Nord One Up Ncore NC500 amps, Class D ready for prime time .....

how do the nords work driven direct from a sac with volume control. specifically my ayre codex. also, any comparisons of these amps be higher end ayre or similar designs which proport new output topologies? i've had pass 30.5, unico integrated and now decware kt66 mystery amp. i don't have a pre but might think about passive or tube if it's the perfect synergy. my speakers are two way seas monitors (40hz) but will upgrade to floor standers when my room is larger.
 
Curious about these amps. I currently have a decware mystery amp kt66 integrated driving my seas monitors. I have also had Croft, LFD, Pass 30.5 amps. Looking for something new/exciting to try for a while. I plan someday to have a bigger room and thus bigger speakers but for now i am limited to playing with dac, pre and amps.

How well do they run driven directly from a DAC with volume control (ayre codex)? Do they require a preamp to sound balanced and dynamic? i will have to get pre eventually because I also have a turntable which needs to be switched and volume control and the codex does not have adc input.

cheers,

Aaron
 
Hi Aaron,

No matter the amp, I prefer a preamp in my system at all times. Adding a preamp, to my ear, makes the system more musical and more enjoyable. Same is to true for me with the Nords.
 
I'm currently using my Nord directly with my DAC and while I'm not really missing anything I wouldn't say no to trying a Bespoke Audio passive pre-amp one day... :) It's probably about matching though as with most things. For me a pre-amp in the chain means more cables and more of something in between, I want it as pure and clean as possible and allow my DAC to shine in it's full potential. This is true today, but this hobby takes us in different directions every now and then, so who knows....
 
You'll be able to get great results with a Dac or Streamer that has variable outs. A pre is not necessary. That said, all Dacs with variable out will sound different, as will Pres.

It all depends. Alto on here let me try the new Benchmark Dac3 HGC, to compare against my slightly older Bryston BDA2 Dac (no variable out) connected to my ATC SCA2 Pre. My combination was much better than the Benchmark Dac3 HGC which sounded a bit grainy and not that natural and realistic, my combination was simply more realistic, more engaging, more analogue sounding and more musical.

I'm sure there are better variable output dacs than the Benchmark Dac3 HGC. That said, on high res files it was better, but most music I listen to is not high-res, it can be flac rips, CD, and Tidal, and my BDA2 does a good job of upsampling.

I've heard Alto running the Nords with a variable output Lumin £9k streamer, and it was really good.

When I get the chance I would love to drop a passive pre into my system to compare to my pre, I'd be really interested as to how good they can be purely out of curiosity. (Also, I'm not sure how many people would use a Passive Pre if they had a Dac which can be switched from variable to fixed output, and Variable output Dacs don't all use the same method of varying the output of course).

Also,
 
VoicesInMyHead said:
I'm currently using my Nord directly with my DAC and while I'm not really missing anything I wouldn't say no to trying a Bespoke Audio passive pre-amp one day... :) It's probably about matching though as with most things. For me a pre-amp in the chain means more cables and more of something in between, I want it as pure and clean as possible and allow my DAC to shine in it's full potential. This is true today, but this hobby takes us in different directions every now and then, so who knows....
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Hi VIMH, are you steaming/downloading? What makes of USB, Ethernet cables are you using? Are you using an IP hub?

Lampi is a pretty good DAC I understand.
 
alto said:
Hi VIMH, are you steaming/downloading? What makes of USB, Ethernet cables are you using? Are you using an IP hub?

Lampi is a pretty good DAC I understand.
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I'm so old that I used to have lot's of CD's which are now ripped in FLAC format, but I'm also doing streaming through Tidal (Roon). All my cables are Ansuz, except for ethernet cable which is Nordost. Currently using a wifi bridge to a microRendu as I wanted to move all noisy electronics (server, NAS, routers, etc) away from the music gear.

I think Lampi's are quite okay, yes... :) and to keep slightly on topic I'd say it's a nice match with the Nord, but I wouldn't exclude a preamp just because I'm (currently) not using one.
 
alto said:
Have you looked at the Wyred 4 Sound STP SE? Start at £2000 in the U.K. What country are you in?
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I've read about it, but never tried it. My thoughts when getting the Nord was that as it's quite transparent and showing no mercy to sources upstream I wanted any colouring to come from my Lampi only. I figured a transparent and honest power amp together with a wonderful tube DAC couldn't be better... but the preamp vs no preamp discussion is of course an forever ongoing debate, and as I mentioned before I might try one in the future, my thoughts for now was to eliminate cables and as much as possible in between. My system might be a bit odd, but my cables are actually more expensive than the Nord(!!!), and throwing in a preamp in the mix would mean a lot of money for additional cables... :/

I'm in Sweden. Not so far from UK.
 
Something that works well is to use a Hattor passive preamp. The sound quality is sublime and you get a nice remote control. If there is not enough drive for you, or you want to drive long cables they make a nice buffer board. The prices are about £1600.
 
VoicesInMyHead said:
I'll just chim in a few words about my new Nord One UP SE amp... I think I owe it to this thread if not else...

I've only had it playing for a few days, but I can clearly say it has already exceeded my quite high expectations. Dull, flat, boring, lifeless? What are all the words associated with Class D now again? No matter what, that's not what I'm hearing... rather the opposite, the complete black background, the details, the power, the feeling of "being there". Very musical and truly amazing.

Someone said in this thread that his LampizatOr Golden Gate was a perfect match with the Nord. That helped my decision alot and I really want to re-iterate that statement. I think the Nord is very transparent and will expose what the source is capable of (or not). I've tried it with a Lampizator Golden Atlantic with balanced and volume control and also a standard LampizatOr Atlantic with a Schiit Sys ($49 volume control) and I think both were excellent and a huge step in the right direction from where I came from! A perfect match for sure. Still waiting for my "real cables" though...

A great product with enormous value and highly recommended by me.... :) I'm glad I found this forum and this thread and that I took the decision to buy without even hearing it first. Thanks!
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Still loving the combination of the GG and the Nord's. I am using an older model pre-amp in my setup (Classe Omega MKii). While the GG has a volume control it is due to the rest of the system I still use an external preamp. I haven't tried without the preamp in the chain...
 
RV. said:
Still loving the combination of the GG and the Nord's. I am using an older model pre-amp in my setup (Classe Omega MKii). While the GG has a volume control it is due to the rest of the system I still use an external preamp. I haven't tried without the preamp in the chain...
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If you ever would find the time and curiosity to try without the preamp, don't forget to share your findings... :)

Joe got me a little nervous the other day with his post saying he always preferred a preamp in his system... I of course know why I decided to go without and it makes sense for me, but still you never really stop thinking about possible improvements....
 
VoicesInMyHead said:
If you ever would find the time and curiosity to try without the preamp, don't forget to share your findings... :)

Joe got me a little nervous the other day with his post saying he always preferred a preamp in his system... I of course know why I decided to go without and it makes sense for me, but still you never really stop thinking about possible improvements....
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I did not mean to make anyone nervous, but this is my taste in a system.
I have to be honest. I really don't like "the truth" in my music. I prefer a little warmth, but with balance. Highs, especially, need to be a little rounded. It would be a little boring if we all liked the same thing.

a.wayne said:
I'm with Joe, a good Pre-amp is very essential , it's provides the drive, tone and dynamics of any system ...


Regards
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My thoughts as well. While no preamp at first, to me, sounds great for a change, I soon tire of the system and find it a little too edgy and too clean. Once the preamp goes back in, it's like "Ahhhhhhhh, that's it" again. A preamp smoothes all the rough edges and somehow adds life. For me, no preamp, is like a photograph with too much contrast. Once you see it properly, you can't believe ho you liked it the other way. YMMV.
 
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joeinid said:
I did not mean to make anyone nervous, but this is my taste in a system.
I have to be honest. I really don't like "the truth" in my music. I prefer a little warmth, but with balance. Highs, especially, need to be a little rounded. It would be a little boring if we all liked the same thing.
Click to expand...

haha, the nervosity was not that serious... :) I do understand what you mean though, and it gives me something to keep in mind and look into for future possible upgrades. I do know that I would at least like to compare at one point. As my DAC is tube based, I do believe it gives me some of that warmth and rounded highs though, but yes... the system is currently painting a completely black background and is very detailed, maybe it could need to let go a bit...

I do recall from reading the entire thread that there were a lot of (some?) recommendations for good passive preamps like Hattor and Music First for use together with the Nords. The lately much praised Wyred4Sound also seems to be somewhat semi-passive from what I understand. Is there a general preference for passives among the "Norders" here or is that question like opening Pandoras box maybe? :)
 
General preference? Haha, to a certain extent maybe. I'd love to try the Hattor and Music First but it becomes a logistical problem. I've done enough buying and selling that I don't want too much exposure anymore. I had and loved the Wyred STP-SE. How it compares to the others, I'll never know at this point. Ultimately and in the end, I still prefer, overall, an active preamp, but the passives are wonderful. With the Nords, my ultimate preference is the 994 op amps with a quiet tube preamp.
 
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