28, I end up needing it for some of the above. 

 
I keep waffling between the NFB-28.38 and, say, the Gustard X20 Pro + NFB-1AMP combo. There are a bunch of spec and part differences that I wonder about, but the really big issue for me is that going with the 28.38 I would have to deal with an output impedance of 2 ohm, which would be a mismatch for several of my IEMs. Going the other route, for some reason, means dealing with 1 ohm output. I could, of course, connect up my portable amp to run IEMs, but that means the 28.38 is not an AIO for my purposes and I lose a bit of the convenience factor. Then I start thinking about the clock and the USB interface and the shared power supply and begin to wonder if those could be noticeably improved in some other product...
 
Anyway, I'm rambling. I appreciate everyone's advice. Whatever happens, Audio-gd will be doing the amping in some formation or another.

 
I didn't realize it had such a high output impedance. I haven't run IEMs off of mine. Kind of a bummer. I haven't read much on the X20, but I had a Emotiva DC-1 before the NFB-28 and I thought it was a slightly better DAC than the NFB-28. Seems to have similar features as well.

 

[phthora]

   
I didn't realize it had such a high output impedance. I haven't run IEMs off of mine. Kind of a bummer. I haven't read much on the X20, but I had a Emotiva DC-1 before the NFB-28 and I thought it was a slightly better DAC than the NFB-28. Seems to have similar features as well.

 
Right!? I would have assumed that the NFB-28's had the same amp section as the NFB-1AMP, but apparently that is not the case. Thanks for the rec on the Emotiva! I've seen a review on that one somewhere (Zeos?), but I think I passed on it for its lack of a balanced headphone jack. As just a DAC, would it be worth it? I'll give it another look.

 

[heart banger-97]

Hey guys,
Has anybody experienced any kind of sound imbalance in his/her nfb28?
My friend's nf28 sounds more in right channel. The problem is not in song/headphone/player. 

 

[Level5]

Just got my nfb28.38 and I just wanted to clarify something about the locking tab on the xlr. Is it normal that you have to manually pull the push tab every time you want to lock it because I noticed the back ones spring back into place but not the front one..
 
Edit: I figured it out. It seems the front is a Latch lock mechanism instead of the retention spring lock on the rear.
FRONT: http://www.neutrik.com/en/xlr/xlr-chassis-connectors/dl-series/
REAR: http://www.neutrik.com/en/xlr/xlr-chassis-connectors/aa-series/

 

[Pumba101]

  Just got my nfb28.38 and I just wanted to clarify something about the locking button on the xlr. Is it normal that you have to pull the push button when you want to lock it?

 
Sorry don't know, but can't wait for impressions!

 

[WhiskeyJacks]

Edited

 

[WhiskeyJacks]

I keep waffling between the NFB-28.38 and, say, the Gustard X20 Pro + NFB-1AMP combo. There are a bunch of spec and part differences that I wonder about, but the really big issue for me is that going with the 28.38 I would have to deal with an output impedance of 2 ohm, which would be a mismatch for several of my IEMs. Going the other route, for some reason, means dealing with 1 ohm output. I could, of course, connect up my portable amp to run IEMs, but that means the 28.38 is not an AIO for my purposes and I lose a bit of the convenience factor. Then I start thinking about the clock and the USB interface and the shared power supply and begin to wonder if those could be noticeably improved in some other product...

Anyway, I'm rambling. I appreciate everyone's advice. Whatever happens, Audio-gd will be doing the amping in some formation or another.

Is the Ifi iem match used for that scenario and from what I read it works but I'm not 100 percent just thought I would mention to look into it

 

[phthora]

Is the Ifi iem match used for that scenario and from what I read it works but I'm not 100 percent just thought I would mention to look into it

 
Unless I am reading the description wrong (and I might be, it's an unusual product), it just allows you to lower the volume without compressing the dynamic range. It doesn't seem to change the output impedance at all. But, I'll look into it. It may be something very useful. Thanks!

 

[Level5]

I noticed I hear clicks only when changing volume while listening to music through my headphones. I usually hear it around HH 125+. Is that normal?

 

[phthora]

  I noticed I hear clicks when changing volume while listening to music through my headphones. It happens around HH 125+. Is that normal?

 
Yes, according to the Audio-gd site, it is: "While users change the volume, the combine relays break or close, it may had slightly switch sound on output and disappear while stop change the volume."
 
It is the result of the way that the volume adjustment is handled. How loud is it, out of curiosity?

 

[Level5]

   
Yes, according to the Audio-gd site, it is: "While users change the volume, the combine relays break or close, it may had slightly switch sound on output and disappear while stop change the volume."
 
It is the result of the way that the volume adjustment is handled. How loud is it, out of curiosity?

 
Its slightly audible and sounds more like a tick/tap than a click. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[SodaBoy]

  Hey guys,
Has anybody experienced any kind of sound imbalance in his/her nfb28?
My friend's nf28 sounds more in right channel. The problem is not in song/headphone/player. 

That sounds like a volume board issue, he should request an RMA.

   
I keep waffling between the NFB-28.38 and, say, the Gustard X20 Pro + NFB-1AMP combo. There are a bunch of spec and part differences that I wonder about, but the really big issue for me is that going with the 28.38 I would have to deal with an output impedance of 2 ohm, which would be a mismatch for several of my IEMs. Going the other route, for some reason, means dealing with 1 ohm output. I could, of course, connect up my portable amp to run IEMs, but that means the 28.38 is not an AIO for my purposes and I lose a bit of the convenience factor. Then I start thinking about the clock and the USB interface and the shared power supply and begin to wonder if those could be noticeably improved in some other product...
 
Anyway, I'm rambling. I appreciate everyone's advice. Whatever happens, Audio-gd will be doing the amping in some formation or another.

 
NFB-1AMP. NFB-28 is the best option for most people, but in your circumstance you should get a dedicated amplifier. It doesn't make any sense to run a lineout from NFB-28 to a low output-z portable amp just for IEMs in a desktop setup, it is suboptimal. If you listen to low impedance IEMs only occasionally, and can handle the slight bass bloom, I would still get the NFB-28.
 
In most cases the rationale for getting a NFB-1AMP/C2 can be boiled down to three reasons:
 
1. You already have a DAC that you will be keeping
2. You need lower output impedance or extra power
3. You want discrete units that you can swap out
 
Likewise, for the AIO units like the NFB-28
 
1. You want a compact, monolithic unit
2. You want to save significant money for essentially the same sound quality (unless this conflicts with #2 above)
 
As for the Gustard X20, if my X12 was any indication, it will be even better. But if it were up to me, I'd just get something with a similar form factor like the NFB-1.38 and just stack it to save space. The older Audio-GD DACs had a ghetto USB implementation, but the newer stuff actually has good USB implementation. The chronology was Tenor -> Amanero -> XMOS, and I called XMOS way back then, and they made the switch to it a few months later. One of the reasons I didn't get an AGD DAC was due to the mediocre USB, it was apparent even back then that while Amanero was cheaper, it didn't have the same wide adoption or continuous development as XMOS.