I wouldn't pay a lot for Nobsound products, but they tend to inhabit the budget segment and they sell some very cheap products that may be worth a punt if you are on a tight budget or want stuff to play with, teardown etc. And if you buy from Amazon you have good return options if it isn't what you expected.
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Nobsound, shit or great?
- Thread starter Finn_<77
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I would avoid them. I bought a headphone DAC/amp from them that wildly underperformed it's stated specs. I returned it and suggested they correct their listed specs on AliExpress, to which they agreed. I never got a refund for the return (package may have been lost in transit back to China) and they never updated their listing. That was the last time I bought anything other than cheap IEM cables on AliExpress.
Just ordered their rca/balanced attenuation Little Bear MC2 and a Topping D10 to run my hopefully coming pair of 705p. Laptop->DAC->preamp. I could just skip the Little Bear MC2 and go all digital attenuation, but I fear the kids might play with the laptop audio controls.
Have you tried anything that would let you go aes and skip the analog before the speaker completely?
That does expose you to the perils of children's fingers, but wondered if you've tried it.
I want a knob for volume. I figure it won't matter much for fidelity. Also I can reuse all the cables I already have. Otherwise I need to get a coax to balanced cable and an adapter to change the impedance, and an active box is even more expensive. Plus I want to be able to experiment with my old speakers, to compare. And the D10 plus ADC conversion will probably be invisible to my ears. Almost certainly invisible.
I have to laugh at idiots who buy a passive preamp, and then return it and give a one-star rating on Amazon because it doesn't "amplify" the signal. They apparently did not bother to figure out what passive vs active preamplifiers are, and cannot conceive that the prefix "pre" means before. And of course, anyone with a basic understanding or component audio knows that preamplifiers are located before (-pre) the amplifier in the signal chain, and do not necessarily amplify the signal- but rather they do add one or more "features" that can include a volume control, EQ/Tone controls, source switching, and even adding some "gain" for phono or other low-output sources.
The Douk/Nobsound XLR/RCA passive preamplifier seems to be sold around the world and targeted at people with active loudspeakers. No obvious bad reputation like many cheap ChiFi DACs and amps. Higher quality XLR passives start at $400-$500 (such as Khozmo, Axiom and Goldpoint), and go up to thousands of dollars each. I would not hesitate to buy a Douk/Nobsound unit if I needed one - especially from Amazon, where returns are easy.
Superbest AudioFriends.org did a comparison of the Goldpoint and the Nobsound and came to this conclusion:
The Douk/Nobsound XLR/RCA passive preamplifier seems to be sold around the world and targeted at people with active loudspeakers. No obvious bad reputation like many cheap ChiFi DACs and amps. Higher quality XLR passives start at $400-$500 (such as Khozmo, Axiom and Goldpoint), and go up to thousands of dollars each. I would not hesitate to buy a Douk/Nobsound unit if I needed one - especially from Amazon, where returns are easy.
Superbest AudioFriends.org did a comparison of the Goldpoint and the Nobsound and came to this conclusion:
Not all Nobsound is crap: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...und-3-in-1-out-xlr-audio-switch-review.11062/
I use that exact volume control in my system. I have not measured it but subjectively it works great. I purchased mine on AliExpress for $140.80.
Martin
I use that exact volume control in my system. I have not measured it but subjectively it works great. I purchased mine on AliExpress for $140.80.
Martin
Martin - your link doesn't work, but a search quickly finds the review - and tells us that Amir kept the Nobsound XLR switch sans volume control, and "plan to use it to select between active speakers for listening tests."
I fixed it.
Ordered from Nobsound off ebay. They sent me the wrong product, some weird rectangle. Maybe a clock? It was broken and damaged. Asked for a refund and got it right away. No BS at all. I'm going to go pure digital for the time being, since that didn't work out.
My point is, Nobsound is a bullshit free company in my experience. Good for them!
My point is, Nobsound is a bullshit free company in my experience. Good for them!
I have 2 of these, they work perfectly.
Can they be used with two input sources, one XLR, one RCA, one at a time? One supplier says yes, another no. Thanks.
johnmath
New Member
Nobsound T1 Pro RIAA preamp is utter crap, unusable.
I bought this version of it, https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001118131989.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31984c4dKvZGaE
It's also labelled Yisheng. I'm not sure if it's identical to the Nobsound version, but it's excellent (subjectively).
To answer my own question (I hope that's not bad form) now that I have the unit: yes. I tried it this morning, one source at a time, with the other switched off. Got undistorted sound out each time and nothing blew up.
I tried out this unit a few months ago, and sent it back after a couple of days. It was certainly doing weird things to the frequency response which I suppose subjectively paralleled the objective measurements cited in the review.
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