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Audio-gd NFB-7
Jan 27, 2011 at 7:44 PM Post #76 of 156


Quote:
currawong said:
I highly doubt it.  When he voices DACs to be neutral, that means they measure flat. It could be the other way around and the Neko doesn't have the same degree of bass or treble extension that the NFB-7 does. You'd have to run both through RMAA to find out for sure.  I'd take a bet though that it's the discreet output stage of the NFB-7 + separate power supplies vs. the transformer output of the Neko.
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Short of having a tech measure the response curve we cannot know which for sure is more accurate. They both sound great. I only know what I hear. Somebody else may hear it differently. But opinions and reviews need to be based on experience with actually hearing both dacs back to back. Thinking about circuit differences only gets you so far.  I was hoping to beat the Neko and gain an improvement. I wanted the NFB-7 to sound better than it did. It is a fine dac, but not as good as the Neko according to my musical taste. I think a rock aficionado would see it the opposite way. I am just calling it the way I hear it.
 
Jan 27, 2011 at 8:27 PM Post #77 of 156


Quote:
currawong said:
I highly doubt it.  When he voices DACs to be neutral, that means they measure flat. It could be the other way around and the Neko doesn't have the same degree of bass or treble extension that the NFB-7 does. You'd have to run both through RMAA to find out for sure.  I'd take a bet though that it's the discreet output stage of the NFB-7 + separate power supplies vs. the transformer output of the Neko.
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Agreed.  It's very unlikely the NFB-7 has a smiley face EQ curve.  99.9% of DACs measure almost perfectly flat.  In the case of some like the Ref-1 and Ref-7, the upper treble from 16khz to 20khz is attenuated slightly which makes the DAC sound more natural.
 
Jan 27, 2011 at 9:08 PM Post #78 of 156
Why is anyone trying to tell him what he hears? Just because something measures flat doesnt make them sound good (a lot of amps measure ridiculously good but don't sound right). A reseller's review said the Ref7 was more neutral, where as the NFB7 has a lot of bass and warm mids.
 
Jan 27, 2011 at 11:03 PM Post #79 of 156


Quote:
silvercans said:
Why is anyone trying to tell him what he hears? Just because something measures flat doesnt make them sound good (a lot of amps measure ridiculously good but don't sound right). A reseller's review said the Ref7 was more neutral, where as the NFB7 has a lot of bass and warm mids.
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Because the FR and stereo crosstalk measurements will reveal what is going on. Someone measured the HDAMs and the Moon had an obvious "smiley" stereo crosstalk graph, which corresponded with impressions of them having recessed mids (or a stronger bass and treble, depending which way you look at it).
 
You can run RMAA on a PC easily enough and find out what is going on.  Doesn't require any kind of expert to do that.
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Jan 29, 2011 at 6:41 PM Post #80 of 156
OK, my last final word before I send it back. It seems that the midrange has sweetened slightly in the last few days and the noise floor sounds lower. I am playing it through the balanced outs. It has been run almost a month now 5-7 days before being shipped and almost 3 weeks with me, always on. The differences I mentioned with the Neko are still there but even more subtle. At equal volume the NFB-7 is a little more vivid with slightly more bass punch. The Neko to me has more air in the midrange and is slightly more natural. Both have excellent sound stage width and depth. I will declare it like the 2000 US election, the margin of victory is within the margin of error. If the NFB-7 clearly won, I would keep it. Yes, I still think there is a dip somewhere in the NFB-7's midrange, but it creates a slight midrange darkness that is not unmusical.
 
Jan 29, 2011 at 7:26 PM Post #81 of 156
DBB1: Thanks for your impressions though.  I'd heard much good about the Neko so it's good to finally read a comparison with another high-end DAC.
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Jan 30, 2011 at 12:28 PM Post #82 of 156
I hoped to bump my system up a notch by improving the dac. At this point I doubt it can be done by a significant margin, at least at my $2k budget level. I was also curious about the latest Sabre dac chip. Last night I asked my non-audiophile wife to compare the two without telling her which was which. She has better ears than me. She preferred the Neko as having "more ease". I think the NFB-7, which is apparently now defunct, might have more of an audiophile sound, ie more drama.
 
Jan 30, 2011 at 9:14 PM Post #83 of 156
I wonder if it might not have been a closer call with the Reference 7.  Kingwa reckons the Sabre chip makes vocals sound "younger".  Computerparts, who is more familiar with older high-end DACs reckons the Ref 7 had a "hi-fi" sound, so what you say makes sense.  Headphones have been going in a similar direction if you compare, say Sony R-10s to HD-800s.
 
Jan 30, 2011 at 10:48 PM Post #84 of 156


Quote:
currawong said:
I wonder if it might not have been a closer call with the Reference 7.  . . . 
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In re-reading the Pacific Valve description, I noticed he says: " If you prefer a DAC that is more neutral then get the REF 7.  IF you fall in love with female vocals, like the mid bass of a male voice, or like your horns a little more tamed, then get the NFB 7."  This makes more sense to me now. It seems to confirm the punchier bass I heard and a "dip" in the mid  frequencies.  I feel that I would probably prefer the geater neutrality of the  Ref 7. 
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Feb 7, 2011 at 7:06 AM Post #85 of 156
Just received the NFB 7. This is going to be the interesting dac to try out.
 
Feb 12, 2011 at 5:24 PM Post #88 of 156
I ended up pre-ordering a NFB-8 in early January. Received it a week ago... It's fabulous!!! Really good stuff!
I'm now debating the utility of the DI. It's USB input is excellent... I still have to do more testing for a definite conclusion...
I'll report back with more details.
 
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