stephennic Posted June 20, 2013 Posted June 20, 2013 Hi all, Has anyone heard the audio-gd NFB15.32, what is it like sonically, how would it compare to a Marantz cd-63se. I want to add a dac and wondering whether it would improve the marantz . Also how does it compare with oher dacs - arcam and Cambridge etc. I am after a musical/natural and open sounding dac. Thanks in advance. Cheers Steve.
stephennic Posted June 21, 2013 Author Posted June 21, 2013 Hi, Maybe I should ask another question has anyone used the 15.32, what is the sound quality like? Does it compare to a good quality cd player. Cheers Steve.
pete_mac Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Do you absolutely need the headphone output? If not, I'd be far more inclined to head towards either the audio-gd NFB3.33 or the NFB3-384. The NFB3.33 with the DIR9001 receiver chip would be my personal preference, however I have not heard the 384. The 384 is apparently more accurate and neutral, and the 3.33 a tad warmer and punchier.
THOMO Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) Hi, Maybe I should ask another question has anyone used the 15.32, what is the sound quality like? Does it compare to a good quality cd player. Cheers Steve. Probably not. My guess is you would have to spend around $4000 or more to get a better sounding DAC.The CD 63SE is a very good sounding player. I have tried DACs up to $2400 in value and none of them come close to my Sony CD player which was about the same price and era as your Marantz CD player.There were some very good sounding players produced in the mid 90s. The Audio Gds sound quite nice but tend to have poor timing, Edited June 22, 2013 by THOMO 1
Nada Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Thomo - Ive only heard four Audio-gd DAC models and they had very good to excellent PRAT s expected by PCM1704 based SS designs. Im seriously impressed youve personally auditioned all the Audio-gd DACs but Im very surprised they all had bad timing. I wonder if you fed them excessive jitter to destroy their timing? Very odd.
stephennic Posted June 22, 2013 Author Posted June 22, 2013 Thomo - Ive only heard four Audio-gd DAC models and they had very good to excellent PRAT s expected by PCM1704 based SS designs. Im seriously impressed youve personally auditioned all the Audio-gd DACs but Im very surprised they all had bad timing. I wonder if you fed them excessive jitter to destroy their timing? Very odd. Hi, Have you listened to the 15.32 model, any impressions? Cheers Steve.
pete_mac Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) You really need to look higher in the model range to obtain something that will better the DAC Magic, Arcam DAC etc. The 15 squeezes a DAC stage and headphone stage inside a tiny chassis. As a result, the circuitry isn't as sophisticated as the larger dedicated DACs. The NFB3 is the sweet-spot for entry level performance within the audio-gd range IMHO. Several years ago, Mr Darko had one of the smaller DAC/headphone units and found that it sounded comparatively thin vs the NFB2/3. Edited June 22, 2013 by pete_mac
THOMO Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) Thomo - Ive only heard four Audio-gd DAC models and they had very good to excellent PRAT s expected by PCM1704 based SS designs. Im seriously impressed youve personally auditioned all the Audio-gd DACs but Im very surprised they all had bad timing. I wonder if you fed them excessive jitter to destroy their timing? Very odd. I have owned and used quite a few of the Audio Gds -the 3SE,10SE,NFB5 and the Reference 5.Some of these used Wolfson chips and the others PCM1704 chips. They all have a similar house sound.There is a lot to like about them .They sound smooth and have quite good imaging but the more I listened the more I realised they have a slightly odd presentation of rhythm and timing.Almost like a turntable with a bit of random speed drift.It is quite subtle though. I suspect this has nothing to do with the chips used but rather the Audio Gd output stage. On a lot of music you don't notice it so much but put on something like Jimmy Smith that is all about the groove and it becomes obvious. It could just be that they sound too laid-back for me I suppose. I have not listened to the 15.32. Edited June 22, 2013 by THOMO
Piya72 Posted June 23, 2013 Posted June 23, 2013 Stephennic, Am the proud owner of an audio gd 15.32, and a Marantz CD75 DX, which is probably something similar to your CD 63SE. I really don't think that there is much in it in terms of sound quality. I bought the audio gd to use as as a headphone amp, for my laptop, but now use it as a preamp/dac for my tv, squeezebox touch and ps3. (The CD doesn't get used much now, due to convenience factors, and the fact that it takes a bit of time to warm up.) Truth be told, I could probably do away with the audio gd, by outputting the devices straight to my integrated amp. But, to answer your question, in my setup, I don't reckon the 15.32 makes much of a difference to the SQ of the CD player. The 15.32 is noticeably brighter. I slightly prefer the sound of the CD75DX on it's own, but think the difference isn't enough to get me to bother. I originally bought mine to improve SQ of my laptop, and to power some headphones, and for that use, it is definitely worth it. To improve the CD, if you want a bit brighter sound, ok, but not a lot in it. Happy listening... 1
stephennic Posted June 30, 2013 Author Posted June 30, 2013 Stephennic, Am the proud owner of an audio gd 15.32, and a Marantz CD75 DX, which is probably something similar to your CD 63SE. I really don't think that there is much in it in terms of sound quality. I bought the audio gd to use as as a headphone amp, for my laptop, but now use it as a preamp/dac for my tv, squeezebox touch and ps3. (The CD doesn't get used much now, due to convenience factors, and the fact that it takes a bit of time to warm up.) Truth be told, I could probably do away with the audio gd, by outputting the devices straight to my integrated amp. But, to answer your question, in my setup, I don't reckon the 15.32 makes much of a difference to the SQ of the CD player. The 15.32 is noticeably brighter. I slightly prefer the sound of the CD75DX on it's own, but think the difference isn't enough to get me to bother. I originally bought mine to improve SQ of my laptop, and to power some headphones, and for that use, it is definitely worth it. To improve the CD, if you want a bit brighter sound, ok, but not a lot in it. Happy listening... Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I heard that there are different sampling rates that help taylor the sound, have you tried the different setting, any thoughts. I also heard the wolfan dacs is on the warmer side. Any other thoughts from anyone. Thanks Steve.
Piya72 Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 Steve, Have tried the different settings, and didn't hear much of a difference. I reckon that the DAC on the CD75 DX is warmer than the Wolfson. - YMMV Good luck.. !! 1
stephennic Posted July 9, 2013 Author Posted July 9, 2013 Hi, Thanks for everyone's input. I bought the audio gd15.32 it gave a bit more detail over the Marantz and was brighter. It did improve my consonance cd-120 linear more, opened up the soundstage, more dynamic etc. It seems to depend on the transport used with the dac. I do have one question what is TCXO - the same model also has it - does that improve the sound quality with this unit? Thanks Cheers Steve.
pete_mac Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 Only if you're using the USB32 input, as the TCXO is an upgraded clock which relates to the USB input only. If you are using the SPDIF input, then the TCX) will offer no performance gain. I do have one question what is TCXO - the same model also has it - does that improve the sound quality with this unit? 1
davewantsmoore Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 It seems to depend on the transport used with the dac Definitely. GIGO.
medicine_shoes Posted April 8, 2014 Posted April 8, 2014 Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I'm very interested in the Audio-gd NFB 15.32. I would be using it for my PC to mainly play FLACs through a separate amp+speakers. My pc has coax and optical out if this makes any difference. Just wanted opinions on this DAC as there are not a whole lot of reviews out there on it.
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