Nobsound NS-02E Tube Headphone Amplifier - REVIEW

I bought the cheapest tube headphone amplifier I could on eBay and this is how it turned out.
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Dave Jones teardown: • EEVblog #837 - Reverse...
00:00 Intro
00:18 Hardware Overview
02:05 How it sounds
05:11 An unpleasant surprise
06:10 Verdict
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[@metal571]

I remember reading about how the Schiit Lyr 3 blew up various, sometimes summit-fi priced, headphones due to this same kind of tube amp on/off problem. Very thorough review as always, Julian

[@furiobisotti8150]

I am not surprised. With current technology every tube means noise, distortion and issues. Very noble vintage tube amplifiers sounded better than same age solid state because of old circuit topologies (class B, feedback, etc). And because output transformers helped a lot with difficult loads. Nowadays, with hifi dominated by serious class D design, every tube gives more problems than solutions. But it's smart and vintage!

[@hlgoodkat9677]

I'm not surprised by the findings in this review. Glad you made it though. It confirmed my suspicions.

[@thomaswidter]

Thanks for the great video and for continuing this channel! I am still on an interface you reviewed a while back but love the more recent updates on what other companies developed. Keep it up 🙂

[@bernhardhenkes]

Always excited for a new video! Don't have much to say, just commenting for the algorithm. Thanks for the consistently great content!

[@joechapman8208]

I realise headphone amp reviews are as much work as an audio interface review but bring in only a fraction of the views, but if you have the inclination then the world needs more HP amp reviews from you! I'm finding it impossible to choose one at the moment. I mix and master music so I need a clean and louder version of the sound from my interface, but the HP amp review world is ruled by audiophiles who seem to mark down units for being "timid" while praising others for "transforming the listening experience" (so is that just a matter of uncoloured vs coloured? Who knows?). They talk in nebulous terms and don't measure anything except output mW, so I have no idea if I'm reading a review of hardware or an expression of how they were feeling that day.

[@aryanz66]

Great job man, I love you channel!

[@PastafarianLemur]

A while back I bought a similar hybrid tube amp from Nobsound, the NS-01E. It also has a stepped volume knob, with a decent amount of power on tap. What I noticed that might have helped for your amp is to ground it in some fashion. Just touching the aluminum case of the NS-01E I noticed the hiss/hum lowered quite noticeably. So I ended up buying a grounding wire that attaches to the ground on electric jacks and then the noise went down to an imperceptible level at normal volumes with just a hint of noise at maximum. The loud pop you mentioned is also there in the NS-01E which is disconcerting and at the very least I wouldn't plug in my headphones before powering it on. The other con of the NS-01E is the soldered tube. I've been tempted to try to solder in a socket but it would be better to try to build in a circuit to eliminate the pop first anyway which just complicates matters and makes me hesitant to try and modify it at all.

[@justovision]

Tiny coupling caps make for poor base response. I'm a firm believer that you should introduce the desired distortion in the recording and have a accurate reproduction.

[@nagchumpalot]

Always loved your reviews.. Do you think there is a chance you will start reviewing higher end converters than the ones you already review?

[@KunalVaidya]

request to also please review the mic and headphone driving aspects of popular PC chips like ALC1220 and ALC1200. so that viewers can know that the dac-amp they are planning is an actual upgrade or just a sidegrade to similar or worse sound.

[@_BangDroid_]

I like the blur you put on the mirrored part of the tube :p

[@CorNigrum]

As a guitar player, tubes are great... and dangerous. I wouldn't buy cheap gear from unknown sources. I don't think there's any benefit in using tubes for music sources that would be better play through something with as little colouration as possible. After all, there likely are already tubes on the record itself; better just rely on the musicians and engineers.

[@kyron42]

Nobsound. I think they had Zeos in mind when they named it. He always goes on about a good feeling knob.

[@nobodynoone2500]

Knobfeel is nice, but decent audio is nicer.

[@metal571]

@@nobodynoone2500 and that's why thankfully Element III exists for us Knob enthusiasts

[@monitostv]

Oscilloscope transient measurements, nice!. Xduoo MT-60X has same transient problem at turn off only, probably a better hybrid to review. I suggest the TPA6120A2 module (Aiyima) to review, it uses same ic amp as many "HiFi" HP amps ...but same turn off transient issue

[@Klarseolt]

Hi Julian, I've been wondering if you are planning on making a review about TC Helicon GoXLR? Many people are gushing all over it, but nobody seems to have an objective information other than manufacturer's specs.

[@JTPiano2011]

Outstanding video. Well done. Would love to see a high end headphone shootout. Headphones specifically aimed at mix engineers?

[@cpttazko8864]

Hey Julian, I got a general question regarding audio. I have Sennheiser HD 660S headphones and onboard sound chips/cards were always too quiet for me. I always preferred an internal soundcard over a DAC/external (tried a couple, never liked the audio). So right now my HD660S is hooked up to my EVGA Nu Audio soundcard, which I really like. Since I gave up my headset, I had to get a separate Mic and I chose the AT2020 XLR Mic. I wanted to keep my soundcard and use something to drive my XLR Mic preferably route it through my Mic-port on my soundcard to actually control it via software. A friend suggested a Yamaha Mixer of some sorts, which did not really work as intended so I opted for the DBX286s, which you had reviewed and now I'm using the DBX for my mic and have it plugged in to my Mic-In on my soundcard. A friend of mine also went for headphones (some other Sennheisers) and also the AT2020 XLR and he got himself the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which was pretty popular (or still is). His Mic quality was horrible though. Noise, tons of background noise, cutting his voice. We tried for days and we barely managed. Another friend uses the Go XLR and has also the AT2020, but his Mic picks everything up in the background while in my case no background noise gets through, even if my gf is playing or watching a movie in the same room. Now my question really is am I imagining things or can the same Mic/Headphone really sound/work that differently depending on what DAC/preamp/soundcard you are running? I would like a smalled AIO-solution, to be honest, but having heard my buddies talk through their setups kind of made wonder if I should even bother. I know most audiophiles will hate on the fact that I bought a soundcard from EVGA but I have no issues with that whatsoever. I like to have Windows at around 10-20% volume and be decently loud. Might sound weird, but I often take off my headphones and just turn up the volume and use them as "speakers" so to say, since I don't have any speakers on my pc. Sorry for the wall of text and thank you the hard work! Keep it up! :)

[@PhoticSneezeOne]

Thank you Julian. Iam quite sure that with just 4-5 Dollars worth of additional circuitry nobsound could make a decent sounding thing out of this

[@SaturnVoyager11]

Loving your videos. Any chance of Apogee Duet 3 review? 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@D00mex]

that warm sound promise

[@stanislasbeaufils683]

Could you measure some Topping stuff (L30/DX3 Pro ...) to see how well it gets ?

[@ClassicalRomance]

Hey, Julian. Can you also review the cheapest AI/MIXER called TEYUN Q-12, TEYUN Q-22, XTUGA E-22?

So can you mod this by adding other kind of tubes ?

[@PungkiAhimsa]

Julian, please review the new Zoom AMS 🙏

[@hellyeah_tv]

I hope you will help! I own usb interface but it's lacking of power for 300 Ohm headphones. at least for loudness I prefer. can you advise good amplifier for headphones for using with interface?

[@techmed-rainer]

Danke!

[@JulianKrause]

Immer gerne!

[@dragonemortale9056]

I would realy like to see the testa on audient id 22, beacause Is the only One of the serie not yet upgrade and can be a good comparison with the new siblings.

[@sanzayhbarailie7278]

PLEASE DO A VIDEO ON MIDIPLUS STUDIO 2 PRO!!!!!! AND COMPARE WITH EVO 4

[@nobodynoone2500]

Most of my tube gear is dead silent unless engineered in the 1950's to a price point (aka a guitar amp or a cheap radio). This is an ornamental distortion pedal for headphones. Not sure who asked for that.

[@QuaxC42]

For what do I need such a produkt ?👍483

[@borysandreyev9717]

Objective analysis

[@powersliding]

nothing gets past jk

[@anthony5693]

😱 p͎r͎o͎m͎o͎s͎m͎

[@erikeinmo8607]

Nobsound…really?

[@nobodynoone2500]

Aptly named. Sounds like a product for knobs to me.

[@asdfghjkuytrewzxcv]

Better than nobsmell but only just...

[@PastafarianLemur]

@@asdfghjkuytrewzxcv or nobcheese.