[TSAVJason]

I've done my main listening for these impressions of the Niimbus with a Chord DAVE feeding the Nimbus and a Hifiman Susvara using a balanced Dana Lazuli Reference headphone cable and a pair of Stealth Sakra single-ended interconnects.
I use a Shunyata Anaconda Alpha power cable on the Niimbus and a Telwire HC power cable on the DAVE.
Music is from my own pcm and dsd files on a Windows computer using USB input to the DAVE.

The Niimbus is replacing a Rudistor

Wow! Nice rig .... pretty interesting and nicely detailed impression too

 

[Fegefeuer]

Finally the first impressions are trickling in.

 

[JeffMann]

Fried,

I have a new problem that has arisen since I first started using my US4+, which I have never experienced before in my 50 years of being an audiophile, and I presume that it is caused by the US4+.

The problem is that I am hearing an extraneous sound that is not part of the music and it sounds like a crackling sound. The best analogy that I think of to describe the "sound" is that it sounds like the soft crackling sound heard when static electricity is generated eg. when unfolding a dry bed sheet that has just come out a dryer. The sound is usually momentary, and I mainly hear it when I move the volume control knob. Most of the time I can rotate the volume control without generating that extraneous sound, but sometimes I hear that sound as an isolated click, but sometimes it is heard as a quick series of clicks. I have also heard the same type of momentary clicking/crackling sound when listening to music - even though I have not moved the volume control knob. It reminds of the sudden click sounds I used to hear during my LP-era days when my cartridge stylus hit a scratch on the LP's surface. Last night, I experienced the worse episode when all of a sudden (and without moving the volume control knob), I heard dozens of these crackling sounds in quick succession where the entire episode lasted continuously for roughly 1 - 2 seconds.

Do you know what is the likely cause of these extraneous sounds?

Jeff.

 

[RobertSM]

@JeffMann, any more issues as you were talking about? I know your question was asked of Fried, but I was too thinking about your issue. Might it be EMF? Or cell phone related?? Just a thought. I'm wondering myself as I'm looking into the whole Niimbus line, this headphone amp and the DAC that is under develoment. Please share when you get a chance.

 

[JeffMann]

@JeffMann, any more issues as you were talking about? I know your question was asked of Fried, but I was too thinking about your issue. Might it be EMF? Or cell phone related?? Just a thought. I'm wondering myself as I'm looking into the whole Niimbus line, this headphone amp and the DAC that is under develoment. Please share when you get a chance.

The crackling sounds problem has persisted and it is not related to a cellphone (which I do not own) or EMF. It only happens infrequently when I rotate the volume control knob, and I therefore believe that it has some causal connection with the volume control. Fried (in a private communication) stated that he has no idea what is causing the problem and he wondered whether it was due to an extraneous source of static electricity. I know of extraneous source of static electricity in my home audio situation, and that explanation would not explain why it only happens when I rotate the volume control knob. Fortunately, it does not happen often at present and therefore its periodic presence is not creating much dismay on my part.

From a sound perspective, the US4+ is remarkable and it is significantly better than my V281. I will offer some subjective impressions in a few weeks time, but my personal impression coincides to a large degree with John Grandberg's general impression as described in his detailed review.

Jeff.

 

[rgs9200m]

Follow-up to my impressions. I did a long listening session with my LCD4 (single ended with Lazuli Reference cable) and it sound brilliant with the Niimbus.
The LCD4 wakes up wonderfully, with more speed and definition, just what it needs in my book.
The Niimbus really targets the sense of lumpiness in the bass (or any opacity anywhere).
But again, there is zero fatigue.

And there is also more layering than I ever heard before.
(I have owned the LCD4 for about 3 years now, so I am well familiar with it.)
In short, to my ears the Niimbus+LCD4 combo is a perfect match.

 

[jmac1516]

Are there any Nimbus being used in the wild? I have yet to see anyone post a pic of their Nimbus.

 

[Fegefeuer]

They're all busy listening. A lot others are waiting for their amp to arrive as far as I know. In the new year when the busy side of things has cooled down a lot more impressions should follow.

 

[kn19h7]

Been almost one month driving ADX5000 with this

Coming from Moon 430HA, this Niimbus has quite different presentation.
430HA has tendency to render certain sense of air and space that gives the impression of wide soundstage (but can also sounds diffused at times), while NIimbus has more "blackground" effect where sounds just seem to pop out from the void.
The Niimbus also seems to have better technicalities; dynamics and layering are just better here.

Btw, the side panels on production unit are black instead of white or light grey on early pics. (Not shown here though)

 

[lithiumnk]

Been almost one month driving ADX5000 with this

Coming from Moon 430HA, this Niimbus has quite different presentation.
430HA has tendency to render certain sense of air and space that gives the impression of wide soundstage (but can also sounds diffused at times), while NIimbus has more "blackground" effect where sounds just seem to pop out from the void.
The Niimbus also seems to have better technicalities; dynamics and layering are just better here.

Btw, the side panels on production unit are black instead of white or light grey on early pics. (Not shown here though)

Hello
Please elaborate adx5k pairing with niimbus as I am thinking of buying adx5k next month and pairing with v281 or a future niimbus amp.
I believe adx5k to be underrated cans and when driven properly delivers TOTL quality sound.
Thanks

 

[RobertSM]

Thanks to the niimbus owners for the feedback & taking the time to share. I'm very excited about this line and as I said in another post, the DAC thats being developed. Very promising and I too see a niimbus stack in my future in the next several months.

 

[kn19h7]

Hello
Please elaborate adx5k pairing with niimbus as I am thinking of buying adx5k next month and pairing with v281 or a future niimbus amp.
I believe adx5k to be underrated cans and when driven properly delivers TOTL quality sound.
Thanks

IMO adx5k are very capable headphones that scales with upstream gears.
As someone who never quite like any planars, these offer a nice settling point where there is no serious tonality issue, and bass quality is significantly better than HD800S (I had been using HD800 and then HD800S as daily cans for a total of ~5yrs), and also excellent imaging capability or soundstage. (this is where the Utopia fail me)
But then adx5k can also vary from sounding towards thin and harsh, to solid and well behaved, depending on upstream gears. Back when I was comparing them to HD800S in shop on a Questyle combo unit (it was kinda okay), it was actually unclear that which I will eventually prefer.

Not sure if this answers you lol, knowing myself sucks at describing sound, gotta resort to using reference points.

 

[buffer]

received my nimbus us4+ last week. Overall, the unit sounds good. however, my experience with the unit has not been entirely positive. The sound is largely neutral. I always felt my ears were sensitive to differences in equipment, but I have to call it like i hear it. In a blind test, there is no way I could tell the difference between this amp and the Headamp GS-X MK2. They sound virtually identical to me, regardless of headphone. I tried many headphones. If I had to pinpoint a difference I might believe the US4+ has slightly more deep bass and maybe the GS-X has very slightly more midrange ...but I really think the difference is so subtle that I'm not entirely sure the difference isn't due to slight variation in volume or my imagination. like I said, in general I hear absolutely no difference in tonal balance, clarity, soundstaging, imaging ,bass tightness, treble sparkle, timber, or any other aspect ...well, except for one pertaining to volume control. I'll get back to that in a moment. I guess it shouldn't be entirely surprising that the GS-X MK2 and the US4+ sound similar to me. They are both excellent, powerful, and in my opinion, try to present a neutral and transparent sound. Here's the thing. The GS-X MK2 is considerably cheaper. So I find my self debating ...is the US4+ worth keeping? For my purposes the answer may be yes. I wanted something that would perform in an alternate location with the performance of my main rig. I wanted something that would maximize the potential of my headphones, including the headphones that are hard to drive. I also like the one-box solution. This makes it easier to setup quickly. I also think the US4+ sounds good shortly after powering up. It may improve in the first 30 minutes or so, but by in large, I do not hear any short comings when starting cold. The US4+ also offers two features my other high-power high-end amps do not. I appreciate the balance control and the remote (which has not yet shipped). The balance control is helpful when the music is imbalanced or when a headphone may have a very slight imbalance. Incidentally, the balance control is somewhat subtle. It doesn't push sound all to one ear or the other, but it is effective enough to compensate for imbalances. The other feature I like is the remote. The remote would be useful if I am listening in my recliner and I do not want t reach too far every time I need to adjust the volume.

But here is my biggest issue - the volume control. The relays click at certain points. I do not think the volume control should be making noises on a 5K+ amp, but I can live with it as long as I know the unit is not broken and as long as it only happens at two spots when turning the volume control. With factory settings it happens at 9 o'clock and around 11:30 on the dial. It's not loud and it's brief. Except the other day I was listening and the click started to happen continuously without me adjusting the volume. To stop it, I simply moved the volume control a little. And then a day later I had a different experience. I heard the clicking more prominently (sounds like static) throughout the entire spectrum while turning the knob. I had been listening to the Susvara and had high gain on the prior day, But today I began listening to the Quad headphones with the same gain setting and (using a line-out on the Meridian Explorer 2 DAC). Anyway, the point is that the volume control is problematic. In addition, I had another issue which admittedly, I could not repeat but it is serious. I was listening with one headphone, pulled it, lowered the volume all the way, inserted a new headphone and the volume was playing as though I hadn't lowered it even though the knob was all the way down. As soon as I touched the knob, the volume reduced appropriately, This could have blown my ears or my headphones in the wrong circumstance. For now, I consider this an anomaly as I did not reproduce this, In fairness, I also did not turn the phone output off when swapping headphones ...not sure if that would have changed anything.

To conclude, I'll point out that I only have a few days with the Nimbus and it is an outstanding unit. It's certainly as good as any headphone amp I have heard. I question the value, but I do not doubt the sound quality. It delivers. It does not standout from some of my other high-end amps, even some considerably cheaper, but as I said, I am not sure it should. As long as the unit strives for neutrality, has sufficient power, is of good quality, and is a good electrical match, most units should sound similar, let's say +/-5 % - just my opinion. I realize others may disagree, The only amp I ever heard that sounded remarkably different (in a good way) from other amps was the Apex Teton ....but that's a different story for a different thread.

 

[britneedadvice]

Hi 'buffer'
"To conclude, I'll point out that I only have a few days with the Nimbus....................."

Surely you've got to give it a little more time? .....and if it does have 'teething' issues , allow the Manufacturer to put it right before going 'public' ??
However,I accept there is a point that an item of this quality should have been properly 'screened' before release. Maybe too much of a rush to release it?
Never had any issues with my Tron Antares !!

 

[buffer]

Hi 'buffer'
"To conclude, I'll point out that I only have a few days with the Nimbus....................."

Surely you've got to give it a little more time? .....and if it does have 'teething' issues , allow the Manufacturer to put it right before going 'public' ??
However,I accept there is a point that an item of this quality should have been properly 'screened' before release. Maybe too much of a rush to release it?
Never had any issues with my Tron Antares !!

I did discuss the issue with the manufacturer. I don't believe at this time they have any intent to deal with the relay sounds in the volume control. But in terms of going 'public', my intent was not to be negative. I merely pointed out what I observed. Just to clarify, the volume control clicking is an issue to me, but I don't focus on that when using the Nimbus. Generally speaking, I don't fiddle with the volume too much and the clicking is not a major stumbling block to my enjoyment. Thanks for allowing me to clarify that.