What I want to know is whether this is the best value purchase I can make. I have no prior experience with external DACs, so it's really hard for me to make an informed decision, hence I'm here.
When I discovered the NFB-15, I've been very impressed, especially with it's internals as compared to the aforementioned M/M, or the Objective combo (because this
http://goo.gl/cSvRrZ just cannot be better than this
http://goo.gl/m5n3ee, right?). This continued with reading their site, once I got over the layout, or the lack thereof. Then I've contacted their support to see what they have to say and they recommended I'd get the NFB-11 if I want quicker sound, with better extension on the highs (paraphrasing).
If I were to decide solely based upon looks, like
TMRaven /img/forum/go_quote.gif has suggested in his comparison thread (
http://goo.gl/83KwyV), I'd get the M2/M2 without ever looking back, I mean just look at this
http://goo.gl/UiKjhk. But like I've already said, I suspect all of those options don't entirely stack up to each other, which makes it tougher to pick.
To give you some perspective though - currently I have no other option than to listen to the K7XX through the laptop headphone out, and while this it sounds better than my K272, with a wider soundstage, punchier bass and livelier sound overall, I can't say I'm entirely satisfied. I'm not really accustomed to the audiophile jargon yet, but the K7XX sound a tad muffled to me, like it lacks clarity, and this is what I am hoping to remedy with the acquisition of a DAC. Needless to say that the laptop is barely getting it to my preferred listening volume, which is what the amp is for.
In essence, am I missing something here, or can I safely pull the trigger and get the NFB-11?