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Post by Aragon on Jun 2, 2011 15:43:04 GMT
ah i see ,cheers for answering both my questions ,has anyone compared to the voyager ,out of interest?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 16:01:16 GMT
Considering the cost and the build of the Neco, I would rather have two Necos than One Voyager.
Even the box of the Voyager kind of shrieks 'nasty' at me. I don't like those plastic boxes even on cheap amps.
The Voyager is an expensive amp imo. The Neco sounds extremely good too.
Ian
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Post by JohnnyBlue on Jun 2, 2011 18:43:27 GMT
Click on your username, and in your profile you will see "Bookmarks" at the top. Done this, still not getting notifications...
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jun 2, 2011 20:07:24 GMT
Considering the cost and the build of the Neco, I would rather have two Necos than One Voyager. Even the box of the Voyager kind of shrieks 'nasty' at me. I don't like those plastic boxes even on cheap amps. The Voyager is an expensive amp imo. The Neco sounds extremely good too. Ian I had a Voyager and it only sounded half decent with the contour switch on (bass boost), IMO the NECO is a much better sounding amp... it was actually about 1 week after the NECO arrived that I got rid of the Voyager. £160.43 PLUS £32.08 VAT PLUS £10.42 shipping..... WOW! that means you are shelling out £202.93 for the Voyager.... that is a lot of money for "any" portable amp but seems extremely expensive for a portable amp housed in a plastic enclosure Of course, Graham will tell you that it is made in the UK etc. etc. etc. but that is STILL no excuse for charging that type of money for such a piss ant of an amp
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 0:48:55 GMT
Israel, another useful device for the Ipods if you use them is the Fiio E1. Very cheap amplifier that takes its power from the Ipod or Iphone and acts as a remote control. You just plug it in to the dock connector and plug the iems in. More power and easy track access. It works well with the ie8 - no hiss. Provides enough power and is extremely cheap. Fiio provides some really good value cheap end stuff. Ian Ian, I just received the Fiio E1, and am absolutely amazed at the SQ of this cheap little thing! I tested it by connecting my Etymotic ER-4s iems, which ordinarily are useless without a good amp, and the combination is quite good. I suspect that Fiio has built in an active bass boost in this contraption, for the usually bass shy ER-4s iems now produce a pretty good bass when connected to the Fiio -- similar (though not nearly as good in SQ) to my modded Neco portable that now has a switchable active bass boost. I think this gadget is one helluva bargain for $20 US! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction with this gadget! I think I will carry it along with my iPhone and a pair of cheap iems, when I want to travel light, and not carry the Neco or my modded Little Dot Mk1 with the AD843 op amps, which I have for portable use. Cheers! Israel
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Post by Aragon on Jun 3, 2011 10:22:17 GMT
ok .just another thing i was wondering ,could a burson audio fully discrete opamp be used!! ok the things are massive and case modding may be needed but they do a dip8 single opamp. seen them on their ebay page for about $99 aus a pair sorry if stupid question!!! heres the link ,if nothing else i found it interesting anyway bursonaudio.com/burson_opamp.htm
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 16:04:31 GMT
Hi Israel. Yes, they do the job and are great when you don`t want to take a bag out. You can also control the volume remotely which is very useful. Cheap and cheerful. Just gives you another option.
The guy who owns the firmreally tries hard to give value for money and his new one, the e11 was put together following consultation with many headphone users while trying to keep costs as low as possible. I should get an e11 soon. They are also quite cheap.
However, the Neco is a quality amp. I`e moved to opa228 now, thanks to Mike. It also works well.
Ian
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 19:23:03 GMT
I highly doubt it, they are not designed/spec'd to work on +/- 4V and you would need to redesign the PCB and the housing as well to even mechanically fit them.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 21:53:24 GMT
Hi Israel. Yes, they do the job and are great when you don`t want to take a bag out. You can also control the volume remotely which is very useful. Cheap and cheerful. Just gives you another option. The guy who owns the firmreally tries hard to give value for money and his new one, the e11 was put together following consultation with many headphone users while trying to keep costs as low as possible. I should get an e11 soon. They are also quite cheap. However, the Neco is a quality amp. I`e moved to opa228 now, thanks to Mike. It also works well. Ian Hi, Ian This Fiio E1 is really a very good match for my Etymotic ER-4s, which have a tendency to get shrill and shrieky. The apparent bass boost adds the much needed bass, and the roll-off in the highs is a welcome relief from ER-4's toppiness, hence so it happens that the Fiio E1 frequency curve compensates well for the one of the ER-4s to produce a much flatter rendition. With everything else I have tried so far, the Fiio E1 adds a certain veil to the sound, but the ER4s seems to clear that up rather well. I also have a pair of OPA228 op amps; I will test them on my portable Neco, and see how they compare to the more expensive OPA627, which I had for a while in my Neco Bossfet v2.1. The latter worked pretty well in the Bossfet, but I went back to the AD8610's because I was a bit frustrated by the laid back quality of the OPA627. I also have some OPA637's which, because of their greater bandwidth, are supposed to be less laid back, but, since they require higher gain (higher than 5), they had a tendency to clip and oscillate in either of the Necos at the time. Now that I have raised the Bossfet's gain to 11, I will try the OPA637's again, and hope they behave better than before. The AD843's that are in there now sound great, but, the tinkerer that I am, I suppose I am in search for a different sound signature to match (or perhaps compensate for) some of the headphones' peculiarities, other than the HD650's that I have. This is how collections of phones and amps grow -- at least this is the case with me. I haven't gotten around to putting together some outboard inline resistor plugs to compensate for different HD impedances yet, but this is one of the things I plan to do before too long. That should make a real difference in SQ.
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Post by sk971 on Jul 7, 2011 21:20:18 GMT
Hi guys Been enjoying this little lump of Aluminum for a few weeks (in particular the awesome sound stage) Then decided I would upgrade the op amps to opa627 which I have just got,but they are tiny Apparently I need an adapter to fit them,wonder if you anyone would be able to point me in the right direction with these? Cheers Si
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2011 13:42:51 GMT
Hello, Si From what I can guess by reading your post, it looks like you have purchased the wrong type of OPA627 for this amp. The Neco V2 portable has two 8-PDIP receptacles, and the ICs that you have at hand, and describe as "tiny", are most probably the 8-SOIC type (surface mount ICs), which, in order to work with the Neco, would indeed need to be soldered onto 2 adapters such as the Brown Dog SOIC to DIP adapters. My suggestion would be for you to try and return/exchange these for the proper type (8-PDIP), which will fit directly into the receptacles of the Neco. If you can not return the surface mount ICs, which you now have, they will work fine with the Brown Dog adapters, but will require some very careful and skilled miniature soldering of each of the 16 contacts, and if done with too much heat (hot soldering iron left onto contact for too long), can permanently damage them. If you are skilled with this type of painstaking soldering, there should be no problem, but I think that going the route of getting the 8-PDIP type ICs is simpler, cheaper, and less time consuming. Either way, you will have to make sure you properly orient the chip when mounting -- with the side of the chip that has the dot towards the notched side of the receptacle -- otherwise the IC will not play, or worse, be damaged. I hope this helps. Cheers!
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Post by sk971 on Jul 12, 2011 0:45:54 GMT
Thanks for the advice Imagemaker.I will try and get the 8 pdip ones as my soldering skills are best suited to copper pipes
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Post by greenstiles on Aug 22, 2011 14:28:17 GMT
Anyone want to buy my AD8610 opamps from my neco amp £15 posted
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Post by Aragon on Aug 25, 2011 21:21:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2012 13:59:23 GMT
Does anyone know whether changning the gain of a Neco is a pot adjustment or a change of resistor?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2012 14:20:49 GMT
it's a resistor but you can solder in 2 pots if you want/like so you can adjust to your needs.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2012 14:27:03 GMT
OK, thanks Frans.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 10, 2020 19:48:59 GMT
The original amp featured in this topic is now up for sale: rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/5309/neco-soundlab-2-portableIt has been sitting doing nothing for a few years as I no longer have any need of a portable headphone amp so the first sensible offer will secure the amp. PM me. Comes with 500mA battery fitted which has only been cycled 3 times so good to go for a long long time.
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