[DACLadder]

@Articnoise You have no argument from me. That was back in the day (2012) when the Audiophilleo USB to SPDIF converter ruled. The 5.32's internal USB adapter (USB32) was really inferior to SPDIF. HDMI I2S was years away for Audio GD DACs.

 

[FredA]

After close to a hundred hours with the Nimak audio 5 acss cable, some listening notes and analysis:

With the Nimak/Valab cable combination and speakers, the sound is delicate. The thing is the cable’s rendering of micro-information and micro-dynamics is absolutely exceptional.

I am listening to the Muligan meets Monk album. This album is all in finesse and very laid back. You need a well resolved setup to retrieve all there is and the finesse of it. At the same time, proper macro-dynamics to render the bass drum kicks. The Nimak does everything well. No exageration or distorsion. The thing is, the dac is even more resolved i thought it was. You need the cable to see it. The sound is even more analog as a result, perhaps the lack of distorsion. Because all conductors sit in flexible material, micro-movements occur. This can affect the sound. This is particularly likely with speaker cables. But also signal cables it seems. Dubravko found a way to prevent this? I guess so...Just speculating.

I am glued to my listening chair, it’s crazy the listening hours i have been logging...

Previously, i have owned a couple of silver RCA cables worth over 1k. I was beating these using acss and diy cables, so i sold them. Now, what i get with the Nimak is significant. Quite an upgrade. I hesitate to say it straight, results will vary depending on your setup, but the Nimak is an exceptional cable, the very best sounding cable i came across in my life. It is a big a jump as going from from a midfi rca cable to a entry-level reference cable. But the starting point is that of a 1k+ rca cable. So overall, it is possibly up there with the big guys or even above, because of acss.

I have also done some listening with headphones, using the he9 and m570 headphones. This took the Valab acss i assembled myself out of the equation. I know it is a fine performer but to some extent, the experience on headphones confirms it is holding the performance back quite a bit. On headphones, i could pick up an even greater performance gain.

For those on a budget owning a valab rca of balanced silver litz interconnect and an audio-gd pre/power amp combo, re-terminating the Valab with 4-pin Xlrs will give very good results, i can attest. However, I am anticipating yet another upgrade with the 4-pin xlr Nimak i ordered.

 

[emeeve]

Awesome feedback as always! Excited to plug in my Nimak cable once I receive it, albeit being the lesser 3 series. But the gains should be significant from the standard ACSS cable from Audio-GD. Now if only I can get the R8 to work properly! On a side note, just received my Artic Cable Silver/Palladium fusion series. Plugged those into my Meze Empreyans and ZMF VO and oh my goodness! Everything was bigger, tighter, punchier and definitely more resolved. Incredible upgrade. No monumental upgrade from the already amazing Nordost Heimdell II. Highly recommended!

 

[FredA]

Awesome feedback as always! Excited to plug in my Nimak cable once I receive it, albeit being the lesser 3 series. But the gains should be significant from the standard ACSS cable from Audio-GD. Now if only I can get the R8 to work properly! On a side note, just received my Artic Cable Silver/Palladium fusion series. Plugged those into my Meze Empreyans and ZMF VO and oh my goodness! Everything was bigger, tighter, punchier and definitely more resolved. Incredible upgrade. No monumental upgrade from the already amazing Nordost Heimdell II. Highly recommended!

These cables cost a lot, i am sure they are worth it. Out of curiosity, how much?

 

[emeeve]

They retail for $999. The team @ Artic Cables are super to deal with. I would ping them. See if they could work something out for you! These are brand new cables released this month. You won’t regret the purchase I can assure you!

 

[PLGA]

After close to a hundred hours with the Nimak audio 5 acss cable, some listening notes and analysis:

With the Nimak/Valab cable combination and speakers, the sound is delicate. The thing is the cable’s rendering of micro-information and micro-dynamics is absolutely exceptional.

I am listening to the Muligan meets Monk album. This album is all in finesse and very laid back. You need a well resolved setup to retrieve all there is and the finesse of it. At the same time, proper macro-dynamics to render the bass drum kicks. The Nimak does everything well. No exageration or distorsion. The thing is, the dac is even more resolved i thought it was. You need the cable to see it. The sound is even more analog as a result, perhaps the lack of distorsion. Because all conductors sit in flexible material, micro-movements occur. This can affect the sound. This is particularly likely with speaker cables. But also signal cables it seems. Dubravko found a way to prevent this? I guess so...Just speculating.

I am glued to my listening chair, it’s crazy the listening hours i have been logging...

Previously, i have owned a couple of silver RCA cables worth over 1k. I was beating these using acss and diy cables, so i sold them. Now, what i get with the Nimak is significant. Quite an upgrade. I hesitate to say it straight, results will vary depending on your setup, but the Nimak is an exceptional cable, the very best sounding cable i came across in my life. It is a big a jump as going from from a midfi rca cable to a entry-level reference cable. But the starting point is that of a 1k+ rca cable. So overall, it is possibly up there with the big guys or even above, because of acss.

I have also done some listening with headphones, using the he9 and m570 headphones. This took the Valab acss i assembled myself out of the equation. I know it is a fine performer but to some extent, the experience on headphones confirms it is holding the performance back quite a bit. On headphones, i could pick up an even greater performance gain.

For those on a budget owning a valab rca of balanced silver litz interconnect and an audio-gd pre/power amp combo, re-terminating the Valab with 4-pin Xlrs will give very good results, i can attest. However, I am anticipating yet another upgrade with the 4-pin xlr Nimak i ordered.

Hi Fred
I've got lost and I can't find it.

Can you post us the link for the ACSS Nimak cable you bought?

Thank you

 

[emeeve]

Just type Nimak ACSS on Ebay - Nimak cables are only available on EBay.

 

[PLGA]

How do you know they are not fake Nimak? Wich model?

 

[FredA]

The is the one:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Nimak-Audio...260438?hash=item1d018fea56:g:NToAAOSw88xgLuMz

i saved 50 usd by getting 0.5m

 

[gk2013]

I just received my R8 DAC (which feeds into my Master 19). I also have a DI-20 but haven’t connected it yet as I’m waiting for my i2s cable to arrive. So for now I connect the source into the DAC via USB (AQ Coffee) and the DAC to the amp through Audio GD ACSS cable, (Nimak cable on the way) AMD balances XLR. I play Tidal off a Microsoft Surface Pro. For whatever reason, there is a static type crackling every few seconds. It comes and goes but it’s definitely there very noticeable. Kingwa suggested it was a faulty USB but the same static cracking occurs with the standard provided USB cable or any other USB cable. Has anyone experienced this and know how to fix it? I also used a Project Stream Box as an alternate source but it also has the same static crackling. The cradling noise sounds like a vinyl record playing...the sound is just a amazing outside the noise but it’s unbearable! Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Have you tried a different source ? And do you have this noise also when there is no usb cable connected at all?

 

[falcon70]

The Ruizhi Audio chinish forum seems to be watching this Head-Fi.org forum. Ruizhi is the official Audio-Gd forum, isn't it?
Amazing.

 

[gk2013]

The is the one:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Nimak-Audio...260438?hash=item1d018fea56:g:NToAAOSw88xgLuMz

i saved 50 usd by getting 0.5m

Did you try those ? https://magnahifi.com/m-way-acss-ntrl-reference-analogue-balanced-interlink-mini-xlr/
I compared several and found the mway by far the most natural and smooth sounding.

 

[FredA]

Did you try those ? https://magnahifi.com/m-way-acss-ntrl-reference-analogue-balanced-interlink-mini-xlr/
I compared several and found the mway by far the most natural and smooth sounding.

No, i haven’t they are possibly very good as you say but for the money, i would rather have a silver cable. I don’t find the price justified.

 

[emeeve]

Have you tried a different source ? And do you have this noise also when there is no usb cable connected at all?

Hi - yes. From my Project stream box and directly out of my Microsoft Surface Tablet. It was far more pronounced from the project stream box.

All units are plugged in using quality power cables plugged into an AQ Niagara power supply. I plugged the source (Microsoft Surface) into the AQ Niagara and also into a separate power conditioner in case there was a ground loop causing the noise. With the SPDIF (AQ cinnamon) the crackling /popping sounds were reduced by half as I used it from the DI-20 into the R8. Then switched to a HDMI (Di-20 to R8) and it was reduced even further by 25%. But unfortunately the cracking / popping noise still comes in every few seconds - it's not very loud overall. I would say it's more audible depending on the genre of music and sometimes you can miss it altogether but it's there for sure. I mainly use this as a headphone set so you can really hear the noise through the headphones. I thought maybe it's my new Artic Cable Silver/palladium so I switched back to my older cables (Nordost Heimdell 2) and the noise still came through...I pinged Kingwa these details and waiting for his response. I would much prefer to just keep the unit vs the hassle of sending it back and waiting for a fix or replacement but it's 8just too unbearable to overlook...

 

[FredA]

Some popping noise will be heard in the first 100 hours. Only once in a while though. The ocxos do that.