[JIGF]

Wondering how this would compare to a desktop amp like the Audio GD NFB 12.

 

[hoboy456]

After I lost the bid to get a second hand HeadAmp DAC/AMP Pico, I give up to the devil and bought this. I paid it on sunday, based on HeadFi-ers experience here, how long does it take from China to Germany ? and What should I expect to happen with my Ultrasone Pro750 ? Do I must prepare my body for the things to come ?

 

[sulvaat]

 
Quote:

Wondering how this would compare to a desktop amp like the Audio GD NFB 12.

I have both the D12 and the NFB-12 and can tell you it's a fairly decent upgrade SQ wise. There is a noticeable bump in output power too, depending on your cans this will probably be the most noticeable at first. 
 


Quote:

After I lost the bid to get a second hand HeadAmp DAC/AMP Pico, I give up to the devil and bought this. I paid it on sunday, based on HeadFi-ers experience here, how long does it take from China to Germany ? and What should I expect to happen with my Ultrasone Pro750 ? Do I must prepare my body for the things to come ?

Expect good things to come. I used to drive 750 Pro's with it and liked it more than my Asus Xonar ST soundcard. Bass was well tuned and hit all the right spots in my ears. Never needed to go past 12'clock on most sources to achieve good listening level. 

 

[JIGF]

Quote:

I have both the D12 and the NFB-12 and can tell you it's a fairly decent upgrade SQ wise. There is a noticeable bump in output power too, depending on your cans this will probably be the most noticeable at first. 
 

Thanks! Not to clear which one you refer to as the better one.
 
edit: But I will assume it is the NFB 12.

 

[sulvaat]

Sorry about that, yeah IMHO the NFB-12 does do a better job.

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

Sorry about that, yeah IMHO the NFB-12 does do a better job.

Have you compared just the DACs, through a common amp?  IMO the D10 DAC is one of my all time favorites, which is why I'm curious.  Does the DAC in the NFB-12 compare well to the the DAC in the D12?

 

[sulvaat]

If only the DACs; to my ears Both DACs (only the dac chip into a-gd C2.1) sound the same to me. I have tried for hours with many tracks to see if I could hear a difference between dual WM8741 and dual WM8740 chips and I just can't tell them apart beyond a shadow of a doubt. I would say the D12 compares quite well with the NFB-12 both as a DAC and as their intended DAC/Amp combo use.

 

[hoboy456]

Just got my tracking number this morning 7 am (GMT +2) and right now it's being processed in DHL Hong Kong, when can I expect the shipment to arrive ? I'm in Germany.
 
EDIT : Just arrived 1 week after I ordered, damn... Hongkong to Germany
 
My impression : Zune HD -> D12 -> Pro750
 
The bass comes alive woaahhhhh, need to burn this amp in though I think because I just played it out of the box !
 
EDIT 2 : 2 hours in listening, damnnnnn this is like night and day ! I'm totally impressed ! I guess this is 1 step for my audio equipment but a giant step for me into this audiophile world !

 

[hoboy456]

Gonna bump this while asking some questions. So I already tried it for a couple of days and it seems that I prefer how it sounds when amping my Zune HD rather than my laptop, it sounds a bit flabby and tiring while when I'm using it with my Zune, it sounds really tight and clean. Should I start rolling my op-amps ? This is my first time though, I hope I won't kill my precious possession

 
 
 
 
 


 

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Gonna bump this while asking some questions. So I already tried it for a couple of days and it seems that I prefer how it sounds when amping my Zune HD rather than my laptop, it sounds a bit flabby and tiring while when I'm using it with my Zune, it sounds really tight and clean. Should I start rolling my op-amps ? This is my first time though, I hope I won't kill my precious possession

Just make sure on the orientation of the opamp. There are directions on how to place them in correctly. Take your time and have fun. Odd that it would sound bad on your laptop. Can you adjust the output of the laptop? I can change the bits and sample rate on my mac from 16/44 to 24/96 and it sound better, even on 16/44 recorded music at the higher rate. Are you using the USB or optical?

 

[hoboy456]

I'm limited to USB, my laptop is dell XPS studio and there's no Optical plug. I've done some reading on the limitation of using USB to connect to the DAC, is there any way to bypass those limitation ? I can't change the setting pass 16/48.
 
There's a firewire 1394 port on my laptop, will there be any difference if I use a usb to firewire converter ?

 

[Armaegis]

There's a lot of debate on usb being good or bad, or usb vs optical, etc etc. Honestly, don't read into it too much and let the folks with the golden ears fight it out. The only main issue with usb is if you're getting noise through the cable, and we're talking very loud audible ground loops, not "limits of human hearing" noise.
 
If you really want to bypass the usb, you can use a usb-to-optical converter, but that's inserting another component in your audio stream, so it's something else to consider.
 
I don't know anything about firewire/usb conversion, so I can't answer that.

 

[jamato8]

On the D12 your computer should recognize that it accepts USB 24/96 and I would change it to that as to my ears, it sounds better. With that done, I find that USB is very good, better than I have heard from USB before. This is a reference to using the D12 USB. 

 

[hoboy456]

Shamefully, my laptop can't do that. I've seen some people with Macs able to do it without any problem but for people with Windows, they need somekind of converter or something. I guess, I need to be contend with this until I have the access to my desktop computer again in another 4 months.

 

[Caesar56]

Someone earlier mentioned that the D12 can drive the Senns 650 @ 300 ohm but it is the case that it simply cant. At least, to my ears. When i plug the 650 to the D12 amp and then change to the Ortofon Hd-Q7 amp, its like day and night difference. Even my sons, on cheap earbuds, listen the difference.