Review on 🎧 Nobsound NS-08E: Superior Hi-Fi Valve Headphone Amplifier for Unparalleled Audio Performance by Mike Starling

This device is ONLY useful if you only need reinforcement. Ask yourself if this is what you need. You don't belong in this category if you're one of those people who use the headphone output on their digital phones or computers. If you're one of those people, I can assume the value of Nobosound is a bit questionable. Yes, I bought one, compared and endorsed that remark. Already have an external DAC? If not, and you're hoping that purchasing this cute little amp with two adorable glowing blue vacuum tubes will bring your headphones to life with the warmth, spaciousness and feel you've been dreaming of, I've got news for you. Be careful, reinforcements, even with lamps in this honey, reinforcements aren't all you need. You need a decent DAC, something better than the DAC in your output device, phone or computer. So yes, I bought the Nobosound mainly as an experiment to see what kind of amplification it offered. I would rate this as a good value for gain. It's really hard to find a cheap working amp, especially with two tubes. But maybe you need more? Maybe more than just an amp? Without an onboard DAC and without an external DAC on your desk, even with tubes, this amp can't make up for the lack of a respectable DAC. You might find an improvement in these tubes in the power amp, but that improvement didn't get that far. And the tubes correct or compensate for anything that a poor quality DAC does to music playback. Hoses should not be treated as camouflage. The magic of the lamps does not lie in that. I have mono tube amps in my speaker system and can attest that they can sound open and transparent. Nobosound also has ambitions in this direction. It won't cover up anything harsh coming from the standard DAC in your phone or computer. This isn't going to be a pill for a hot high, and it shouldn't be. . Nobosound is good enough NOT to cover up the shortcomings of your computer's DAC. That's a good thing to say about Nobosound. So, no, I wasn't that disappointed with Nobosopund's sound. It's very reasonably priced, especially considering it has two small whistles, and even mediocre whistles these days average around $10 to $12 each. Heck, that's a third of the price of another very famous and hugely popular headphone amp. It's nothing to despise. But is it better? And is that a good value for you? That answer depends on what your headphone playback system needs and what your input source is, you know what you're listening to. Do you hear the sound of your phone or computer? Do you already have an external DAC for one of these digital sources? No? If so, if you only hooked your phone or computer up to a receiver or headphone amp, then back off! Nobosound, in this case if it is of dubious value. Not that I was terribly disappointed with Nobosound. Whatever it is, as an amp it puts out more than I thought a $50 amp would sound like. And for that I was impressed. Any comments about how he sounds pretty good aren't just nonsense or exaggeration. Is it as good as Schiit Val 2? No of course not. Does Shiite Vali sound three times better? Yes of course. I would go further and praise Schiit even more, except that this is not a review of this amp; It's more of a look at the value of the Nobosound amp, praised for its sound at $50. caution anyone looking to buy a headphone amp to only consider gain. Any why is this the case? First, many people buy an external tube headphone amp not only to give their headphones more power, but also to "correct" the sound they hear when they plug their headphones into a computer or phone without realizing it that this is one of the main factors. affect the sound quality. It's an internal DAC that converts your digital files to analog. But as I have already indicated, the Nobosound amplifier is good enough not to mask any shortcomings of your computer or phone's internal DAC. In that case you need a better DAC. And Nobosound is just an amplifier. It doesn't have a DAC. Now that you can buy a combo amp/DAC (with a DAC that's noticeably better than the DAC in your computer and phone), you might want to give some thought to simply switching to Nobosound for headphone playback. As you may not already have an external DAC before purchasing Nobosound, buying Nobosound as a headphone solution would not be a good deal Using a combo amp with a DAC in a computer as the source, a way was found, well recorded despite the glowing Nobosound tubes To listen to music. If you don't have a better DAC to use with Nobosound you won't find one. A $50 purchase is such good value. That's why I didn't mention the units you should consider. And that's why I apologize if this bothers any of you. This review isn't really about Nobosound, it's about the need to have a better DAC than what you have in your computer or phone and that the value of headphone playback can't really be reduced to a discussion . only amplifier. More needs to be discussed about the synergy that exists across the music listening system. So little of it happens. We need to see more of this in print, not just . This amp sounds great, or this DAC sounds great. When it comes to headphone amps, we also have people who don't mention what headphones they're listening in, which is another aspect that changes pretty much everything about the listening experience. We need to be more holistic here. A component does not have a universal sound. The tone changes depending on what else is in the system. In the same way, when the DAC changes, the amp changes, just like what we hear changes depending on the headphones used. We need to keep that in mind and stop saying that a certain piece of gear is great. It's the synergy of the whole system that affects whether we like it or not.