Edirol UA-1EX headphone output sound quality

There has been a lot of talk about this USB interface, but I would like to hear the owners' honest opinions about the sound quality of the (analog) headphone output. I bought this interface just recently (it's discontinued, but I managed to grab one anyway), and I'm  personally very pleased with the sound quality of the headphone output. I have compared it to a NuForce Icon uDAC which I bought  at the same time, and I can't say there is a huge difference between them. Both are slightly lacking in the bass compared to my M-Audio 2496 in my tower, but that could very well be the Roland SC-88 Pro (a synth module) which I use as an "amp" for it. It is pretty bass heavy in itself.

Mats

Thanks for the input, exquisite. The reason I write about this is because I read a posting where the writer describes the sound as lacking in bass and with a non-existant soundstage. I couldn't disagree more. But then again, it's of course important what type of headphones you use. The person in question used a pair of Sennheiser, known to be pretty hard to drive. I currently use Grado SR-80's, which as you probably know sound good even when driven by an MP3 player.

Mats

The UA-25 is not the same card, but thanks anyway.

I remember very well that when I used the headphone output of the Roland SC-88 Pro with a pair of AKG K240 Monitor in the past, the sound was like you describe it, lacking of bass and, like the guy I mentioned before describes it, with a fairly flat soundstage. When I used the AKGs with a NAD receiver however, things changed dramatically. But since I'm currently using a pair of easily driven Grado SR-80, I'm fine with using the headphone output of the UA-1EX directly. As a parenthesis, the NuForce uDAC is a tad too much on the bright side for the Grados in my book. It would probably sound great with hard-driven headphones like the AKG K240 Monitor or the top of the line Sennheisers, though.

Yes, you're right there.

I live in Sweden, and got it from a local store, Macoteket. Just remember that (based on previous postings, and my own experiences in the past) the headphone output probably won't sound as good with harder-to-drive headphones as it does with my Grado SR-80s. These headphones give a full sound with almost any output. I don't know about your K601s, but my K240 Monitor needed lots of juice from the output.

Hard to say. The difference probably lies more in the implementation and surrounding electronics than the DAC model. I have heard good stuff about E-Mu 0404, but the drivers are apparently not that great.

No kidding? Oh well, to each his own. With my Grado SR-80s there's no problem, that's all I can say. Of course I use ASIO as well, and lossless audio exclusively as the source.

I suppose the K601 is fairly easily driven, like most of the Grado line, as opposed to AKG K240 Monitor or some Sennheisers.