hypex ncore

[matjans]

Originally Posted by Julf

So here in Amsterdam I should scale the supply voltage down to 50V or so (I am forever changing light bulbs, as the old supply network from the 50's is less than stable but nothing gets replaced until it blows up)

Offtopic:

My dad had this issue at his office som eyears ago. A UPS kept throwing some servers down at night, turned out the voltage dropped so much the UPS tripped and safely shut down the servers. The net-guys actually monitored voltage for a full three weeks before they decided to dig new cables in to the main distribution point.

Right. Back on topic ...

[StigErik]

Ontopic:

I've noticed an other very nice side of the Ncore's sound (or lack thereof)...

There are lots of recordings that are not polished to sound pretty on everything (like most so-called "audiophile" recordings are). In other words, a lot of recordings may sound harsh, "shouting" or grainy. But wait... the Ncore's fabulous resolution manages to dissolve such recordings into its real content instead of just presenting it as one big lump of dirt.

I guarantee you that some will complain about this, mistaking midrange "shout" for dynamics. Which is utterly wrong of course.

[RockLeeEV]

Originally Posted by Bruno Putzeys

Zaph Audio tested a few B&G units and considers them the only good ribbons (seriously good at that).

Zaph has never tested a 140-15d or 70-20XR

[pieter t]

Beyma AMT as dipole sounds great; does not need raw amounts of class d power.....

[StigErik]

Originally Posted by pieter t

Beyma AMT as dipole sounds great; does not need raw amounts of class d power.....

True. I've used it as dipole, and its really good. But I like the RD-75 more...

[Yves Smolders]

Guys, sorry if I missed it browsing through the pages...

...but is there still any form of opamps on the ncore?

As I'm upgrading B&W 804S to the latest B&W 802 Diamonds, I might also get Ncore amps just to be 'sure'. My 'preamp' is a W4S DAC2.

On a sidenote, I did test my DIY amp (straightforward dual mono UCD400HG/SMPS400) on said 802 diamonds, right after listening to them on a devialet amp (hybrid AD) - they come pretty close to the devialet and had absolutely no problem driving those speakers LOUD. They were driven straight from an accuphase SACD player with variable XLR output.

Thx!

[mr_push_pull]

discrete opamp(s?) only.
UCD400HG vs. Devialet?

[Omholt]

Originally Posted by StigErik

Ontopic:

I've noticed an other very nice side of the Ncore's sound (or lack thereof)...

There are lots of recordings that are not polished to sound pretty on everything (like most so-called "audiophile" recordings are). In other words, a lot of recordings may sound harsh, "shouting" or grainy. But wait... the Ncore's fabulous resolution manages to dissolve such recordings into its real content instead of just presenting it as one big lump of dirt.

I guarantee you that some will complain about this, mistaking midrange "shout" for dynamics. Which is utterly wrong of course.

So you don't experience some of the opposite; That bad recordings start to sound even harsher and more grainy due to more transparency?

[Bruno Putzeys]

Originally Posted by Omholt

So you don't experience some of the opposite; That bad recordings start to sound even harsher and more grainy due to more transparency?

That sort of thing commonly happens on replay systems which try to "sound transparent". It's a bit of a terminology thing. Some people use the word to mean "you get a barrage of details thrown at you", others use it to say "can't hear it do anything to the sound at all".

The first kind of "transparency" is actually a euphonic wow-effect which you can create by dipping the frequency response a dB or two in two places (600Hz and 2kHz) and optionally adding a small bit of HF distortion in the electronics (e.g. using all power FETs and no feedback). That produces what reviewers would describe as "startling clarity" and indeed such a system tends to overemphasize some of the things that bad recordings do badly.

But in the latter case (true transparency), when a recording sounds mucky, you only get the exact amount of muck that was in the recording, not artificially enlarged by the magnifying glass of an overzealous loudspeaker.

I knew all of this in theory until recently when the pieces in my active speaker design really started to fall into place. I now know it in practice too These days I can listen to literally anything on my main system. I no longer need a ghetto blaster on the side to listen to second rate stuff and make it listenable. I hear precisely what the recording does wrong but it doesn't keep unnecessarily drawing my attention to it. I can just get on with the music.

[john dozier]

I experienced the exact same phenomenon when I changed to a new dac (Anedio). I found that even previously unlistenble cds were now enjoyable. I agree completely with Bruno's analysis. BTW, I currently use tube amps and VERY flat speakers. Regards