Nuforce DAC-9
Ern Dog
Posts: 2,237
An audiophile friend of mine recently let me borrow his Nuforce DAC-9 and I am enjoying it so much that I wanted to post my impressions of it.
Here is the manufacture product link: http://www.nuforce.com/hi/products/Dac-HPAmp/dac9/index.php
It is pretty small and sleek looking and comes with a remote. It has like 6 different inputs. I tried it connected to my Modwright Oppo 83 using an old $30 Monster toslink cable. I also tried it with a Morrow digital cable, but couldn't tell a difference with the two different cables so left it with the toslink. It also has a volume control, either fixed or variable, so I tried it with and without my preamp in the loop. It sounded better with the Placette preamp in the loop.
The first most immediate thing I notice is that the music plays louder at the same volume as before. I find this a nice benefit because some of my cd's are recorded low (Reference Recordings label) and I have to max out my preamp to hear it right.
Next the sound stage grew several feet and the music easily fills the room. This DAC has way more detail/resolution than what I'm used to hearing, but it never sounds harsh, sibilant or bright. It's like a wool blanket was removed from my speakers and I can hear into the music more deeply and more clearly. In fact it sounds smooth and open. There is also extension on the highs and low end.
What strikes me about this DAC is that it has such a fast response- attacks are lightening fast! I was listening to Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances and there was one part where there is a loud cymbal crash and when this came on I literally jumped because it scared me and I've heard this track a million times before. This quality makes for excellent pacing and drive. It is a very lively DAC. I love it in my system.
Female vocals sound sublime. The most realistic I've ever heard from my rig. Coltrane sounded fresh and real and alive. Everything I've thrown at it sounded just amazing. In comparison my source alone sounds veiled and sluggish, but I never would have described it that way before this DAC came into the picture.
The biggest downside so far is that it doesn't do SACD's. Other than that it is a keeper for sure. I wish I could offer some comparisons with some other external DACs but this is the only external DAC I've had in my system. You could say that this DAC popped my cherry
The other down side is that I have to give it back in the next week or two or pay $1600 for a new one. Once my ears hear the possibility of something way better, it is so hard to go backwards. I definitely see one in my future.
Here is the manufacture product link: http://www.nuforce.com/hi/products/Dac-HPAmp/dac9/index.php
It is pretty small and sleek looking and comes with a remote. It has like 6 different inputs. I tried it connected to my Modwright Oppo 83 using an old $30 Monster toslink cable. I also tried it with a Morrow digital cable, but couldn't tell a difference with the two different cables so left it with the toslink. It also has a volume control, either fixed or variable, so I tried it with and without my preamp in the loop. It sounded better with the Placette preamp in the loop.
The first most immediate thing I notice is that the music plays louder at the same volume as before. I find this a nice benefit because some of my cd's are recorded low (Reference Recordings label) and I have to max out my preamp to hear it right.
Next the sound stage grew several feet and the music easily fills the room. This DAC has way more detail/resolution than what I'm used to hearing, but it never sounds harsh, sibilant or bright. It's like a wool blanket was removed from my speakers and I can hear into the music more deeply and more clearly. In fact it sounds smooth and open. There is also extension on the highs and low end.
What strikes me about this DAC is that it has such a fast response- attacks are lightening fast! I was listening to Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances and there was one part where there is a loud cymbal crash and when this came on I literally jumped because it scared me and I've heard this track a million times before. This quality makes for excellent pacing and drive. It is a very lively DAC. I love it in my system.
Female vocals sound sublime. The most realistic I've ever heard from my rig. Coltrane sounded fresh and real and alive. Everything I've thrown at it sounded just amazing. In comparison my source alone sounds veiled and sluggish, but I never would have described it that way before this DAC came into the picture.
The biggest downside so far is that it doesn't do SACD's. Other than that it is a keeper for sure. I wish I could offer some comparisons with some other external DACs but this is the only external DAC I've had in my system. You could say that this DAC popped my cherry
The other down side is that I have to give it back in the next week or two or pay $1600 for a new one. Once my ears hear the possibility of something way better, it is so hard to go backwards. I definitely see one in my future. Post edited by Ern Dog on
Comments
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Nice man, thanks for the review. With your level of gear, I'd of thought you'd pop that cherry along time ago.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Today I decided to try out the Headphone amp portion of the Nuforce DAC-9. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD-600 headphones that I tried with it and was underwhelmed. I only spent maybe 15 minutes listening to a couple songs off Diana Krall's Live in Paris cd, which is a top notch recording in my opinion. To be fair, I hardly use the headphones and they have never sounded really good with any amp I've tried, which hasn't been much (Pico amp/dac, RSA SR-71A, Placette and now Nuforce). I'm so used to hearing my stereo through the speakers and always feel disappointed going from that to using my headphones. I know there is a whole other world of headphone gear that could close the gap, but I'm not interested it.
Getting back to the Nuforce headphone amp, I thought things sounded a tad on the bright side or better yet, the presentation sounded clinical. It no longer sounded smooth and open. All the realism I heard through my speakers disappeared and it sounded small using my Senns. This could be in part due to the headphones, the cable (senn upgraded cable) or the Nuforce- I'm not sure. I switched to using the headphone amp built into my Placette preamp and it sounded a little better to me, but not much.
Make no mistake the DAC-9 is still a keeper for sure. The gains it makes as a DAC are just phenomenal. -
The HD-650 or Hifiman HE-400 would be a nice upgrade over your 600's.
Thanks for the feedback on the Nuforce unit."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
