[Shane D]

Got an email from Mass Drop today about Black Friday sales. Nothing interested me, however...it stated that my amp shipped two days ago!

As I recall, they weren't supposed to ship until December 27th. Nice surprise.

Shane D

 

[John Biser]

I'm not sure on the DC output , I'll have to measure it myself. I can't find it online and it's not in the paperwork as well.
As far as the signature. With the stock op amp LME49720 its very flat from top to bottom BUT it can get kinda bright sounding on certain songs. I think it's the signature of the chip itself.
It is a really good chip very(HI-DEF) mirco-details are top of the top. But like I said it can get bright. The sound stage is 360 tho, one of the best I've heard from a portable.
I'd say the amp itself really stays flat as possible but I've been Rolling the Opamps so the sound does somewhat change drastically.
I don't have the super duper so-called opamps on hand but I'll give a short take on what I have here.

OPA2132P Nice deep tight Bass, with warmth from Mids to Top- the image is horrible, Stage is pretty much in your head. Very boring.
OPA2134 Basically the same as 2132 just even more boring. Both of these chips sound veiled big time. Not that its bad, it just not good.
OPA2604 Lighter in the Bass, but the mids and treble are cleaner and Stage is far better then the other two. Still has that laid back sound of BB chips. But this one is pretty good.
LM4562 stats say this is the "Original" LME49720. Not even close here. It is way bass light and lifeless sounding. Just bright from top to bottom. Good stage but it just way too cold/thin sounding.
LME49860 Reviewed above, This one is pretty good. Same as the stock LME but smoother more relaxed sounding. A tad of grain in the trebles tho. VERY good slightly warmer the stock, less bright and tiresome.
LT1364 Forget it. This thing shines to me, review above. This chip is so natural sounding, This combo is just fantastic. I'd call it musical. Nice deep tight bass, The mids (oh man), wonderful 650 mids. Male/Female voices sound fabulous. The treble nice and crisp and extends just to the right spot. No harshness here but not rolled off either. The LME49720 just has it beat in Stage but this chip is right there. Note tho these were all coming off BEYER DT770/880/990 I've not had much head time on my Senns but I don't think my opinion on this would change.

I also own NX3s. For those interested in output impedance, it is 5 ohms, confirmed by Topping. As far as power levels, they publish detailed THD V Voltage graphs. For instance, the 300 ohm graph shows noise decreasing until approx 4V (50 mW, which coincidentally is what they use for their detailed THD+Noise spec), but has a soft knee and has risen to only 0.0005% at 5V (approx 80 mW).That's right, three zeroes. I'm guessing that's about the limit for CLEAN power, but its also the edge of the graph, so who knows. Toppings measurements are generally reproducible by other people. Amir at audiosciencereview has had my unit in his queue for about three weeks, hope to see his review soon. If his measurements are similar, these are fantastic numbers both for noise and for power from such a small unit. Cheers.

 

[Shane D]

I also own NX3s. For those interested in output impedance, it is 5 ohms, confirmed by Topping. As far as power levels, they publish detailed THD V Voltage graphs. For instance, the 300 ohm graph shows noise decreasing until approx 4V (50 mW, which coincidentally is what they use for their detailed THD+Noise spec), but has a soft knee and has risen to only 0.0005% at 5V (approx 80 mW).That's right, three zeroes. I'm guessing that's about the limit for CLEAN power, but its also the edge of the graph, so who knows. Toppings measurements are generally reproducible by other people. Amir at audiosciencereview has had my unit in his queue for about three weeks, hope to see his review soon. If his measurements are similar, these are fantastic numbers both for noise and for power from such a small unit. Cheers.

Thanks for the input! Have you tried to use it to drive any hard to drive headphones?

Shane D

 

[Magicman74]

Thanks for the input! Have you tried to use it to drive any hard to drive headphones?

Shane D

They drive my 650s easy with room left. It really does have some power.

 

[Shane D]

They drive my 650s easy with room left. It really does have some power.

Yeah, if it can drive 650's it won't have any problems with my stuff. As I wait and wait and wait...
Posties probably stole or threw it away.

Shane D

 

[dogears]

~$65 very well spent \m/

 

[Palash]

~$65 very well spent \m/

Got it for 45$ in 11.11 sale.

 

[Shane D]

Got mine today, out of the blue. I paid $55.00 US/$75.00 Cdn, with shipping. I didn't have to pick it up at the post office and pay sales tax which was a bonus. Very cool looking and VERY small. It had enough power for me to test it for about three minutes. I was a little underwhelmed and then it was empty. Getting a full charge now. I will be curious to try it in the morning.
For those of you that have tried it, did you use high gain on your source (if you have one)? In my VERY brief little test, I had my source on High gain and the amp on High gain. It didn't seem super loud on some old David Bowie. My new headphones (HE4XX) take a fair bit more power to drive than my other 'phones. With quieter (read older music), I was having to use the balanced output of my DAP on High gain and cranking it to 90 plus, out of 120. The source output on SE is Much lower so the amp will have to roar. I guess I'll see in the morning.

Shane D

 

[John Biser]

Thanks for the input! Have you tried to use it to drive any hard to drive headphones?

Shane D

I only own HD650's, which are easy to drive. I only had for two days before I shipped off to audiosciencereview. Also, since I never owned a desktop amp, or even something with this much power, anything I say would be with no point of reference. However, I will say that with my headphones, the extra power really brought out the bass. In fact, even though I was expecting something to this effect, it was a revelation.

 

[Shane D]

I am finally getting around to using my amp.
I was wondering how such a small unit could put out 545mW X 2. I don't think that is actually the case. My DAP puts out 50mW through SE using high gain. Running the signal through the amp at high gain is not 10 times louder. Nor is it 9 times louder, 8 times louder, or 7/6/5/4/3 or even twice as loud. Maybe it is just how it is measured?

It does add a bit of headroom, especially with bass boost. I am surprised that someone could drive the HD6XX's with this. I owned the HD6XX's and it took my iFi amp to run them well.

I think this would likely pair nicely with my A17, which really is underpowered. Or if you had an A25/A35/A45. Or a cell phone.


I am curious if it might change after some burn-in (physical on the player/mental from me).

So far I am just seeing a little more headroom. Looking forward to trying the Grado's as I really enjoyed bass boost on those with my iFi.

And to be clear, I did not expect a $75.00 amp to match my former $400.00 amp.

Cool looking little thing and I will keep playing away. I am thinking about getting something more in the line of a desktop setup, as I only use an amp at home.

At this price, you just can't lose.

Shane D

 

[SoldierUral]

Hello everybody)
I'm newbie here and I have a question about NX3s. I really want to change OpAmp in it, but cannot disassemble it. Can anybody give me step by step instructions what I must do to take access to the OpAmp? May be with photos. I really don't understand what to do(

 

[Palash]

Hello everybody)
I'm newbie here and I have a question about NX3s. I really want to change OpAmp in it, but cannot disassemble it. Can anybody give me step by step instructions what I must do to take access to the OpAmp? May be with photos. I really don't understand what to do(

Follow this youtube video.

 

[SoldierUral]

Follow this youtube video.

Big thanks to you, now I understand what I must do ... but the problem is in screws ... I can't see them(
Sorry, I can't insert images( Will try do it myself

 

[SoldierUral]

Here are photos of that place on my amp, where on video are screws
https://yadi.sk/i/oc9wimaTTxvR_w
https://yadi.sk/i/XbqtbgJgKh6ohA
Any suggestions what I must do?

 

[Magicman74]

Here are photos of that place on my amp, where on video are screws
https://yadi.sk/i/oc9wimaTTxvR_w
https://yadi.sk/i/XbqtbgJgKh6ohA
Any suggestions what I must do?

I posted this on Massdrop about a month ago:
You'll need a small hex key either 1.3 mm or .050 SAE, Both will work, but I recommend a Ball Ended .050 the screws are very tiny and could strip easy. The Ball end will help if you run into a problem...