NHB-18NS preamplifier User Manual
Contents
1. 3 5 Special features 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 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 So we are even prouder you can enjoy it right2. decreases by 0 5 dB e Holding plus or minus key Level change speeds up to 5 dB per second time dependent speed Pressing both plus and minus key for about 3 seconds Shuts all NHB 18NS illumination off Pressing again both keys for 3 seconds will restore illumination darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 93 Page 8 of 10 4 Technical data subject to change darTZeel NHB 18NS preamplifier Gain Frequency response Rise time Slew rate Total Harmonic 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 40 kHz 0 5 dB XLR inputs and outputs lt 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 92 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 ver
3. in order to provide you a better monitoring view of the chosen operation mode Please read very next chapter which explains this in detail darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 93 Page 7 of 10 3 6 LED Status The 3 LEDs inform you about almost everything you would need to know In order to better understand their behaviour hereunder is a summary Central power LED in BTM NHB 18NS powered ON gt GREEN BTM or remote receiving NO LIGHT mains failure NHB 18NS Powered OFF gt RED Permanent charge maintain NHB 18NS Powered OFF when an AC mains failure occurred NO LIGHT Central power LED in Automatic Mode NHB 18NS powered ON gt ORANGE battery mode RED charging GREEN remote receiving NHB 18NS Powered OFF gt ORANGE charging GREEN 85 charged maintain NHB 18NS Powered OFF when an AC mains failure occurred NO LIGHT Mute LED NHB 18NS powered ON gt ORANGE normal mode RED Mute GREEN HT bypass NHB 18NS Powered OFF 2 NO LIGHT Mono Stereo LED NHB 18NS powered ON ORANGE stereo mode RED mono mode NHB 18NS Powered OFF NO LIGHT 3 7 Remote control Every time you either press plus or minus loudness key s all three LEDs are going GREEN until you release the pressure 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 Functions e Briefly hitting pulse hit plus or minus key Level increases or
4. HB 18NS User Manual version 0 93 global negative feedback the output gain is slightly lower than 0 dB 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 you 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 in
5. creased 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 control from central position Page 6 of 10 3 5 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 Each input can be HT bypassed separately if needed Front panel Illumination You can switch off or back on 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 3 seconds OR Pressing on the remote control both plus and minus loudness keys for about 2 seconds Power supply mode operation From software version 2 10 it is now possible to choose between two operating modes 1 BTM Battery Through Mode or so called AC Mode batteries are always kept under charge maintain mode whatever the NHB 18NS is switched on or off This new factory default mode allows for ex tended battery life time and ensures batteries will be fully charged while performing critical listening session In this mode power is supplied by the external power supply thr
6. darT Zee NHB 18NS preamplifier User Manual Pre release darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 93 Page 2 of 10 Table of contents 1 Introduction suc savascvacaesacvcesucasudascascuscaecudvcessaasuecevescveceve 4 2 Brief descript o p ETEA EE THEE ERIS ETUDES TT 4 3 The NHB 18NS in details ia nare qa Fa REEL DAY PRA EU ES RYE ELEME V fud 5 S I FRONT PANE ta ats g Aun sI estesa vdd usta q asit SM q acetate aaa 5 S2 REAR PANED eto eiat sodes aa manaa Taqa rU MSIE 5 3 3 Connecting the NHB 18NS U J 6 34 Sina the NEIBSTSINS Gears us saa Es ba NUI estan E NT E asas 6 3 5 SDOGCIaDTeat regs p 7 3 6 LED Stat S E M aaa 8 2 4 Remote eontrobaq e oc m S cm aie Lt a t e it Suqsu u dude 8 4 Technical data subject to change 9 Si POND SENOS PITE TC UTILI macau ania 10 darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 93 Page 3 of 10 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 be
7. l 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 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 following 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 darTZeel N
8. now This present user manual is still under its prelimi nary state so please excuse us for some missing detailed explanations and less than perfect presenta tion Page 4 of 10 3 The NHB 18NS in details 3 1 FRONT PANEL darTZeel Heer Pus 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 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 93 Page 5 of 10 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 Then connect the AC cord into your wall socket 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 manua
9. ough internal batteries exactly like a computer in line UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply AC grunge while not fully removed will be well filtered out thanks to batteries damping action This mode will also permit the NHB 18NS to operate even if batteries do not hold a charge anymore allowing for smooth operation until eventual batteries replacement 2 Automatic Mode the NHB 18NS always works on battery mode when powered on as long as they have enough juice Batteries are charged maintained when the machine is switched off This is the mode you will choose when performing critical listening session when you will want to be sure there are no any noise and or RFI coming from AC mains Ultimate sound performance will be given in Automatic Mode In case of intensive use say more than 4 5 hours every day we strongly recommend switching to BTM for about 2 3 days every month this will allow for full reconditioning charge and will ensure longest possible life span of batteries 1 NEVER EVER PHYSICALLY REMOVE OR UNPLUG BATTERIES THE NHB 18NS WILL NOT START UP DOING THIS Going from BTM to Automatic Mode e Press down both Mono Stereo and Mute switches for 2 seconds e Central LED colour status will change from GREEN to ORANGE Going from Automatic Mode to BTM e Press down both Mono Stereo and Mute switches for 2 seconds e Central LED colour status will change from ORANGE to GREEN LED status has been updated too
10. sion 0 93 Page 9 of 10 UBEE PAIS porop os yoq org pue xr ANIL V LV dvd poojrered GH3HG IOS HNO XINO 9q UBD SIOJSISOq NIN poxop osuf pS WIN USA Uren iii p zoplosun oq OW peropros 1s OJN UOM Urer snu Ju WIN 10 19S ped p zoploS 19S ped p s ploS OALY Ped poxopjosur od T SpimeoO gp ut NIVD ju surqQ ut qVO T Cc Oooo A L poo A 2W WIN tv 6 9 tt 99 9 09 JS ped p 3 plosun OOL OLS AL LYS JUL to um
11. st In order to facilitate packing unpacking operation please go to our web site www darTZeel com and download our full pictured packaging instruction 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 Two different operation modes can be chosen 1 Automatic mode Every time you will switch your preamplifier ON battery operation mode will be selected no matter if the batteries are fully charged or not In case batteries would need a charge or when the NHB 18NS is switched off the ex ternal supply will charge them automatically When batteries are fully charged you can ex pect for a battery life of about 12 hours 2 BTM AC mode In this mode batteries will be constantly kept fully charged A built in overcharge protection darTZeel NHB 18NS User Manual version 0 93 allows for using this mode permanently ensuring you will benefit of a full charge when you will perform some critical listening session More detail about these two modes are described later Chapter
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