NHB-18NS preamplifier User Manual
Contents
1. Mute LED NHB 18NS powered ON gt YELLOW normal mode RED Mute GREEN HT bypass NHB 18NS Powered OFF gt NO LIGHT Mono Stereo LED NHB 18NS powered ON gt YELLOW stereo mode RED mono mode NHB 18NS Powered OFF gt NO LIGHT Remote control operation Every time you hit the plus or minus loudness key all three LEDs are going GREEN until you release the pres sure So you perfectly know when the NHB 18NS receives an order This feature is very useful when you want to adjust the loudness in very small increments 3 6 Special features Home Theater Bypass If you hold the mute toggle switch Chapter 3 1 pos 5 for about 7 seconds the Mute led will go green indi cating that the corresponding input is now in HT bypass mode The pleasure control is now defeated and the global In to Out gain is set at 0 dB The setting will be kept in memory until the Mute toggle will be hold again for 7 seconds Every input can be HT bypassed if needed Front panel Illumination You can switch off all light illumination leds and knobs surrounding by either doing the followings Holding down the Mono Stereo toggle switch Chapter 3 1 pos 6 for 5 seconds OR Pressing on the remote control both plus and minus loudness keys for about 1 second darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 9 Page 7 of 8 4 Technical data preliminary darTZeel NHB 18NS preamplifier Gain Frequency response Rise time Slew rate Total Harmo2. Line darT Outputs Line RCA Fixed Output Power Supply Trigger Outputs Phono Input Line RCA Zeel Input Line RCA Zeel Inputs Line XLR Input Line XLR Output UBRUNDG 0 9 darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 9 Page 5 of 8 3 3 Connecting the NHB 18NS First connect the external power supply s umbilical cord to the power connector located on the Rear Panel Chapter 3 2 fig 9 Phono input Use inputs I Chapter 3 2 pos 1 You can either connect the ground wire to left or right channel The toggle switch allows choosing phono ground path between signal ground AC earth or floating Default position is Gnd right If you hear some abnormal rumble you can play with both channels toggles in order to minimize it Phono settings You can change the phono input settings by a wide margin allowing for most MM and MC cartridges This can be done using a solder iron This will be explained in details in the final manual release Factory settings are MC gain 60 dB load 836 ohms This setting works well for most audiophile car tridges with an output level from 0 3 to 1 mV Line inputs Inputs II to V Chapter 3 2 pos 2 amp 3 are for RCA single ended sources input VI is for XLR true balanced sources Toggle switches For inputs II to V default position is center Left position provides 6 dB of attenuation in the case your source would exhibit a very high output level Right position is for Zeel
3. directly derived from the internationally patented NHB 108 model one amplifier s No global feed back open loop output stages very wide bandwidth and extremely low phase shift this is the NHB 18NS Our proprietary volume control involves a very new approach never achieved before no any contacts relays switches or silicon devices are used The delicate sound then remains untouched for your greatest pleasure so the reason why we did not write Volume on the front plate but simply Pleasure Control The way we do it is still a bit confidential at the moment we just can say that some light is involved in the control The Enjoyment Source commonly called input selector also benefits from the very same kind of approach we do not select the input we do enable it Here again no switch relay or the like NS stands for No Switch We are very proud that the NHB 18NS is the very first zero contact preamplifier in the world And even more proud that you can enjoy it now This present user manual is still under its prelimi nary state so please excuse us for the still missing detailed explanations and less than perfect presenta tion Page 4 of 8 3 The NHB 18NS in details 3 1 FRONT PANEL darTZeel Heer wre wo y 1 Power Nose 5 Mute HT Bypass 2 Enjoyment Source 6 Mono Stereo Dimmer 3 Pleasure Control 7 Identity Plate 4 Balance Control 3 2 REAR PANEL Line RCA Output
4. help you 2 Brief description The darTZeel NHB 18NS is the perfect partner of the NHB 108 model one The in house designed built in phono stage is offered as a standard feature One of the secrets of the darTZeel NHB 18NS can be found in two words Passion and Love The passion for sound of course and love of music needless to say As for the rest we just put in few electronics a wee bit of mechanics and a touch of appropriate soft ware The NHB 18NS is a full battery powered machine Every time you will switch your preamplifier ON the battery operation mode will be selected no matter if the batteries are fully charged or not In case batteries would need a charge the external supply will charge them automatically When bat teries are charged you can expect for a battery life of about 17 hours We recommend switching the preamplifier OFF when not listening to it so you darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 9 will be sure that battery mode will be activated when listening to music As for the embarked technology the NHB 18NS is truly at the peak that is possible to realise today With more than 1 200 electronic parts involved we however kept our very first aims untouched The signal path only travels through 7 junctions 7 tran sistors from input to output while the phono stage only adds 6 junctions for the sake of best transpar ency All basic circuits phono stage included are
5. 50 ohm purpose dedi cated to future darTZeel sources For input VI Chapter 3 2 pos 4 the upper tog gle default position is center Right position offers 600 ohm input impedance for professional gear Left position lowers the gain by 6 dB this attenua tion only works when true floating source is used transformer output source Lower toggle switch allows for various ground path schemes regarding the XLR chassis jack Default position is right Center position is floating useful in certain circumstances for cancelling ground loops Left position is with XLR chassis connected to ground via a 100 ohm resistor for same purpose as described for center position Outputs Nothing particular to notice here save the follow ing REC output Chapter 3 2 pos 8 is a fixed buff ered output Loading it with a matching component like a recorder or a CD burner will therefore not affect the sound quality Due to non use of any global negative feedback the output gain is slightly lower than 0 dB darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 9 BNC darT outputs Chapter 3 2 pos 7 All these 3 output are separately buffered and are dedicated for feeding the darTZeel NHB 108 model one power amplifier Optional built in filters can be activated for bi amping or tri amping purpose This special feature will be explained in details in the final manual release 3 4 Using the NHB 18NS Once everything has been properly connected y
6. darT Zee NHB 18NS preamplifier User Manual Preliminary darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 9 Page 2 of 8 Table of contents T UA MOGUCUION o ven teactseaduantsanduasdcencwandseadwecsuiatuecedandwesdud 4 22 Briel description iciacesenen eine ea 4 3 The NHB 18NS in details uununnnnssnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 5 Scb FRONT PANEE a na an 5 3 28 REARPANE gg cosets vss Po pesos a E e ERES 5 3 3 Connecting the NHB 18NS wi iiciecciccccccciccetecsesacdecraceneeasancndeccensedeenaaancuceascccuscanenann 6 3 4 Using the NHB I8NS moinen eye a SR Ua EE VISA qu V E A ES EEA ESES 6 3 57 Special Tedtutes sace eA el eae cue 7 4 Technical data 8 darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 9 Page 3 of 8 darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual 1 Introduction Congratulations for purchasing a darTZeel NHB 18NS Our machines are designed and hand built for very long lasting use and musical pleasure The darTZeel NHB 18NS is a highly unusual preamplifier and requires special care We strongly recommend you read this manual in its entirety in order not to miss any reason for enjoying your ma chine at its very best When opening the crate you certainly noticed the packing unpacking notice printed in green Please take some time to mentally note how your preamplifier is packed It will save you some insomnia nights when you will have to move house one day Taking some pictures may
7. nic Distortion THD Temporal Distortion Crosstalk Signal to noise ratio Consumption Size in mm Net weight V darTZeel Audio SA 2 chemin Louis Hubert CH 1213 Petit Lancy Gen ve moreinfo darTZeel com Suisse darTZeel NHB 18NS Line 11 dB Phono 30 to 66 dB up to 77dB gain at output 1Hz to 1MHz 0 6 dB depends on measurement method 10 Hz to 100 kHz 0 0 5dB depends on measurement method 20 Hz to 50 kHz 0 5 dB XLR inputs and outputs 0 8 us depends on measurement method 88 V us peak peak 1 from 7 Hz to 77 kHz None at any level and load equal or above 50 ohms 90 dB from 20Hz to 20kHz 100 dB A line gt 70 dB A phono w factory settings 7 70 watts depending on working mode 440 x 335 x 170 WxDxH Total deep with handles 415 mm 23 kg power supply 3 kg total 26 kg The darTZeel NHB 18NS is made to last forever by darTZeel Audio SA in Geneva Switzerland www darTZeel com User Manual version 0 9 Page 8 of 8
8. ou can power the preamplifier ON by pressing the Power Nose Chapter 3 1 pos 1 After about 10 seconds the NHB 18NS is ready to play music When enjoying from a line source to another one about half a second dead time is allowed for block ing bumps and clicks When enjoying from line to phono a very small click can be heard independent of pleasure control position then the phono stage is activated after around 8 seconds When going back from phono to line only half a second is required Balance control Chapter 3 1 pos 4 This is not a standard balance control of course it is a darTZeel machine When using the Balance the change only begins after about plus and minus 5 degrees of rotation ensuring that when you are close to middle posi tion balance channel is kept dead center At full right position R channel is increased by 3 5 dB L channel lowered by 3 5 dB At full Left position L channel is increased by 3 5 dB R channel lowered by 3 5 dB This feature allows for very fine adjustment and keeps global loudness at same level even while altering the balance Page 6 of 8 3 5 LED Status The 3 LEDs inform you about almost everything you would need to know In order to better under stand their behaviour hereunder is a summary Central power LED NHB 18NS powered ON gt YELLOW battery mode RED charging GREEN remote receiving NHB 18NS Powered OFF gt NO LIGHT charged GREEN charging
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