I don't think anyone debates that the uDAC SOUNDS good - it just has a host of problems - there shouldn't be a volume control on a DAC, massive hiss issues when volume is turned up - and a lot more I can't remember off the top of my head. But for its price, it does a great job as a headphone amp/dac all in one.
Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
kiteki
Are you sure it's that dark, with a clean signal, no effects applied...
kiteki
By the way, with the Yulong U100, my laptops headphone jack sounded better, I was very disappointed and sent it back to China, which cost me $40 extra.
Deep Funk
The E10 is a budget product. Given it cleans the signal from my PC and can drive at least my K400 is enough.
If you have high expectations buy something that is made for a more discerning audience. For the price, finish and capabilities the E10 is a good product.
If you have high expectations buy something that is made for a more discerning audience. For the price, finish and capabilities the E10 is a good product.
kiteki
Seems like iBasso D-Zero is the winner then, after all it's a portable amp too.
colgatetotal
Well, yes, the E10 is a budget product. That's why I tested it against the uDAC1 and a bunch of midrange $200ish headphones that would be typical for the target buyer (exception: the KSC35 is a $50 on-ear). I could've gone down to the local audio shop and plugged an HD650 or HD800 into it, but who'd actually pair a high-end headphone with a $100 combo dac/amp?
The E10 has much more prominent hissing and clicking when the dial is turned to 8 (maximum) than the uDAC at maximum. However, the E10 doesn't suffer from channel imbalance that the uDAC has at ultra-low volumes.
It's just sad that a $150 HP Touchpad has a better DAC, though, to be fair, the HP Touchpad was once a $600 product and has the advantage of using a DAC chip that was released this year. Hopefully someone can make a DAC passthru app for it or something.
The E10 has much more prominent hissing and clicking when the dial is turned to 8 (maximum) than the uDAC at maximum. However, the E10 doesn't suffer from channel imbalance that the uDAC has at ultra-low volumes.
It's just sad that a $150 HP Touchpad has a better DAC, though, to be fair, the HP Touchpad was once a $600 product and has the advantage of using a DAC chip that was released this year. Hopefully someone can make a DAC passthru app for it or something.
Deep Funk
Hmmm, all I can say is that I find the E10 on sound sounds a bit bright and the bass does not sound as emphasised as on the E11. But given it sounds clean in general and is perfect for its function I cannot complain...
kiteki
It's not correct to say the WM8958 is a better chip than WM8740, that's like saying the WM8994 used in some smartphones is a better chip than the WM8741.
Just because Wolfson released a new chip designed to save battery life doesn't make it better than the one used in $2000 DAC's.
I'm not sure if this review is placebo or not, the frequency response of the E10 is pretty dead-flat, like any good DAC/Amp, there shouldn't be any overly dark sound or any noticable enhanced bass unless your unit is broken such as the bass-boost switch or just poor synergy like output impedance or a sound you're not used to, or it's smooth instead of detailed and you're calling that dark.
Anyway, I think headfonia called this DAC/Amp a killer, like a $500 product type thing, so one of you has to be very wrong, could be him, I dunno.
All I know is the Fiio E6 is garbage, that's the only Fiio I have.
By the way, there's nothing wrong with pairing a $100 DAC/Amp with a $1000 headphone.
Just because Wolfson released a new chip designed to save battery life doesn't make it better than the one used in $2000 DAC's.
I'm not sure if this review is placebo or not, the frequency response of the E10 is pretty dead-flat, like any good DAC/Amp, there shouldn't be any overly dark sound or any noticable enhanced bass unless your unit is broken such as the bass-boost switch or just poor synergy like output impedance or a sound you're not used to, or it's smooth instead of detailed and you're calling that dark.
Anyway, I think headfonia called this DAC/Amp a killer, like a $500 product type thing, so one of you has to be very wrong, could be him, I dunno.
All I know is the Fiio E6 is garbage, that's the only Fiio I have.
By the way, there's nothing wrong with pairing a $100 DAC/Amp with a $1000 headphone.
Judging the E10's DAC I disagree that it's not a significant improvement over onboard audio--at least Intel HD Audio. I immediately noticed an improvement to the sound out of my netbook. I later compared its Line-Out to the Xonar DX's (bypassing the amps of each) using MDR-V6s and the level of detail the two provided were very similar to my ears.