O-NOORUS D3 - TPA3255 Amp with ES9023P DAC, NJW1194 Vol Control with remote

[TonyJZX]

even if a laptop had the ALC 4050 i would put my money on the D3 with the same chipset given its in a non hostile environment rather than one that has a high performance processor, ram modules, lvds screen, ssd, wifi etc. list goes on

 

[Berwhale]

Very true.

Sounds different to me though. Some may say better, some worse. Me, I prefer the sound via the D3's DAC.

My system is very modest. More revealing systems may show up the limitations of the budget infrastructure employed by the D3. I'm just satisfied that the D3, in my system, makes me happy.

And thank you. Glad to be aboard.

On ASR, DACs are generally considered to be a 'done' technology. This means that any recent DAC chip (less than 20 years old for arguments sake) that has been competently implemented will be 'audibly transparent'.

'Competently implemented' refers to the circuitry connected to the DAC chip. This will vary by manufacturer, use case and the design engineers expertise, but basically, we're just saying that the DAC chip has not been put in a 'broken' circuit.

Audibly transparent means that the DAC does not introduce any audible distortion or noise to the digital source material. You can read more about more about the thresholds of audibility here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-thresholds-of-amp-and-dac-measurements.5734/

Then feel free to read through 326 pages of discussion about why some people don't 'get' the above

How can DAC's have a SOUND SIGNATURE if they measure as transparent?

I know there are people out there that think cables affect sound, which is much worse, but there really is no response to something like that, but just to smile and nod. But what about people who talk about DACS as if they were headphone drivers or speakers, and talk about the SOUNDSTAGE...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Alexander Lin]

I am am just looking to get internal pics first before hitting buy button, want make sure that its not like those 30$ board type.

 

[Guddu]

Digital input, internally decoded into analog output by ALC4050.

Wondering what’s makes them choose a different DAC chip for USB over ESS which is already part of design.
Why not using same ESS dac as other inputs?

 

[TonyJZX]

alc 4050 is fully 32/384

ess9023 is 24/192

you might ask why the ess is there at all when it could be all routed thru to the alc 4050

but... these people are smart... electronics engineers may have a directive from parts supply to do it this way

 

[Guddu]

alc 4050 is fully 32/384

ess9023 is 24/192

you might ask why the ess is there at all when it could be all routed thru to the alc 4050

but... these people are smart... electronics engineers may have a directive from parts supply to do it this way

Normally I won't think of what dac is used, but I have never found any realtek that have sounded good... to me at least.
Also don't care much for 24/384 vs 24/192, I personally don't think I can differentiate.
As long as it sounds good, its acceptable.

 

[Alexander Lin]

I have been using the O-Noorus D3 for a couple of weeks now, so I'm happy to provide a few, preliminary, comments.

For context, my setup is a desktop (nearfield) application running Q Acoustics 2010s and a Wharfedale SW150 sub in a large office. The source is an Amazon Music subscription streamed via a near new Dell Inspiron laptop.

I was using the Fosi Audio BT20A in this modest setup, but was concerned that the internal DAC of the Dell was, perhaps, letting down the side. I was looking at introducing an external DAC, but in my search, stumbled upon the D3. Internal DAC, red case, TPA 3255, LED display, remote control, included PSU, $170AUD - why not?

I have the D3 connected via the USB input. (I tried the 3.5mm (which utilises the Dell's Dac) but preferred the sound signature using the D3's DAC).

In short, I like the D3 a great deal. I think it looks great and love the LCD screen (the main reason I bought it TBH).

The execution of this little amp, from a functionality perspective, is excellent in my opinion. Mine shipped without an instruction manual, but it was very simple to work out how everything works. Very intuitive in my experience.

The LCD screen offers 4 levels of brightness and 9 different colours. The remote control does on/off and mute, and adjusts volume, bass and treble, and input, but not LCD colour or brightness.

The sub out is variable, but sends a full range signal (no low pass filter) to the sub. It continues to send output to the subwoofer even when the unit is off.

The only analogue input is a 3.5mm jack.

I have absolutely no complaints about the sound quality. The QA 2010s are not the last word in refinement and can get a little sharp, but the D3 sounds better to me than the Fosi in the above set up (possibly due to the different inputs (DACs) utilised) particularly in the higher frequencies; less wince inducing. One of my tests is vocals (the spoken voice) on you tube. Some class D amps (including the Fosi) can make you tube vocals sound harsh and brittle. The D3 doesn't (as much). Not perfect, but no worse than my Marantz NR1405.

In my setup, the D3 sounds better, to me, than the Fosi Audio BT20A Pro. Not by a lot, and possibly only because of my Dell's DAC when running the Fosi.

For reference I also run a variety of Tannoy, Monitor Audio and Q Acoustic speakers with Marantz, NAD, Aiyima, Nobsound (Douk Audio) and Fosi Audio amplifiers. None of which could be considered high end, so my impressions of this amplifier should be considered in this context.

The power supply of NE5532 is -12V, +12V, which can better utilize the performance of NE5532.

 

[TonyJZX]

Normally I won't think of what dac is used, but I have never found any realtek that have sounded good... to me at least.
Also don't care much for 24/384 vs 24/192, I personally don't think I can differentiate.
As long as it sounds good, its acceptable.

i'd agree but its a marketing thing

dacs are 32/384 or 32/768 now

and so if you release a 24/192 product people will ask why is it so outdated and of course, does it matter?

i have some 24/96 material and very limited 192 material and so why would i need more? but the market has spoken

 

[MCH]

I don't usually care about having a sota sinad and all that, but the Realtek specs 85 dB and yes, it does feel like a strange choice.
I can imagine the reason behind is using the NJW1194 as analog volume/tone control and source selector. If they had done all that in the digital domain it all could go through the same DAC. But well, maybe this way has an advantage in lower noise? No idea, but if yes, the trade-off sinad for lower noise + tone controls could be worth it.

 

[gnat_leader]

i have some 24/96 material and very limited 192 material and so why would i need more?

+1 I feel the same about this. Anyway, your amp, and more so your speakers and your room is gonna make a bigger difference.

 

[CedarX]

Wondering what’s makes them choose a different DAC chip for USB over ESS which is already part of design.
Why not using same ESS dac as other inputs?

The NJW1194 has up to 4x analog inputs. If you already have it for vol. and bass/treble control, it may be simpler and cheaper to also use it for inputs switching, even if means having 2x DACs.

It’s also possible that they use the ALC4050 as an USB bridge only (cheaper than XMOS), and route the digital output (I2S) to the ES9023 DAC. The ALC4050 has an integrated HPA, but no separate DAC out. They may use that HPA out… or not.

I speculate there is an opamp somewhere taking care of the SW out, summing the L/R out of the NJW1194, with or without LPF, with or without independent vol. adjustment.

 

[dr_mick51]

View attachment 319686View attachment 319687

This is a very nice all-in-one amp with quality components. My only complaint is the 3.5mm jack instead of RCA. So, this means we need an adapter or a RCA to 3.5mm jack cable.
Those output filter inductors are bigger and better than the 2-in-1 inductors used on the V3, A07 PRO, A07 MAX and similar.
Digital volume control which allows it to use a remote control and good capacitors: coupling, bulk and output filter ones.
A real low pass Subwoofer out (using a SOIC8 NE5532 opamp).
4 digital inputs(usb, optical, coaxial and BT) routed through a single DAC chip and then going into the volume control chip.
And the good old replaceable opamps feature.
The front screen is alsi very nice. Very tempting.

 

[Zek]

4 digital inputs(usb, optical, coaxial and BT) routed through a single DAC chip

Does the digital input via USB go to the same DAC chip as the SPDIF inputs?

 

[dr_mick51]

Does the digital input via USB go to the same DAC chip as the SPDIF inputs?

Now that you mention it. Maybe not. I don't see any relays or switches to change from each source. Probably the ESS Dac is only used by optical and coaxial inputs. Leaving BT and USB to be handled directly the each chip(Realtek and Qualcomm), and then all 3 outputs plus Line In (3.5mm) go into the NWJ1194, and all the switching is done by that chip.
Being honest I'm not interested in those digital inputs. I prefer to use an external DAC. But as a desktop amplifier or an all in one amp should work fine.

 

[Guddu]

Now that you mention it. Maybe not. I don't see any relays or switches to change from each source. Probably the ESS Dac is only used by optical and coaxial inputs. Leaving BT and USB to be handled directly the each chip(Realtek and Qualcomm), and then all 3 outputs plus Line In (3.5mm) go into the NWJ1194, and all the switching is done by that chip.
Being honest I'm not interested in those digital inputs. I prefer to use an external DAC. But as a desktop amplifier or an all in one amp should work fine.

If you don’t need DAC then you probably have better options from Aiyima and Fosi, cheaper and with power supply.

 

[dr_mick51]

If you don’t need DAC then you probably have better options from Aiyima and Fosi, cheaper and with power supply.

Yes, sure. Unless you really want a remote control, digital volume control and a real subwoofer out.

 

[Guddu]

Yes, sure. Unless you really want a remote control, digital volume control and a real subwoofer out.

Not denying at all, but others amps have aux out which works fine with subs and now sub out amps are coming as well.
If DAC has remote then that’s a better option IMO.

 

[TonyJZX]

its clear this place loves the single input no remote TPA3255s especially with the PSU rolling going on

but this forces you into a two box solution

for some people they want the one box that does it all... the D3 is this box... to me this is a much more novel approach... i like the red color and funny display

you got to evaluate whether this thing suits you...eg. it has a modern BT interface... many people here dont care about that...

and you cant 'psu roll' and so power to this unit will always been pretty low

given the preamp stage will eat some power i'm guessing this does a real 30w at 8 ohms???

 

[Guddu]

its clear this place loves the single input no remote TPA3255s especially with the PSU rolling going on

but this forces you into a two box solution

for some people they want the one box that does it all... the D3 is this box... to me this is a much more novel approach... i like the red color and funny display

you got to evaluate whether this thing suits you...eg. it has a modern BT interface... many people here dont care about that...

and you cant 'psu roll' and so power to this unit will always been pretty low

given the preamp stage will eat some power i'm guessing this does a real 30w at 8 ohms???

Product pictures says up-to 50v psu usage, but I can’t clearly find in internal pics the caps ratings.
In any case, a 36v 6a psu should easily get to 50watts per channel into 8R load.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Ah yes. Just when the world needed it most a new chip amp can be purchased..

Some importer should make a Christmas calendar with 24 Chinese amps. -One for each day in December.