NuForce Icon (Integrated Desktop Audio Amplifier, Silver Color). Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're looking for a modestly priced tiny amp that does a great job driving real world speakers, the Nuforce Icon is the one!When I say "real world speakers" I'm talking about most any decent pair of reasonably sensitive speakers, not some funky super high efficiency audiophile contraption.

In addition to typical RCA audio inputs, the Icon also has a USB input for use with a PC or laptop computer.I haven't tried the USB input.

At 12-watts per channel one would think this tiny amp wouldn't stand a chance against much larger power amps but with the Icon, it's more about audio quality vs quantity.

This amp sounds very nice!It's clean, crisp, transparent, and smooth with deep tight bass and extended clear treble.

The Nuforce Icon is significantly more powerful sounding with much tighter bass impact and definition vs any of the low power Tripath chip based amps like the Sonic Impact line including the Sonic Impact Super T amp which I also own.

I'm using the Icon in a small kitchen audio system with wireless (WiFi) streaming audio from my Slim Devices (Logitech) Squeezebox with my playlist and audio files residing on the PC in the basement.

I took my Sonic Impact Super T amp out of the system and replaced it with the Nuforce Icon. It sounds so much better now!

Because of it's Class D design the Icon is very efficient and runs cool so I just leave it powered ON 24/7.

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Product Description:
The NuForce Icon is an audiophile-grade Integrated Desktop Audio Amplifier featuring two 12-watt outputs, a 3.5-mm stereo input for connection to an iPod or other portable device, a USB cable for operation with a PC or Mac, and standard RCA inputs for employing the Icon as the heart of a conventional audio system. For the headphone enthusiast, the Icon also offers a high-performance headphone output. Of particular interest to the computer user, the Icon's line-out functions as a PC or Mac USB-to-analog audio converter or can also be used as a connection to a subwoofer. With the same patented technology that has won a string of prestigious awards, the tiny Icon brings NuForce's celebrated sound quality to the music lover's desktop. Applications: 1) As the core of a desktop audio system, the Icon connects to an Ipod, CD player, PC or Mac. 2) Via the best, jitter-free USB technology, the Icon operates as a USB DAC for converting a PC or Mac's audio signal to high-quality analog sound. 3) For optimal headphone performance, the Icon includes a discrete, high-performance headphone amplifier. 4) For operation as an audiophile-grade preamplifier, the Icon's linestage can be connected to a power amp or active speakers. 5) As a high-quality auxiliary power amp in a surround-sound setup, the Icon can be used to drive tweeters or rear-channel speakers.

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NuForce Icon HDP (High-end Headphone Amp, USB DAC, Preamp), Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I am impressed with this little Nuforce HDP both as a DAC and as a headphone amplifier; which is high praise from someone who owns a $15,000 headphone rig with Stax SR-007, Sennheiser HE60 and HD800 headphones, a Woo WES amp, Eddie Current ZDT amp, and PS Audio Perfectwave DAC.

The HDP seems to offer a lot of performance in a small package, and easily outperforms my original Nuforce Icon amp that I bought May 2008 for my computer desktop.And the beauty is that it is small enough that I can use the HDP's superior DAC to feed the original Icon when I want to listen to speakers (both amps are the same size).The feature list is quite full, including 24/96 bit rate USB and 3.5 mm 24/96 optical inputs, 24/192 coax input, RCA or 3.5 mm analog input, 1/4" headphone output, and variable output level RCA preamp out.Not many DACs in this price range offer 24 bit/96 Khz sampling rates, and even my 2x more costly Apogee mini-DAC only does 24/48 via USB.

The HDP using 24/96 USB input from my Macbook beats all my other $100 - $500 USB DAC/amps in the house, and even beats the headphone output of my Apogee mini-DAC with USB.The HDP's RCA line-out seems almost equivalent to the Apogee's 1/8" line-out as well, where the Apogee seems to be a little more refined sounding at times (if using my upgraded Sigma 11 power supply).The HDP is very detailed and transparent, with good sense of air and space, and offers a deeper soundstage than the Apogee headphone out.The HDP bass has great extension and impact, with rich mids and sparkly crisp treble.And it's just a little to the warm side of neutral, so I can still enjoy it with brighter headphones like my HD800 or Head-direct HE-5.Likewise it is also a good match for my HD600 headphones and my re-cabled Denon D7000 which can sound darker on the wrong amps.

Some amplifiers that are good with full-size headphones may not be a good match with very sensitive in ear monitors (aka earphones or IEM), and they might have noise, or hiss that is not otherwise detectable with full-size phones.Well, that is not a problem here.I find the HDP to be an excellent match with all my very sensitive universal and custom molded in ear monitors, including Monster Turbine Pro Gold, Westone 2, Westone 3, Westone ES3X, Ultimate Ears 11Pro and JH Audio 13Pro.It does a very good job with all of them, despite their widely varying sound signatures.The UE11Pro can sometimes be bass heavy or have some recessed midrangewith the wrong amp; but neither of these are a problem with the HDP, even though it is not a bass-lite or forward sounding amplifier.

How they managed to squeeze such good sound into a price this low is unclear to me, because you basically have to spend $700-$900 for a better DAC (Apogee or Stello) and $700-$1,000 for a better amp (upgraded Woo WA6 or ALO Amphora), and you'd have to buy both a DAC and Amp to get most of the features of the HDP.(Except for analog inputs for iPod or other players, where many DAC's don't include those).

I will conclude by mentioning a couple of issues that I have.The HDP sounds very good with a wide variety of headphones, but it might not be optimal with all of them.With my Head-direct HiFiMan HE-5 and Grado HF-2, if I try to play those headphones at very high volume levels (closer to max) then the sound can get a little strident and fatiguing in the highs.I've heard this same thing with the HE-5 and a $700 Grahm Slee Solo SRG II, and that's probably because the HE-5 are very difficult to drive low impedance headphone and require a lot of current.With the HE-5 headphones this happens at volume levels that are much higher than my Woo WA6 tube amp can hope to achieve, so if I never tried to play the HDP louder than my WA6 I would not have heard this.The Grado HF-2 can be a little boosted in the upper mids and lower treble, and they just seem to respond better to my tube amps to tone them down a notch when trying to play them at very loud levels (levels that would be damaging or harmful for more than a few minutes).At normal to moderately loud levels this is never an issue.

Another issue is that the volume pot can have some channel imbalance at the very low end of the volume control when using very sensitive in ear monitors which don't require turning up the volume knob very much.This is common with most lower price gear when using IEM, but can be alleviated by turning down the computer system volume if you are using the USB input.However, none of these issues would prevent me from highly recommending this product.It makes me eager to think about trying their high-end products at some point.

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Product Description:
The Nuforce Icon HDP incorporates a full-speed USB DAC and full-function S/PDIF D/A converter, plus a headphone-amplifier circuit and preamp output. Supporting digital USB, S/PDIF in coaxial and 3.5mm optical (3.5mm) modes, along with an analog line input, the HDP's flexibility has been designed to accommodate all manner of audio devices. Icon HDP is expected to compete with other DAC and preamp costing up to several times its price and serve as the heart of a high performance audio system.

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Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930 with 7.1 Surround Sound Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First, off, I've only had this headset for a day.I can't really go into detail about sound quality, how good the surround sound is, etc.However, I feel like I need to clarify a couple of things.

There are two major issues that people have been complaining about with this headset:the "flimsy plastic" joints holding the ear cups on, and the lack of a graphic equalizer.Please disregard anyone who mentions either of these two "problems," because it is completely false.

If you look closely at the ear cup joints, yes, there is plastic there.However, if you pay attention, the plastic isn't actually the part that's moving.It's merely a covering for the actual joint.On the back of the box, under "Durability," it clearly states that the joints are made from an aircraft grade aluminum alloy.This is a very well made product guys, I get no sense that, if treated properly (take your game rage out on something that costs a bit less, children) it will ever break on me.

Now, I'm not quite sure why people are saying there's no graphic equalizer, and that they are limited to bass and treble adjustments.Directly below the bass/treble bars, there's a big button that looks like a graphic equalizer.If you click it, guess what happens.Yep, a 10 band EQ pops right up, complete with preamp volume adjustment.If you have this turned on, it grays out and overrides the bass/treble adjustments.

Now that I've cleared that up, I'll give my one day impressions on the product.

Super comfortable.I have a fairly large head, and yes, the headset does squeeze a little tighter than what you might be used to, but that's because the headband is made of metal and not cheap plastic.It's the squeeze of quality, learn to love it.It's not a bad thing at all, you just might not be used to it.After a few days of breaking it in, I doubt I'll even notice.

The sound quality seems fantastic so far.I'm still working on getting it to sound just right with my game of choice, TF2.With movies, music, tv shows, etc, it's just amazing.Crystal clear, rich, amazing sound.

I initially had problems with the mic, people in Team Fortress 2 were telling me that it was cutting out, and screwing up sound for everyone (if you've ever played the game, you know what I'm talking about).This was fixed by turning the mic gain way way down.I've been so used to mics that are super quiet, so I had windows set to max out and boost mic input, and maxed out mic input through the game as well.Turned the levels down quite a bit and presto, clear as a bell.

One thing I don't like, the mic level resets itself every time I unplug the headset (rather, the usb dongle) then plug it back up.It remembers every other setting, just not mic gain.I've solved this by setting one of the G keys to reduce mic gain, so if I ever launch a game and accidentally leave it set too high, I can easily fix it on the fly.

Speaking of the G keys, I was kind of disappointed that they work with ventrilo, but not teamspeak.No big deal though.Still, I was hoping to be able to sit on my porch and chill in our TS channel and be able to chat with people.(I have to go outside to smoke here...ahem >.>...you know what I mean.)

The wireless range and battery life really seem to be just as good as advertised, which was a very nice surprise.I can go anywhere in my house and still have completely clear audio.The majority of my front porch gets signal as well, and that's going between three walls.Last night I went in game with only a partial charge, the software said 7 hours of battery life left.I played a little over two hours, left game, and it said I still had five hours left.Good stuff.

I love this headset.Completely.After years of frustration over broken wires ruining headsets, I could not be happier with this product.If you've got a nice, functioning headset already, like a g35 or whatever, I couldn't justify telling you to purchase this.However, if you've got a cheap POS, or if you're in the market to buy a new headset because you rolled over your current pair's wires one too many times with your chair, I couldn't recommend this enough.I've never spent this much money on one before, I've always been in the 50-70 dollar range.Dropping 160 wasn't easy for me to do, money is tight these days.I don't regret the purchase at all.

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Product Description:
Logitech wireless gaming headset g930. a fast wireless connection lets you level up without being tied down-and 7.1 surround sound puts you right in the middle of the action.

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