USB Dacs better then Highend Soundcards?
- Thread starter R3X
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I loved the way you placed your Asus card for sale in front of the nad unit lol
Does the nad slide when you go to use the volume knob ?
hopefully it has some rubber non sliding feet or something underneath...
Also can you use it with usb to pc, without plugging in the power to it?
Its tempting I guess for 400 quid it would have to last forever
Does the nad slide when you go to use the volume knob ?
hopefully it has some rubber non sliding feet or something underneath...
Also can you use it with usb to pc, without plugging in the power to it?
Its tempting I guess for 400 quid it would have to last forever
I loved the way you placed your Asus card for sale in front of the nad unit lol
Does the nad slide when you go to use the volume knob ?
hopefully it has some rubber non sliding feet or something underneath...
Also can you use it with usb to pc, without plugging in the power to it?
Its tempting I guess for 400 quid it would have to last forever
I thought placing it there was a nice send-off, the STX is a beast of a card and will definitely be loved in its new home
NAD include rubber sticky feet that you can stick on to either the side or bottom depending on how you plan on positioning it.
The Mickey Mouse power cord must be plugged in to use the amp of course!
The one thing I'm really liking with the physical unit itself is the volume dial, it's so smooth and the volume adjusts just as smoothly. You can be very precise as to how much volume you want whereas with the old amp and others I've used or owned in the past you had to carefully adjust it a notch to get fine volume adjustments else you got a little more or a little less volume than you wanted - the same went for using the remote. On this the increments are smaller on each press on the remote and holding it accelerates the increase or decrease.
Online reviews stated there was no mute control but if I press the play/pause button on the remote the volume mutes and the volume scale on the front panel flashes to indicate mute active. I guess the button and remote is the same as found on the higher end network streaming model which has other functions for that button but not on the 3020,
A negative I have found so far is that sometimes when turning it on from standby it won't remember the last input source and power on to AUX 1 which is the default input. Not a huge issue I guess. It's quick to switch inputs.
Observations wise the amp does get quite warm during use. The left side is warmer than the right side and it's the right side you'd have facing down if it was orientated flat. It doesn't output more heat than the C325 though, that thing output between 40-50 degrees of heat at the top vents
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Caporegime
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The other advantage of course is the size. Compared to the 3020 (which I have mounted under my desk) this is miniscule. This would allow me to have the amp on my desktop and free up some legroom.
However I got the 3020 for 40 quid, so I'm keeping it until it breaks, especially since I bet it sounds pretty much just as good
.
However I got the 3020 for 40 quid, so I'm keeping it until it breaks, especially since I bet it sounds pretty much just as good
.
@mrk
Looks a nice bit of kit having it all built in one box is nice. I have some NAD equipment power amps they are very good. I think NAD have actually cornered a gap in the market having so much in one box, USB Dac Headphone Amp etc.
Can see NAD selling a lot of these once people realize that Dac/Amp combo is an alternative to sound cards. I know I would never go back to one.
Looks a nice bit of kit having it all built in one box is nice. I have some NAD equipment power amps they are very good. I think NAD have actually cornered a gap in the market having so much in one box, USB Dac Headphone Amp etc.
Can see NAD selling a lot of these once people realize that Dac/Amp combo is an alternative to sound cards. I know I would never go back to one.
They seem to have a product in each area that people might be looking at. I think they've seen the moving trend in people desiring high quality sound but not wanting to spend 4 figures to get it and not having a big ugly heaving box sat on their desk or media units.
With that in mind I think the aksing price is very good given what is included and the kind of sound it's offering.
In a comment on one of the reviews I read a while back someone said they had an old system worth 4k (don't know if that was USB or GBP but anyway...) and that this was giving it a good run for its money.
I guess it's like most things in the technology area, prices get lower and quality gets higher (unless it's a smartphone
).
Saying that, most punters don't even know what a NAD is haha, it's slowly changing though with products like this.
With that in mind I think the aksing price is very good given what is included and the kind of sound it's offering.
In a comment on one of the reviews I read a while back someone said they had an old system worth 4k (don't know if that was USB or GBP but anyway...) and that this was giving it a good run for its money.
I guess it's like most things in the technology area, prices get lower and quality gets higher (unless it's a smartphone
).Saying that, most punters don't even know what a NAD is haha, it's slowly changing though with products like this.