Perhaps I should have been more clear. Since I'm about to get an Oppo BDP-95, I feel the love. The discussion was about architecture, not an approximate resolution or input-word length. What kind of modulation a converter uses to achieve its goal is of interest to the designer and marketer, not the ideal, jaded listener.
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Originally Posted by noah katz
I thought Bruno made it pretty clear earlier that the ncore is insensitive to PS.
OK I guess taken literally “insensitive” leads to that conclusion.
What I meant is that a PS need not be prurpose-designed for ncores, that any well-designed PS with appropriate V/I capability should be fine.
Originally Posted by noah katz
I thought Bruno made it pretty clear earlier that the ncore is insensitive to PS.
OK I guess taken literally “insensitive” leads to that conclusion.
What I meant is that a PS need not be prurpose-designed for ncores, that any well-designed PS with appropriate V/I capability should be fine.
Perhaps you can help me out here; I'm struggling to understand how the ncore could be so audibly superior to other amps as has been reported (which isn't to say that I don't believe it).
Can you point to which of the ncore's measurements explain such audible superiority over ucd, for example?
in the light of the recent discussions, "insensitive" seems to imply "good enough".
Well, just spent all afternoon reading this entire thread and decided to go ahead and order 2 ncores and 2 smps.
I know it was mentioned that the next batch will be ready in the 11th week? (Mid march?).
Just curious if those are already sold out or if I will be included in the next batch since I placed my order today?
Also had a couple questions about the ncore. I keep seeing people mention something about resistor r141(removing it??), and there is also mention of it in the "bugs" section of the data sheet.
And also the part about strapping a 47k resistor across the rca? It's in the bugs section but I didn't see any mention of people doing it.
Anyways looking forward to hopefully getting my ncores in the next batch, going to be hard waiting so long!
I know it was mentioned that the next batch will be ready in the 11th week? (Mid march?).
Just curious if those are already sold out or if I will be included in the next batch since I placed my order today?
Also had a couple questions about the ncore. I keep seeing people mention something about resistor r141(removing it??), and there is also mention of it in the "bugs" section of the data sheet.
And also the part about strapping a 47k resistor across the rca? It's in the bugs section but I didn't see any mention of people doing it.
Anyways looking forward to hopefully getting my ncores in the next batch, going to be hard waiting so long!
Is yours the 40mm height version or 80? Judging by the picture it only looks like 40mm. How does everything fit? The ncore datasheet says it is 37mm seems like it would be a tight fit with the thickness of the top and bottom panels.
PSRR for nCore is generally 85dB, SMPS THD+N<1% or < -40dB, so PS-derived crud in that combo is <-125dB = good enough.
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Probably those that are measurably superior too. The discussion about "what is audible" to me sounds like a driver agonizing over how close he can brush past a lorry before losing his rear-view mirror while on the other side of the car there's an entirely empty lane. I try not to waste too much time paining over the question of how much distortion is still audible if with just as much effort I can reduce it.
That said you do need to have *some* idea of what probably matters more than what else. For instance, I famously waste no sweat on getting superb specifications above 20kHz. This is because of the reasonable assumption that even if >20kHz is audible, <20kHz is uncontroversially much more audible. Any compromise I make to extend bandwidth far beyond 20kHz is going to cost dearly in terms of audio bandwidth performance. You don't need exact numbers on audibility but you do need a good hunch of relative importance.
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I built my nCore amp last weekend and all i can say that its a very good amplifier. I can't say that "it sounds great!" (there is no "sound") and i can't say "it sounds better than zzzz!" (again, there is no "sound").
If you already had a good amplifier such as UCD400HG HxR which already provides all the power and performance at least i need, nCore is not about "what is better" or "it has more <insert attribute>", but nCore is about what is less, i.e distortions. This results in cleaner and more stable sound, especially noticeable in material involving human voice and singing. Also, solo instruments, such as trumpet seems to sound cleaner. But the difference is not nothing to "wow!" about, but it's more or less noticeable. The UCD is already a good amp.
What this tells me is that, if Hypex releases another amp that has (again) 10x better specs, i doubt i'll buy it. This upgrade was already at the limit for me and my equipment (+room), to get moneys worth.
Ok, the amps are conquered, please make the killer DAC next. Pretty please 🙂 😛?
If you already had a good amplifier such as UCD400HG HxR which already provides all the power and performance at least i need, nCore is not about "what is better" or "it has more <insert attribute>", but nCore is about what is less, i.e distortions. This results in cleaner and more stable sound, especially noticeable in material involving human voice and singing. Also, solo instruments, such as trumpet seems to sound cleaner. But the difference is not nothing to "wow!" about, but it's more or less noticeable. The UCD is already a good amp.
What this tells me is that, if Hypex releases another amp that has (again) 10x better specs, i doubt i'll buy it. This upgrade was already at the limit for me and my equipment (+room), to get moneys worth.
Ok, the amps are conquered, please make the killer DAC next. Pretty please 🙂 😛?
I like the parallel.
but you make it sound like there's only two option when in fact there's a third: you can actually do your best to increase distortion 😀
why can't more people be like you? 😎
that is one extremely credible review. it is pretty much what I am expecting from the NCORE myself and also why I'm still refraining from buying. at this moment I feel that I still don't have a clear enough picture on my system's weakest link (speakers, room, signal source), I could find it's not the amp (UCD180).
btw what is the rest of your system?
Source:
PC + Hiface
DACs:
Buffalo II DAC with IVY III (i/v stage) or Legato 3.1 (another i/v stage)
Benchmark DAC-1
Speakers:
System Audio Explorer Master
Room:
25 m^2 with some acoustics elements and bass traps in corners.
In August a member of a French audio forum wrote this prescient post:
Translated:
Translated:
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don't get upset Bruno, after all there's 2 UCD's sitting inside a black slim case in my living room 😀
and thanks for the details.
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Not upset at all. Every time someone says after listening to Ncore "well that's it as far as amplifiers are concerned" the happier I get. It's one up for science, one up for engineering and one up for me. What more can I want?
glad to hear that. I'm still to determine the source of the sonic signature that I need to address in my system. since the NCORE is "more UCD" I'm afraid I'll have to change something else before I decide to click on that "Order now" button.
Bruno, care to address my questions, or at least the one regarding availability of the next batch of ncores. Thanks.
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