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What happened to the Ultra Desktop DAC?

post #1 of 40
6/17/10 at 7:13pm
Thread Starter 

I see that it has been taken off of the website.  Is it discontinued?  

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post #2 of 40
6/17/10 at 7:19pm

No, they ran into problems regarding the DAC. A new line should be offered starting from mid July (this is from a telephone conversation)

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post #3 of 40
6/17/10 at 7:25pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks!  Are they still going to be using the ESS Sabre DAC chips?  Perhaps they are switching to the 9018 chip?

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post #4 of 40
8/10/10 at 1:33pm

Since it's been nearly two months with no news regarding the Desktop DAC, I thought that I would stir things up a bit.

 

Anyone heard anything or know what's going on with it?  I've bought my share of gear from HR and - based on my own experience - definitely recommend them for the quality of their products and service (Great people to work with!)  However, the fact that the Desktop DAC has all but disappeared without a word and that they seem to be selling off their Ultra Micro DAC's makes it appear that perhaps they're narrowing their product line?  Or, getting out of the hi-end DAC business?

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post #5 of 40
8/11/10 at 9:50am

i'd like to know what is going on to. what's up?

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post #6 of 40
8/11/10 at 6:05pm
Thread Starter 

I too am a bit worried about the status of their DACs and the company in general.  I happen to own both the ultra micro dac and ultra desktop dac and am extremely pleased with both.  I surely hope HR does not get out of the DAC business.  IMO they provide solid products that work very well.  For some reason there does not seem to be a whole lot of love or buzz about headroom gear.  It is really too bad, because newcomers to this site might miss out on trying out some good equipment!!  I truly think that Headroom is an awesome company that has done great things for headphone listening.  I hope that they will continue that tradition.

 

It is clear however, that there has been some restructuring which includes bringing in Travis, Tyll stepping down as the head of the company and his leaving the company earlier this year.  The downturn in the economy probably had something to do with this.  There is a subtle but certain change in demeanor of emails, posts etc..  The enthusiasm for high end gear seems to have been tamed somewhat.  Perhaps the focus on increasing market share by being THE source for headphones on the web has something to do with this?  Maybe this is the most viable business model?  It still is not clear how new management views expenditures on R & D to develop new Amps, DACs etc.  Time will tell where exactly Headroom is headed.

 

Sorry for the long post!  Just my 2 cents.

 

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post #7 of 40
8/12/10 at 9:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubu1 View Post


I too am a bit worried about the status of their DACs and the company in general.  I happen to own both the ultra micro dac and ultra desktop dac and am extremely pleased with both.  I surely hope HR does not get out of the DAC business.  IMO they provide solid products that work very well.  For some reason there does not seem to be a whole lot of love or buzz about headroom gear.  It is really too bad, because newcomers to this site might miss out on trying out some good equipment!!  I truly think that Headroom is an awesome company that has done great things for headphone listening.  I hope that they will continue that tradition.





It is clear however, that there has been some restructuring which includes bringing in Travis, Tyll stepping down as the head of the company and his leaving the company earlier this year.  The downturn in the economy probably had something to do with this.  There is a subtle but certain change in demeanor of emails, posts etc..  The enthusiasm for high end gear seems to have been tamed somewhat.  Perhaps the focus on increasing market share by being THE source for headphones on the web has something to do with this?  Maybe this is the most viable business model?  It still is not clear how new management views expenditures on R & D to develop new Amps, DACs etc.  Time will tell where exactly Headroom is headed.





Sorry for the long post!  Just my 2 cents.







Good point and observation. Highend headphone hobby is a small circle and frequently supported by repeated customers and it would be nice if headroom can share their future direction with their supporters. I started with Cosmic and ended up with my current set up Buda/Udac/dps over twelve years ago.
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post #8 of 40
8/13/10 at 12:12pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for your input.  

I was hoping to get some info when I first started this thread but so far nothing from HR!!

 

So you have the BUDA/UDAC/DPS combo?  I do as well and I absolutely love it. I listen to my HD800's everyday through this combo and it is excellent to my ears! Unfortunately there have not been very many reviews of the desktop stack on Head-Fi and I'm not sure the reason for this.  There have to be a good number of people with this system.  Maybe we are all just too busy enjoying the music to write reviews!

 

How do you like your Desktop stack?   
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jalo View Post







Good point and observation. Highend headphone hobby is a small circle and frequently supported by repeated customers and it would be nice if headroom can share their future direction with their supporters. I started with Cosmic and ended up with my current set up Buda/Udac/dps over twelve years ago.
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post #9 of 40
8/13/10 at 1:58pm

I too quite surprised headroom has had nothing to say. a couple of threads behind this one was answered by headroom but not this one. 

 

come on headroom, can you tell us something? 

 

thank you, 

nose
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubu1 View Post

Thanks for your input.  

I was hoping to get some info when I first started this thread but so far nothing from HR!!

 

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post #10 of 40
8/13/10 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubu1 View Post

Thanks for your input.

I was hoping to get some info when I first started this thread but so far nothing from HR!!

Â

So you have the BUDA/UDAC/DPS combo? I do as well and I absolutely love it. I listen to my HD800's everyday through this combo and it is excellent to my ears! Unfortunately there have not been very many reviews of the desktop stack on Head-Fi and I'm not sure the reason for this. There have to be a good number of people with this system. Maybe we are all just too busy enjoying the music to write reviews!

Â

How do you like your Desktop stack?
Â







Well, I do like my triple stack with the HD800. I recabled my HD800 with SAA voice and the sound is very smooth with no harshness to it. If you do not notice by now, there is almost a rule of silence of anything headroom. I cannot tell you why but there is very little serious review or comparison of headroom gears on the forum even though a lot of headfiers buy abd use their stuffs. Rather strange phenomenon.
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post #11 of 40
8/13/10 at 4:09pm
With regard to what happen to their DAC product, i.e. ultra micro dac, UDAC etc). I called and talked to someone at Headroom and was told that they are reworking on the Ultra Desktop Dac so the usb connection could process up to 192 bit. It is still strange that they will discontinue a line for that long. They are definitely silent on the Ultra Micro Dac, may be they are trying to sell off their inventory before they make their announcement for marketing reason.
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post #12 of 40
8/13/10 at 7:13pm

very strange indeed! to discontinue the udac when the buda is still up for sale. 

 

why totally discontinue just for a usb upgrade? for years it is something that ones have wanted on headroom dac's. does the coaxial and optical connections on the udac not handle 192? or does it just upsample?

 

and so silent about it. it is not like they are apple and headroom has always discussed products before release. they even posted when the ultra amp was discontinued. 

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post #13 of 40
8/14/10 at 4:39am
Thread Starter 
Thank jalo for giving hr a call. It is good news that they are updating the USB input.

Maybe they are going to make the udac asynchronous? That would be awesome!!! And while they are at it, perhaps they will use the newer ess

DAC chips.
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post #14 of 40
8/14/10 at 6:35am
This is the answer I received from HR when I asked about the UDAC on 8/6/2010:
 
"The HeadRoom UDAC has indeed been temporarily discontinued. We hope to re-release it again in sometime in 2011 with improved features and performance"
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post #15 of 40
8/14/10 at 8:09am

Hope to?.... hmmm. 

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