NuForce Icon uDAC-2 (Black) USB DAC (24bit/96kHz) and Headphone Amplifier

This little amp is a surprise. Alone it is actually not that bad with some HD650's. The sound is typical dark, liquid, and pretty nice to listen to if you're into that sort of tubey coloration.

Later, when you try to put this DAC into a revealing system, perhaps as a source for a revealing amplifier, the surprise is that the uDac 2 is actually quite terrible. And it has nothing to do with anything that has been ranted and raved about, forget the tech specs. The DAC section simply has a flat out horrid frequency response, it's boosting the upper mids in a way that makes revealing amplifiers sound ear piercingly bad...  This DAC could go well driving a tubey sounding tube amp, but anything even a little revealing is going to be terrible sounding.

Build quality is decent, it is metal and the connectors are gold plated. The first version (uDac v1) had problems with channel balance on the volume pot, that seems to be largely alleviated in the uDac 2. I do not have a channel imbalance issue with my uDac 2. My uDac (v1) on the other hand was almost unusable because the channel imbalance showed up at a relatively loud volume.

Once you add up everything it does, few amps can match it in features/price, and it really does sound good on its own. But if you plan on building a system and upgrading it and hope to use the DAC section of the uDac 2 with a better amp, just DON'T, save you and your ears the trouble.

Hi there,

I would like to say few things about this little thing here. After seven eight months of use I found uDAC2 quite good when it comes to sound quality for this money (lets say money for pure DAC). Why? First I was listening the uDAC2 through AMB Mini3 (via line out) in a simple connection - connected directly to USB on my laptop - for a few months. Yes, gotta argee that after first impressions and the ear got used to it, the sound was nothing special. Not that boring or unbalanced, but neither entertaining. After some time, an idea occured, since uDAC2 has no external power supply possibility, you still can conect it to an USB hub with additional power supply (usually to attach external HDD) and hat would supply this little piece of DAC with enough power. And it really does. For example with 5V/2.5A power supply you can really hear a great difference in every sight. Details, dynamic/sharpness, bass response, soundstage together with separation in space, highs also.

Pitty is that there is hard to find some reasonable linear non-switching power supply unit with 5V output voltage to connect it directly between PC and uDAC2. I think I'll have to build one :-D

And also pitty that nobody here's considering that supply has major effect on sound quality in case of USB DACs.

I often make the off color joke that, when i look for audio equipment i want something sturdy enough to club a baby seal to death (in self defense, of course) and still keep on kicking out music as good as the day i bought it. This little box gives me absolutely no qualms about my readiness to combat the droves of radiation mutated seal offspring vulnerable only to audio equipment we will surely face in the dystopian future that awaits us all. The enclosure is made of a very sturdy material i assume is some aluminum alloy held together by some easily removed screws in case maintanance becomes nessisary, the output contacts are all very secure and there is absolutely no looseness in the volume control knob.

In terms of portability this little DAC simply can't be beat. At about three inches tall and an inch wide it could easily slip into a pocket along with a small USB-B cord. It is nice to be able to carry it around just for some in flight listening and the like, though i would not scoff at someone using it as a main DAC.

The sound is absolutely amazing through the headphones i tested it with, mainly Grado SR60s and MDR-V6s. The only complaint i have is the sound became slightly tinny when driving heavier impodence sets and cranking up the volume over about 75%. But at sub $150, i'm not sure if i can really expect it to do any more.

Overall a great little DAC, besting even some 300$ dacs i've seen. I can whole heartedly recommend this for someone getting into higher end audio.

The NuForce Icon uDAC2 is the first Dac I have ever owned and with that came some unsure expectations and uncertainty. My laptop is a relatively budget one with a noisy headphone out. When using sensitive earphones like my JH5's and CK10's the static and other noise being sent out was just too much. It ruined the quite parts of songs and was actually borderline uncomfortable. As a result I set out to find a relatively cheap DAC that would solve this problem. 

After a bunch of reading and research I settled on the uDac2 which I ordered from a local audio shop. The uDac2 seemed to be exactly what I was looking for, small, compact, transportable and would cut the hiss along with having good sound quality to boot.

I can tell you after owning the uDac2 for two days now that it delivers on every one of those things. It is build like a rock, one really solid piece of metal with a knob on the front that has a tiny, tiny footprint. Also, the thing is entirely USB powered which is perfect for a transportable set up. I threw the uDac2 and my laptop in my backpack along with my earphones and I'm set with all the music I could possibly want. 

On the topic of sound, the thing sounds great. Not only is it silent with even my JH5's plugged in but it also really "livens" the music up. The music I have been listening to the past few days has sounded more energetic, alive and realistic, from soundstage to bass and clarity it seems that all around everything has gotten a nice boost in quality. To put it simply, the music sounds clearer and cleaner with the uDac2 not really coloring or altering the sound signature in any particular way.

To sum all this up, for the price, $130, there really is no downfall I can see to the uDac2. It is an amazing piece of gear for a stellar price and I really can't think of a fault with it for $130. Maybe a more powerful amp would be nice when driving larger headphones and maybe it could have I few more outputs on the back but again for $130 I don't think it's fair to expect those things especially considering all you are already getting for that price.