Sorry, we just need to make sure you're not a robot. For best results, please make sure your browser is accepting cookies. Type the characters you see in this image: Try different image Conditions of Use Privacy Policy © 1996-2014, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates I wanted to share my review of my recently bought NuPrime IDA-8 amplifier. It seems that there is a dearth of information on this product and a dearth of physical stockiest as well, so I thought I'd do my bit of public service :-) Some disclaimers - I am not an audiophile whose life is hi-end audio, but I do love music and I do love listening to it on a good system. The reason I picked Computer Audiophile (I've been to a bunch of other forums) is that this seems like a passionate community and also because the amplifier has a small foot print (good for desks) and a built-in DAC (good for streaming). I have spent days on end researching amps and settled on this one for a combination of quality, features, specs, and price. NuPrime Audio - IDA-8 So, here it goes: Look and Feel The first thing you notice about the amp is how tiny it is compared to most hi-fi components. Here is a photo of it sitting on top of my BluRay player. I admit that I was initially skeptical of how such a tiny thing can boast the advertised 100wpc in stereo, but read on. A friend of mine who is an audio engineer and builds audio circuit boards and amps for a living told me that the unit is so small because class D amplification takes up little space (this is a class A+D amp). The materials of the unit are top notch - it's very solidly built and it's a heavy little beast. Also, it (inexplicably) comes with two remote controls - a regular slim and lone one, and a "credit card" one. Inputs Another thing that attracted to me is the variety of ways you can listen to music on this digital amp. Despite its small size, it accommodates RCA for your CD Player or turntable, an optical audio in (for your Apple TV/Chromecast Audio or whatnot), and it has built in BlueTooth module (which you can replace at an additional cost by a WiFi module), so you can listen to music straight from your phone. Rounding off is a USB port for your computer and another coaxial port. So, you can hook up pretty much anything to it. Most amps costing many times more don't have these options. Outputs High quality gold plated outputs for a pair of speakers - very comfortably spaced in such a small backplate - plus a sub out. DAC The amp has a built-in DAC. I am not a DAC expert, so I don't know the model, but here are the specs for bit rate handling
THD/Frequency Response NuPrime shows a very impressive THD of 0.005 and a frequency response of 10 hz - 50 khz (way more than a human ear demands). I admit that I was skeptical about these claims until I heard the thing. Pairing I paired the amp with a pair of floor standing Focal Aria 926 speakers. These speakers are on a bright side, just the way I like it, and provide a fantastic dynamic range and sound stage. My transports are a Yamaha CD Changer and AAC over iPhone/BlueTooth. Comparative Listening Before I went with NuPrime I auditioned with the same speakers a Rotel amp (I forget the model, it was at a store) Rogue Audio Sphinx (also A+D amp) and a more high end Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum class A tube amp. As well as, just for the hell of it, and mostly to see the not so subtle differences (as most of you know subtle differences sometimes are pure placebo) I compared it to my Yamaha RXV-900 receiver with a THD of 0.4 and BurrBrown DAC. The NuPrime held its own splendidly against both of the Rogues (I'd say it's better than the Sphinx, which I almost bought ($1,295), but I was not satisfied with its sound at low volumes), and it completely blew my Yamaha out of the water, which basically was all I wanted it to do. Sound - CDs I listen to a lot of demanding music - industrial, electronic, with plenty of distortion and a full sound spectrum that is not easily separable by an inferior audio system. The reason I hate 90% of professional reviews is that they are written by old guys who seem to think jazz and Norah Jones are sonic bliss. Please, kill me. Speaking of killing, sonically the NuPrime killed in every respect. First I put on my go-to test CD - the remastered Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails. The reason I use Nine Inch Nails, besides it being my favorite band, is that Trent Reznor is a known sound engineer enthusiast and he takes his recording quality extremely serious. He is also an early adaptor of major new audio technologies (plus, I've seen his home studio ;0). Pretty Hate Machine is his most clean recording (meaning, clear separation of instruments, not as much guitar distortion). The NuPrime drove my speakers effortlessly - the bass was punchy and dynamic and the highs were absolutely piercing in a very lifelike way. It revealed sounds that I have not noticed before, which is exactly what an excellent amp should do. Next I stepped it up with the remastered The Downward Spiral CD. NuPrime held its own without any problems - the recording sounded crystal clear with deep bass and a fantastic sound separation. Closer, besides its reputation for notoriety, is a very demanding track with many different sounds layered onto each other. Again, I was hearing some sounds for the first time at the highs. I switched it up to Nirvana: Unplugged. Here, I was really impressed how NuPrime brought out the nuanced sound of the acoustic guitar. It was very lifelike - I was hearing for the first time those ends of notes, the "tsk" sound that an acoustic guitar makes in real life. I finished with Chelsea Wolfe's CD Pain Is Beauty. Track 4 begins with just one high note, so on my Yamaha, with the volume turned up I could definitely hear a hissing sound because the rest of the sound spectrum was unoccupied. That hissing sound was completely gone with the NuPrime, which made me believe in their THD of .005 measurement. The sound was clean as a bell. Sound - AAC (iPhone/BT) Obviously the sound coming via a lossy format and BlueTooth will be inferior to a directly connected CD player, but even here I was very pleasantly surprised how clean the music sounded. It did not sound flat and tinny the way a lot of lossless recording does. The NuPrime's impressive soundstage really shone here. I was listening to Aphex Twin's latest album, Syro, and again, the bass was deep and clean, and the highs extremely clear. I also streamed some Daft Punk using the Amazon Prime Audio app with the same satisfying results. I was also impressed how clear and full the NuPrime sounded at low volumes. This is important for me because I live in an apartment building. On the flip side, it can play quite loud without any loss of quality. It won't shatter the glass on your photo frames, but I doubt many people need that. It's been a pure joy listening to music the way it should be listened to. Next Steps and Problems I understand that I did not cover an important aspect here - computer audio. Obviously, I was going to do that. I was planning to hook up my Apple TV via TosLink and stream FLAC files from my iMac using Fidelia and AirPlay to Apple TV and then the NuPrime. To my chagrin the NuPrime refused to recognize the Apple TV (I think mine is 2nd Gen). I reached out to NuPrime and they explained to me that they have built in a high-end transistor to take the TosLink signal, while the one in AppleTV is a consumer grade one. They advised me to send the amp to them to replace the transistor free of charge. I have not done it yet, as it's a minor headache and I hate to let the amp out of my house for a couple of weeks. Therefore, consider this review a Part I, with part II to come when I resolve the TosLink issue. ALSO, I am all ears if you can recommend another way of streaming lossless music from my iMac! Overall, at $995, I think this amp punches way above its weight and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. In the audio world full of stratospherically priced equipment, this is a bargain. Save your money and spend it on music instead! |
