[Fawzay]

I had the ifi nano black but sent it back and got the mojo. Overall it beats my oppo sa2-se and nx4. I use mojo with audio 64 A12t, U6, U4se and jh lola.

Nice! Mojo still da best dac bicoz of its natural, life-like and warm, laid back sounding and it can run a high impedance cans.

 

[dc655321]

Wow, I set my HD650 at 12 o'clock on low gain and it's already pretty loud.

Haha.
You're right - I just can't tell time apparently
Listening now, the volume knob is closer to 12 o'clock than 2.
Maybe I just had it cranked a bit for a favorite song?

 

[Fargeg]

How much channel imbalance are people experiencing with these? I'm getting about 2 dB of imbalance at 9 o'clock, 1 dB at 10 o'clock, and 0.5 dB at 11 o'clock, but I don't have enough points of reference to know whether that is normal for the NX4 or for a portable amp with an analog pot in general.

 

[dc655321]

How much channel imbalance are people experiencing with these? I'm getting about 2 dB of imbalance at 9 o'clock, 1 dB at 10 o'clock, and 0.5 dB at 11 o'clock, but I don't have enough points of reference to know whether that is normal for the NX4 or for a portable amp with an analog pot in general.

Are you measuring those values, or guess-timating?

I have also noticed the imbalance using my FLC8S iems on the NX4 DSD.
Using my HD6xx, it is not really noticeable at those low volumes.

 

[Harold999]

It's not always clear for me if someone talks about the NX4 or the NX4 DSD.
There should be a new topic for the latter.

 

[Fargeg]

Are you measuring those values, or guess-timating?

I have also noticed the imbalance using my FLC8S iems on the NX4 DSD.
Using my HD6xx, it is not really noticeable at those low volumes.

A bit of both: the NX4 PC drivers allow adjusting the volume of each channel individually by increments of 1 dB, and I can hear that the channel imbalance disappears after a certain volume level, so I tried changing the PC and amp volumes to various levels and performing comparisons.

The imbalance is more of a problem on the Sundaras, which I find need to be driven on high gain to achieve transparency but don't require much volume after that.

 

[Victorfabius]

Anyone here order their NX4 DSD from Massdrop? I did, and I just received it today! Have some pics!

Call me crazy, but I don't think this looks right. Am I out of touch?

Oh. Look. I'm quoting myself.

Got the real McCoy this time. Did not have good impression first time with the Flares Gold, but need more time to get a better listen in. If this continues, you might see it in the For Sale section. Before then, any suggestions on what I should do or listen to to get a good impression of the device?

 

[Fawzay]

Oh. Look. I'm quoting myself.

Got the real McCoy this time. Did not have good impression first time with the Flares Gold, but need more time to get a better listen in. If this continues, you might see it in the For Sale section. Before then, any suggestions on what I should do or listen to to get a good impression of the device?

maybe hooking it as an amp only or try use it as USB DAC via Neutron, Onkyo HF and USB Audio Player Pro if u r using android

 

[dc655321]

Did not have good impression first time with the Flares Gold, but need more time to get a better listen in. If this continues, you might see it in the For Sale section. Before then, any suggestions on what I should do or listen to to get a good impression of the device?

What exactly do you find lacking with this dac/amp?
If you purchase any dac/amp/dap and expect it to substantially change how your headphones sound, you're mistaken at best...

 

[Victorfabius]

What exactly do you find lacking with this dac/amp?
If you purchase any dac/amp/dap and expect it to substantially change how your headphones sound, you're mistaken at best...

Did you mean "not substantially" by any chance?My initial thought is that it's lacking treble and seems very dark, which surprised me. There's a huge increase in bass without engaging the bass boost. This was all on gear and with songs (via Tidal) I'm familiar with. I'm starting to expand my listening repertoire and experience with gear, id that isn't painfully obvious already.

Fawzay mentioned using UAPP and that's a good thought, because then I can possibly EQ and see if that helps. Thanks for the thought, I don't use UAPP hardly at all, but that's a really good idea to try.

Any suggestions for artists/albums/genres to listen to in order to get the best out of the NX4 DSD are appreciated. I'd rather not sell it, but I'd also not want to hang on to something that doesn't fit my taste. Tastes can change, but sometimes this requires a little help.

 

[dc655321]

Did you mean "not substantially" by any chance

I did not.

My initial thought is that it's lacking treble and seems very dark, which surprised me. There's a huge increase in bass without engaging the bass boost.

Hyperbole aside, I think you're hearing your headphones.
Topping gear typically measures flat (like most dacs/amps!), meaning it does not color the signal.
IOW, you're hearing your music as portrayed by your earphones.

Change your music (quality, genre, etc) or change your headphones: changing dacs won't help much, if at all.

 

[Victorfabius]

maybe hooking it as an amp only or try use it as USB DAC via Neutron, Onkyo HF and USB Audio Player Pro if u r using android

That's an idea I should have thought up myself. Thank you! I'll see if that helps!

 

[Fawzay]

Any suggestions for artists/albums/genres to listen to in order to get the best out of the NX4 DSD are appreciated.

I recommend you to play MGMT Little Dark Age with it maybe it helps.

 

[Victorfabius]

Hyperbole aside, I think you're hearing your headphones.
Topping gear typically measures flat (like most dacs/amps!), meaning it does not color the signal.
IOW, you're hearing your music as portrayed by your earphones.

Since I think I'm missing something, I'm going to try to paraphrase what you said, and I'd appreciate corrections where I get it wrong.

What you're saying is: DAC/Amps such as the Topping NX4 DSD and say, the Q5 typically do not color the sound. The differences I'm hearing are a result of hearing my IEMs without the 'coloring' a DAP, such as the iBasso DX200, produces. This is why I hear such a difference.

Is that close? Again, looking for correction if I got something wrong.

 

[dc655321]

Since I think I'm missing something, I'm going to try to paraphrase what you said, and I'd appreciate corrections where I get it wrong.

What you're saying is: DAC/Amps such as the Topping NX4 DSD and say, the Q5 typically do not color the sound. The differences I'm hearing are a result of hearing my IEMs without the 'coloring' a DAP, such as the iBasso DX200, produces. This is why I hear such a difference.

Is that close? Again, looking for correction if I got something wrong.

Yes, I think you understood what I was trying to get across.

I don't know if the DX200 (for example) colors the signal it produces: I have not seen measurements for that particular DAP, nor have I listened to it.

My point was that the choice of dac/amp/dap will have a minimal influence on what your hear, as compared to the large effects that a bad recording/mastering or different headphones would have.