[smodtactical]

Oh and I'd love to see the Nimbus go up against the Agd HE-9

 

[fdg]

We are proud to annouce that our amps Niimbus US 4 and Niimbus US 4+ are finally ready.
The first series had been shipped to our general distributor www.cma.audio
The delays had been caused by the guys machining the front panels who shocked us with 14 weeks delivery time ...
The first exhibition where the new amps had been on display was the "DEUTSCHE HIFI TAGE 2018" November 3rd + 4th in Darmstadt, Germany.
The second exhibition is the upcoming "Audiovista 2018" in Krefeld, Germany, November 24th + 25th.

Thank you, Fried Reim

 

[project86]

Thanks for the update Fried. Can you say for sure when folks in the USA might be able to purchase? I know some are interested but they would like some more specifics prior to committing. Thanks!

 

[fdg]

Hello John.
As I know there are some Niibus amps on their way to the US (TSAV).
Unfortunately the English Manual is not fixed by now, also our new proprietary remotes are missing.
We will ship both directly to the customers as soon as they are available.
Thanks !

 

[TSAVJason]

We’re looking forward to some impressions on the new US4+. Unfortunately we only started shipping last week. (A little later than expected) We were surprised to see so many fans of the product as we realized both of our first 2 shipments were sold out already. We have more coming in early next week so if you’re only just now getting your order in you’ll still get it before the Xmas holiday.

We’d like to thank you all for the support of the brand

 

[JeffMann]

Hello John.
As I know there are some Niibus amps on their way to the US (TSAV).
Unfortunately the English Manual is not fixed by now, also our new proprietary remotes are missing.
We will ship both directly to the customers as soon as they are available.
Thanks !

I received my US4+ yesterday and the manual (which is in German) is for the US4 and not the US4+.

While I wait for the english version of the US4+ manual, can you please tell me if there is a way to adjust the brightness of the LED that is inbuilt into the volume control.

Jeff.

 

[kn19h7]

I received my US4+ yesterday and the manual (which is in German) is for the US4 and not the US4+.

While I wait for the english version of the US4+ manual, can you please tell me if there is a way to adjust the brightness of the LED that is inbuilt into the volume control.

Jeff.

Google Translating the german manual:
Long press (about 2 seconds) the "1 - XLR" button, the white LED flashes.
Press the "PHONES OUT" button to decrease the brightness.
Press the "LINE OUT" button to increase the brightness.
There are 8 levels available.
When the desired brightness is achieved, press the "1 - XLR" button again for two seconds to save the setting and exit.

 

[TSAVJason]

I received my US4+ yesterday and the manual (which is in German) is for the US4 and not the US4+.

While I wait for the english version of the US4+ manual, can you please tell me if there is a way to adjust the brightness of the LED that is inbuilt into the volume control.

Jeff.

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for pointing that out. We’ll begin providing an English translated instruction by Monday. We’ll be getting info out to Germany to get any other issues sorted out ASAP.

Jason

 

[fdg]

I apologize for the inconveniences with the remote control for Niimbus US 4+ and the missing manual in english.
Both will be delivered ASAP when they are available.
Meanwhile please see the software control of Niimbus US 4+ attached.
Thank you, Fried
US 4+ software-en.pdf

 

[rgs9200m]

Hi, could you do me a favor and explain the functionality of the 2 sets of gain dip-switches on the rear panel?

(SEE the 4th photo in the first post of this thread.)

When do I set the INPUT PRE-GAIN and when do I set the OUTPUT GAIN?

And in each individual group of 4 dip switches, do I just set 1 of the 4 to pick the gain I want?
And what is the meaning of the twin +12 settings on the INPUT-PRE-GAIN groups (one light on dark and the other dark on light)?

At the moment, my goal is to increase the gain for a Hifiman Susvara, and I'm not sure if I should set the INPUT PRE-GAIN or the OUTPUT GAIN or both.
I'm thinking I should just set the single OUTPUT gain +12 switch up (for both channels). Is this what I should do?

Thank you.
-------------UPDATE:---------------
OK, I think I figured this out after looking in the manual for the V281 which has input pre-gain settings; I set the INPUT PRE-GAIN 3rd switch (+12db light on dark) on, and the same with the OUTPUT GAIN and now my Susvara has lots of volume with the volume control set at noon.

(I'm still not sure what the black on white INPUT PRE-GAIN switch does, but left it off.)

Wow this is a powerful amp with the Susvara and I hear total silence from my headphones when the music is paused even with the volume turned to anything with all this gain.

So I still have questions:

1. What should I set the OUTPUT GAIN at?
2. What is the relationship and interaction between OUTPUT GAIN and INPUT PRE-GAIN and when should each be used?
3. What is the meaning of the twin INPUT PRE-GAIN +12db switches for each channel (that's 4 +12db switches total) with dark-on-light and light-on-dark labels differentiating them?

Thank you again.

 

[fdg]

@ rgs9200m

Your questions:

1. OUTPUT GAIN:
These switches control the level of the LINE OUTPUTS an have nothing to do with the headphone-amp section of HPA US 4+.
These switches had also been part of V281, but internally. On US 4+ they are accessible from the outside.
Reason:The Niimbus US 4+ offers also a more than perfect pre-amp functionality.
Now it may be that your source is not properly matching the input sensitivity of your power amp or active speaker.
With the aid of the (line) output gain you are able to match the levels in order to achieve maximum volume attenuator travel.

2. interaction between OUTPUT GAIN and PRE-GAIN
There is no interaction between input pre-gain and output gain.
INPUT-GAIN will set the gain of the headphone amp section.
OUTPUT GAIN will set the level of the line outputs.

3. Meaning of the different gain switches
Due to the very low internal gain of US 4+ (-4 dB for unbalanced operation / +2 dB for balanced operation) it is neccessary to preparea high amount of gain in case of low level input sources combined with low efficiency headphones.
This is achieved by 2 x +12 dB gain, giving +24 dB gain as a result.
All three light-on-dark switches are acting around the input circuitry
while the dark-on-light switch will push +12 dB gain inside the power amp circuitry.
By combining these switches eight meaningful gain settings are possible to cover virtually all sources and all headphones
whilst maintaining lowest noise and maximum attenuator travel - these are : -15 / -12 / -6 / 0 / +6 / +12 / +18 / +24 dBr

Thank you, Fried

 

[fdg]

to learn more please check the block circuitry of Niimbus HPA US 4+
US 4+ block circuit.JPG

 

[rgs9200m]

Thank you Fried for all that info.
So far, great sounding amp!
Thanks again.

 

[astrostar59]

Interesting. I have the V281 and I have set all gain switches at zero, so as it came from the factory. My DAC has high output of 10v SE and my LCD4s are loud listing level with the pot on the V281 at 10-10.30 o'clock. If i set pre-gain at -6dB I get more travel on the pot to have the same level of volume, but it doesn't sound as smooth to me,bit brighter and brittle. So I prefer it set at zero on the switches.

The V281 sounds fantastic from my R2R tube DAC.

 

[Arniesb]

Interesting. I have the V281 and I have set all gain switches at zero, so as it came from the factory. My DAC has high output of 10v SE and my LCD4s are loud listing level with the pot on the V281 at 10-10.30 o'clock. If i set pre-gain at -6dB I get more travel on the pot to have the same level of volume, but it doesn't sound as smooth to me,bit brighter and brittle. So I prefer it set at zero on the switches.

The V281 sounds fantastic from my R2R tube DAC.

Yup Violectric amps strangely sound better on higher gain settings... I tried many time -6db setting on my V280 and it never sounded as good as 0 setting no matter what volume i set on -6db. Maybe not demanding headphones sound good on any setting...