[wmozarta]

Received the 28,38 just now

 

[CarlosUnchained]

Received the 28,38 just now

 
I wonder why audio gd would chose such an ugly photo for the gray model. Just yours made it for me. I want it!

 

[bayareabiker]

   
I wonder why audio gd would chose such an ugly photo for the gray model. Just yours made it for me. I want it!

 
I too went for the silver - to me it looks much better than the boring black.
 
You better order soon! According to Audio GD's home page: "The last batch silver chassis in 2017 for C-2，DAC-19，NOS-19，Singularity 19, NFB-1AMP，NFB-1DAC，NFB-28，NFB-29 ."
 
I guess that explains why they don't use the photo of the silver model - it is a "limited edition" and hence not very available.

 

[pixelcity]

Good thing I nabbed one of those suckers in silver. I too think it looks way nicer

 

[ZenErik]

Ordered the Audio-GD NFB-28.38 in silver. Looking forward to giving it a shot! I'm actually looking forward to that supposed treble smoothness that some people complain about. Seems like a good match for my tastes.

 

[Uri Cohen]

I don't have the NFB-28.39, but I have the NFB-29.38. So I got my unit on Tuesday, everything is great except the DAC is having issues with anything PCM. If the song is going from low volume to high volume (like when the song starts it goings up in its peak), the DAC will make cracking/popping noise. This is different from the volume knob where it makes a tick noise. Sadly this is a major problem because I am hearing this cracking/popping noise in almost all of my songs.

So I tried Toslink/Coax from two CD players into the unit, cracking/popping noise. I even tried USB from my Thinkpad to unit, same deal. I did open up the unit and changed the digital filters for PCM, no dice either. I changed power and digital cables, no dice. I used different DACS (my older Audio-GD NFB-15 and Fiio X5 3rd Gen) and I don't have this problem. So I used the DACs that's on my CD Player and my Audio-GD NFB-15 and hook it up to the analog inputs of the unit (Input 5 and 6). Guess what, no cracking/popping noise. So after testing everything out, it appears the DAC part of the unit is not 100% working.

I sent an email to Kingwa regarding it. I'm worried he might said no warranty since on the email to me it stated no warranty if you open up the unit if there is an issue (if I read his English correctly). It is hard since my Compass2 I had before has a similar issue, but I adjusted the jumpers in that unit to fix it.

I spent $900+ on it. It sounds great except for the cracking/popping noise. I hope Kingwa will be nice to me since most likely I'll have to ship it back to China.

 

[ZenErik]

That's a bit disappointing. Hope you're able to get it resolved quickly and cheaply.

Anyone else that's gotten a .38 model on here having issues?

 

[Uri Cohen]

That's a bit disappointing. Hope you're able to get it resolved quickly and cheaply.

Anyone else that's gotten a .38 model on here having issues?

That is the goal. I just don't understand why add that warranty sticker when the product site gives you the jumper settings to change the sound of the unit. Before I purchased the product Kingwa recommended to change the sound via jumpers.

I hope this can be fixed. This is my third order with Audio-Gd and I just love their products.

 

[PinkyPowers]

All my IEMs sound great out of the NFB-28. It only has 1 Ohm output impedance, which is perfect for sensitive IEMs.

 

[Uri Cohen]

Update:

After a few emails that weren't going to Kingwa, he replied stated if I am sure there is a problem with the unit, then I would need to ship it back to him. I'm planning to ship my unit back to him tomorrow (sounds like I still have warranty). I emailed him if I can include a DVD-R with FLAC files that are causing the cracking/popping noise in DAC mode.

Per Audio-GD's website, if I return the unit within 15 days and they don't find a problem with it, they will just refund me the cost of the unit, not the shipping cost to me or shipping the unit back to them. If they confirm there is a problem with the unit within the 15 day period, they will pay back the shipping cost that I paid to ship it to them and will send me a brand new unit.

I hope this works out, depending on my experience with this I may/may not do another Audio-GD order again. I just like their gear so much. :/ I might have to try out Schiit if this doesn't pan out.

 

[ZenErik]

Best of luck. Hope things turn out well. Personally, I have a Schiit Jotunheim w/ DAC currently, and I'm looking for something that's a little more smooth on the treble without being too expensive. The NFB-28.38 seems like it could be exactly that. But if I had an issue like that on my first Audio-GD purchase I'd be a little unhappy.

How much do the jumpers to make the sound more warm really affect the sound?

 

[Uri Cohen]

Best of luck. Hope things turn out well. Personally, I have a Schiit Jotunheim w/ DAC currently, and I'm looking for something that's a little more smooth on the treble without being too expensive. The NFB-28.38 seems like it could be exactly that. But if I had an issue like that on my first Audio-GD purchase I'd be a little unhappy.

How much do the jumpers to make the sound more warm really affect the sound?

It doesn't make a big difference in my experience. Thanks for your wishes. Spending $110 to get this thing back to China is no fun. It is a shame since my first two purchases worked perfectly and this one (the most pricey one) is acting up.

I just hope Kingwa won't tell me there is nothing wrong with the unit and is able to find the problem and send a new unit over to me. *Cross fingers*

 

[Uri Cohen]

I sent my unit back to Kingwa this morning. EMS shipping bill was $128. :/ He will get it next week. *Still crossing fingers*

 

[pixelcity]

I sent my unit back to Kingwa this morning. EMS shipping bill was $128. :/ He will get it next week. *Still crossing fingers*

I hope it works out for you.
I recently needed to service my 28.38. I asked to perform the repair myself in order to avoid shipping. I would consider my request unusual, and risky, but Kingwa obliged. He spent some time to troubleshoot, propose a root cause to the problem, and sent parts & tools to fix. I of course had to assure him I was confident in the repair.

Point being, Kingwa truly supported his product in my case (over enforcing rigorous policy). I think he is personally involved in nearly every aspect of Audio-GD.

I think you will be ok, but good luck to you. (Btw my issue was a failed relay on the main board. not a problem with assembly or design)

 

[bayareabiker]

Unfortunately I am having a few issues as well:

1. There is audible (mechanical) hum from the power transformer. Its possible I might have DC offset in my power supply, but I get no hum from my other electronics, even my old NFB-10SE.

2. This is more serious problem: when playing certain 88.2 or higher FLACs, I get very rapid low level "tick, tick, .." noise in the music. Kind of like a low level vinyl effect . If I downsample to 44.1, the problem goes away. I tried different computers, cables, playback software and the problem persists. The issue does not occur with my other DACs. The problem occurs with both USB and optical (I did not try coax). Also, there is no issue when I use the NFB-28.38 purely as a headphone amp or preamp. So, clearly the problem is with the DAC section.

Very disappointing indeed. I should have paid more attention to the perils of ordering from overseas direct .

I made a recording with my phone of the music playing over the speakers (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5IvZY8X3uTkZXNNcWVLWG9JUk0/view?usp=sharing). You can clearly hear the "tick, tick,..." noise.

For other NFB-28.38 owners: can you please try this clip https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5IvZY8X3uTkTVYtXzIweEVucnc to see if you have the same issue? Be be that the sampling rate of 88.2 is maintained while sending it to the NFB-28.38

That's a bit disappointing. Hope you're able to get it resolved quickly and cheaply.

Anyone else that's gotten a .38 model on here having issues?