Takashi Posted August 24, 2009 Report Posted August 24, 2009 Well I just bought a NuForce Icon Mobile, for my first amp/dac. I will be using it to power my Denon Ah-D2000, which I am absolutely loving so far (Have had for about a month, maybe a bit longer). HeadphoneAddicts review suggests good synergy with them so I figure i'll give them a try. When I get them I will do the same kind of thing I did with my headphones, I will do an initial review and then an After burn in review :] Hopefully will be of use to other people. This will be my first amp/dac experience so I am intrigued on what changes this will make to the sound. The amp will be coming in 1-3 days, wish me luck hopefully I don't spill things in excitement when I get it like last time..
Icarium Posted August 24, 2009 Report Posted August 24, 2009 While headphoneaddict is a nice guy... I would never buy anything based off one of his reviews Sorry headphone addict, but your threshold for liking things is very low ;p Good luck though, maybe that shizznizzle is badass.
grawk Posted August 24, 2009 Report Posted August 24, 2009 basing a purchase on an HPA review is like going to a movie based on the quotes on the poster.
n_maher Posted August 24, 2009 Report Posted August 24, 2009 basing a purchase on an HPA review is like going to a movie based on the quotes on the poster. Movie posters everywhere just became offended.
Takashi Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Posted August 24, 2009 sounds perfectly reasonable to me
Takashi Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Posted August 24, 2009 Plus my budget was limited and this seemed like the best choice for 100-150 ish
GPH Posted August 24, 2009 Report Posted August 24, 2009 Chuck Norris can read a HPA review from the beginning to the end without skipping a line.
Takashi Posted August 26, 2009 Author Report Posted August 26, 2009 Haha it just arrived! And all I can say is smite all ye non believers, I love the sound coming out of this thing so far, will write a review once it's burned in.
grawk Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 No one said it wasn't a good amp (I haven't heard one, so I couldn't say), just that HPA's reviews are always positive.
Takashi Posted August 26, 2009 Author Report Posted August 26, 2009 Ah ok i misunderstood sorry Personally having never owned an amp I expected very little to no change, however I was quiet mistaken, the change in sound is radical. Bass coming out of my d2000 has become much more defined, sibilance in some extremely sibilant songs have reduced, and the sound seems to become more rounded (equal / balanced). Also I am noticing far more sound space? (is the how you say it) I feel more like i'm listening to instruments around me instead of instruments being directed into my head.
Dusty Chalk Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 You can call it sound space, I'm not sure there's a word for it. And congratulations, good sound is fun.
Takashi Posted August 26, 2009 Author Report Posted August 26, 2009 Haha, I feel like such a little kid, reexperiencing my music again, jumping from song to song saying "Oh! I wonder how this song will sound now"
jp11801 Posted August 26, 2009 Report Posted August 26, 2009 No one said it wasn't a good amp (I haven't heard one, so I couldn't say), just that HPA's reviews are always positive. Ok I'll say it this amo/dac is craptastic at best, not bad for a desktop work tune station but not something to get all warm and squishy over. Congrats on your NuForce amp and I hope you enjoy it, just know that is just scrapes the surface and there is plenty of room for improvement out there. I had one and it is appealing in that warm and fuzzy sense both as a headphone amp and power amp feeding a stax transformer powering srx mkllls. When someone asks what they should buy for $200 or less I say a bank account and save for at minimum a pico.
HeadphoneAddict Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 No one said it wasn't a good amp (I haven't heard one, so I couldn't say), just that HPA's reviews are always positive. I only enjoy reviewing stuff that I like, and want to share that with others. I like finding the "best bang for the buck" gear. If I don't like it, I don't want to waste my time reviewing it, but I will still be very verbal in the forums when the subject comes up, and warn people off. And, in my reviews I still try to compare the subject to other gear so that others will know where it stands in the order of things. I believe in my comments that I stated the $190 Travagans Red is a better headphone amp in terms of detail and refinement. I've always said the Nuforce performs best as a speaker amp, and does a better job driving a Stax transformer than it does with headphones. So, saying that it sounds good doesn't mean it will keep up with my WA6, nor is it saying that a cheaper amp can't sound better. The Nuforce sounds like a $200-250 amp, and that doesn't mean it can't sound nice, even though my ZDT will make it sound like a joke. I think that there are varying degrees of nice. I simply found that the Nuforce did a good job with the Denon headphones and posted that. Takashi agrees. 12 months from now he'll have a nicer amp and maybe he'll think the Nuforce was crap in comparison, but for now it gets the job done on a budget. From his posts I can see that he's getting far more enjoyment now than $200 in the bank would give him. And, I still find things I don't like in my reviews. My review of the StyleAudio CARAT-TOPAZ wasn't all positive. StyleAudio Topaz Amp Eval / Review Thread Nor was my review of the Freq Show custom IEM: The FreQ Custom IEMs - Impressions Thread (Updates on First Page!) - part 1 and The FreQ Custom IEMs - Impressions Thread (Updates on First Page!) - part 2 And then there was my review of the Firestone Audio Fubar III that said it wasn't so hot: REVIEW: Firestone Audio Amps - Cute Beyond and Fubar III I posted a mini-review about not liking the Senn IE8. And my review of the Grahm Slee Solo SRG wasn't all that positive since I mostly liked it with the HD600 but not as much with other headphones, and I even did an update after CanJam to discuss it's lack of synergy with HD800. Those are just a few examples. [EDIT] I don't know why the hell I even bother coming back here for more abuse about my reviews. You guys suck all the fun out of this hobby. There's no room for budget gear, and if someone doesn't have the best gear then they're not worthy. Or, if they have nice gear, it still isn't good enough. Maybe you should have an admission test for head-case - if new members don't have a DAC over $2000, or one piece of gear from Headamp or with Gilmore in the name then they can't play.
HeadphoneAddict Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 Ok I'll say it this amo/dac is craptastic at best, not bad for a desktop work tune station but not something to get all warm and squishy over. Congrats on your NuForce amp and I hope you enjoy it, just know that is just scrapes the surface and there is plenty of room for improvement out there. I had one and it is appealing in that warm and fuzzy sense both as a headphone amp and power amp feeding a stax transformer powering srx mkllls. When someone asks what they should buy for $200 or less I say a bank account and save for at minimum a pico. Now I get to look even more stupid because jp11801 was talking about the Icon Desktop so I replied talking about the desktop amp, not the mobile that Takashi bought. A quote of jp11801 was supposed to be in my last post. It's too late to edit, so let her rip! PS: The Icon Mobile is good with Denon, responds very well to 200 hours of burn-in, and sounds best via USB. Battery life sucks, and it's a little bright/forward with ipods.
GPH Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 You guys suck put all the fun out of in this hobby. FTFY. Who organises meets? Who organises CanJam? People on head-case are dedicated to the hobby and pretty everyone here look like people I could have fun with in real life too. If you can't appreciate the humor here, you can just stay on Head-fi where licking boots and inane 3rd grade humor is the norm...
jinp6301 Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 Ok I'll say it this amo/dac is craptastic at best, not bad for a desktop work tune station but not something to get all warm and squishy over. Congrats on your NuForce amp and I hope you enjoy it, just know that is just scrapes the surface and there is plenty of room for improvement out there. I had one and it is appealing in that warm and fuzzy sense both as a headphone amp and power amp feeding a stax transformer powering srx mkllls. When someone asks what they should buy for $200 or less I say a bank account and save for at minimum a pico. jpnums, I think you might be mistaking another Nuforce item for the mobile Amazon.com: NuForce Icon Mobile headphone amplifier and USB DAC (silver color): Electronics
Takashi Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 Thankyou for the advice Headphone Addict. I am only using this out of my macbook pro, so I don't care that it sucks out of the ipod. Also your right in a year I will have a better amp and I'm sure i'll think it's not good but i'll tell you one thing. I am much more pleased with my d2000's out of my amp, then I was out of my Macbook pro straight, and I loved them before, and love them even more now. That counts for something right? Even if it doesn't I'm enjoying my music like never before so I don't care
n_maher Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 [EDIT] I don't know why the hell I even bother coming back here for more abuse about my reviews. You guys suck all the fun out of this hobby. There's no room for budget gear, and if someone doesn't have the best gear then they're not worthy. Or, if they have nice gear, it still isn't good enough. Maybe you should have an admission test for head-case - if new members don't have a DAC over $2000, or one piece of gear from Headamp or with Gilmore in the name then they can't play. I believe the only functioning rig I have right now could be assembled for less than $300 (dac, amp and headphones) and somehow I don't feel out of place. Do I own some other nice stuff, eh, I guess but I'm pretty firmly planted in the mid-fi range of things and content there. Perhaps people's problems with you boil down to your incessant need to name every piece of gear you own in most of your posts? Or perhaps it's your penchant for talking about how little money you have, then naming the huge quantity of gear you own, then talking about selling said gear to acquire more expensive gear that generally just wears on people. It also forces them to associate you with your gear. Honeslty, I don't know. I've neither met you in real life nor interacted with you much online but I've seen enough to note the trends listed above so I doubt I'm alone.
HeadphoneAddict Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 Thankyou for the advice Headphone Addict. I am only using this out of my macbook pro, so I don't care that it sucks out of the ipod. Also your right in a year I will have a better amp and I'm sure i'll think it's not good but i'll tell you one thing. I am much more pleased with my d2000's out of my amp, then I was out of my Macbook pro straight, and I loved them before, and love them even more now. That counts for something right? Even if it doesn't I'm enjoying my music like never before so I don't care Being able to help you makes it all seem worth it in the end.
HeadphoneAddict Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 I believe the only functioning rig I have right now could be assembled for less than $300 (dac, amp and headphones) and somehow I don't feel out of place. Do I own some other nice stuff, eh, I guess but I'm pretty firmly planted in the mid-fi range of things and content there. Perhaps people's problems with you boil down to your incessant need to name every piece of gear you own in most of your posts? Or perhaps it's your penchant for talking about how little money you have, then naming the huge quantity of gear you own, then talking about selling said gear to acquire more expensive gear that generally just wears on people. It also forces them to associate you with your gear. Honeslty, I don't know. I've neither met you in real life nor interacted with you much online but I've seen enough to note the trends listed above so I doubt I'm alone. So, your solution? I should sell it all, give it away, or shut up and not help others like Takashi?
morphsci Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 So, your solution? I should sell it all, give it away, or shut up and not help others like Takashi? I don't know? Maybe try acting like an adult and not a five-year old looking for sympathy? Just a suggestion.
jp11801 Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 Thankyou for the advice Headphone Addict. I am only using this out of my macbook pro, so I don't care that it sucks out of the ipod. Also your right in a year I will have a better amp and I'm sure i'll think it's not good but i'll tell you one thing. I am much more pleased with my d2000's out of my amp, then I was out of my Macbook pro straight, and I loved them before, and love them even more now. That counts for something right? Even if it doesn't I'm enjoying my music like never before so I don't care glad you are enjoying it and yes I was incorrect and talking about the desktop by mistake as that is the only one I have any experience with
HeadphoneAddict Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 I don't know? Maybe try acting like an adult and not a five-year old looking for sympathy? Just a suggestion. So, if I do that do you guys get to keep acting like the junior high school bully?
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