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Nobsound, shit or great?

Finn_<77

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Hi everyone!
I came by this Chinese audio/Hi-Fi make, Called Nobsound!
My question is if it is useable or if it is trash?

And if the results are bad on Paper, does that mean that it sounds bad for the Human ear?!!!

I have a pair of home made Speakers, witch sound great for me! So would it make a difference using my Speakers with a very good Amp or with Nobsound or similar?
 

snowsurfer

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I have two items from NobSound, probably generic chinese rebranded stuff. One is a passive 2in1 RCA switchbox with volume control which bleeds the two inputs and is thus unusable. The other is a USB ground loop isolator which is working as intended.
 

Veri

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Willem

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There is a price below which quality becomes problematic. The cheapest amplifier with just analogue inputs that I would be willing to risk my money with is probably the 2x100 watt Sony STR130. Amir apparently has bought one, and has promised to test it. It currently sells for about $150.
 
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murraycamp

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I bought a Nobsound tube amp on a lark for my office system about a year ago. Sent it back. One channel kept dropping out. Even when that wasn't happening, it sounded terrible.
 

maxxevv

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Just make sure to avoid this piece of crap https://www.ebay.com/itm/Douk-Audio...-Headphone-Amplifier-Dual-Output/274026892003

It's a Douk audio rebrand from Weiliang Audio E600 which from my experience cannot do proper SE>BAL or BAL>SE, as well as having an out of phase XLR-4 output. Maybe for single ended it's OK, but really... It's crap.

I was most tempted to pick that up on Taobao.com just for the heck of it as it was so cheap there. Fortunately, I didn't !!!
 

Veri

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I was most tempted to pick that up on Taobao.com just for the heck of it as it was so cheap there. Fortunately, I didn't !!!
Yeah me and @FireLion took the chance and it was really not worth the hassle :) overall very subpar item.
 

cdann

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I have noticed a number of people decibe the XLR-4 on the E600 as out of phase. What does that mean? The unit is very well priced and generally claimed to have good sound. Interested to understand more.
 

solderdude

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I have noticed a number of people decibe the XLR-4 on the E600 as out of phase. What does that mean? The unit is very well priced and generally claimed to have good sound. Interested to understand more.

There are 4 pins on a balanced out. There is general consensus in the audio world which of the pins are assigned to a signal as used by HIFIMAN for instance.

1= L+
2= L-
3= R+
4= R-

When these signals arrive as such on the + and - contacts of the headphone sound normal (in phase).
However, when for instance either pin 1 & 2 OR 3 & 4 are swapped in the source (or cable) then one of the drivers gets the + signal on its - terminal and the - signal on its + terminal.
That driver, in that case, has the phase reversed (180 degrees rotated) opposite the other driver.
This results in a strange stereo image where bass is affected and voices and instruments cannot be placed properly, a fuzzier stereo image.
On speakers it is much easier to spot than on headphones.
With speakers the bass is subdued when one is between speakers. When walking from left to right one hears more bass in front of the speakers than between them.
 

cdann

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Hi Solderdude, thanks for the clarification. This is interesting as I used a signal generator with my standard HD650 XLR-4 cable and looked at the phase on my Rigol DS1054 oscilocope and pin for pin the input and output are in phase. Phase aligment includes input to output and left to right. I can see no evedence of this issue. I can only assume some of the test cables are incorrectly wired. My exerience with the E600 is that it is of high quality. I can only recommend the amp.
 

Veri

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Hi Solderdude, thanks for the clarification. This is interesting as I used a signal generator with my standard HD650 XLR-4 cable and looked at the phase on my Rigol DS1054 oscilocope and pin for pin the input and output are in phase. Phase aligment includes input to output and left to right. I can see no evedence of this issue. I can only assume some of the test cables are incorrectly wired. My exerience with the E600 is that it is of high quality. I can only recommend the amp.
Me and others were not so lucky, I can only conclude there is very little quality checking on these.. Not to mention warranty and reliability issues. I would say: stick to known, trustworthy manufacturers!
 
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digicidal

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This one definitely wasn't inspiring either. I agree with @Willem on that... although there is a ton of great measuring gear coming out of China which performs better than it should (cost-wise at least)... there's a point at which the only way to make it cheaper is to make it poorly.
 

solderdude

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Hi Solderdude, thanks for the clarification. This is interesting as I used a signal generator with my standard HD650 XLR-4 cable and looked at the phase on my Rigol DS1054 oscilocope and pin for pin the input and output are in phase. Phase aligment includes input to output and left to right. I can see no evedence of this issue. I can only assume some of the test cables are incorrectly wired. My experience with the E600 is that it is of high quality. I can only recommend the amp.

Given the fact that the connectors aren't hand wired and are soldered onto the PCB correctly this leaves a few conclusions.

A: Some (previous) owners heard it as such and perhaps technically incorrectly or got it right in their case.
B: The used cable is not wired correctly to the 'standard'
C: An early production unit may have been designed with a swap and a (siltently) revised PCB has been used after the manufacturer found out.
 
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headjourney

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Shit. I bought their "Nobsound E-600" on eBay. In their ads, "Nobsound E-600" was clearly visible in photos. When it arrived, "Weiliang E-600" was printed on the faceplate. When I brought this to their attention, they sent me a new faceplate with "Nobsound" on it but no "E-600." Also, the tops of the letters in "Nobsound" were cut off by the frame around the faceplate. When I asked for the proper faceplate, they claimed they were out and no longer using it. As compensation (in lieu of the $10 they offered), I asked them to remove the misleading photos in their ads. They promised to do so. After a week or so, they still hadn't changed the photos. At that point I posted a negative feedback. They immediately wrote and asked me to retract it and that changing the photos would take time. BS. They had no intention of correcting the misleading brandname. As a company, they're dishonest and their practices border on the criminal. The sad part is that the balanced amp is quite good and I've kept it. They could have very easily been honest and up front with this product, and they would have been successful. But they've decided to be deceitful and will probably suffer for it. I would not recommend this Douk company to anyone. If you're interested in this amp, I'd advise you to look elsewhere for the Weiliang label.

Update: I just read Veri's and others' earlier comments in this forum re the poor performance of this amp. Like cdann, I haven't heard any phase/timing problems in SE or balanced mode. When I have time, I'll check it out with my miniDSP EARS gear and post results. REW produces a phase graph.
 
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Veri

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I just read Veri's and others' earlier comments in this forum re the poor performance of this amp. Like cdann, I haven't heard any phase/timing problems in SE or balanced mode. When I have time, I'll check it out with my miniDSP EARS gear and post results. REW produces a phase graph.

It's possible a couple of us received lemons. If yours works fine then that's great. Overall my experience with the customer support when you do have problems, wasn't very positive, either..
 

LuckyLuke575

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Hi everyone!
I came by this Chinese audio/Hi-Fi make, Called Nobsound!
My question is if it is useable or if it is trash?

And if the results are bad on Paper, does that mean that it sounds bad for the Human ear?!!!

I have a pair of home made Speakers, witch sound great for me! So would it make a difference using my Speakers with a very good Amp or wit.h Nobsound or similar?
Those brands are risky man. Rather wait to get more general reviews and feedback before buying. Die billigen Produkte sind gefährlich.
 
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