NuForce uDac-2 vs USB-SPDIF bridges

never touched a udac2 but I sold my udac for the hiface, undoubtedly the hiface gives much cleaner sound, more balanced,  compared to the udac. the udac is colored to me.

Hope that helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranhieu 

never touched a udac2 but I sold my udac for the hiface, undoubtedly the hiface gives much cleaner sound, more balanced,  compared to the udac. the udac is colored to me.

Hope that helps.

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The Hiface thread is littered with VERY unhappy customers. As well, while the amp/dac may be a bit "coloured" on the uDAC2, the USB to spdif conversion bypasses both. So unless you've heard it in this operation, I think extrapolations would be unfair.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacedonianHero 

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The Hiface thread is littered with VERY unhappy customers. As well, while the amp/dac may be a bit "coloured" on the uDAC2, the USB to spdif conversion bypasses both. So unless you've heard it in this operation, I think extrapolations would be unfair.

I already stated that I never touched a udac2...

Also those very unhappy customers that you mentioned are mostly those that have problem with the driver provided by M2tech, which, is not of the topic here, since the OP is asking about a comparison of the sound.
 

I currently use a Hiface in my rig and have used my uDAC as a SPDIF converter in the past.  uDAC is actually not that bad of a transport IMO, and I did notice that while it's less detailed or extended than the Hiface, it's very smooth and unfatiguing.  I'm happy with my Hiface as it synergizes with my gear pretty well, but uDAC would undoubtedly sound good with certain rigs as well and I do feel that it's better than most average joe USB implementations in lower/mid-range DACs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranhieu 

I already stated that I never touched a udac2...

 

Doesn't matter, I would imagine that the difference between the uDac and uDac2 as a USB to spdif converter would be identical.

Please dont make any statement about the sound until you actually hear it. Imagining does not make any more sense than guessing.

I dont want to start a war here, all my comments are based on real experiences, and the OP is free to choose not to take them, and I suggest the OP should listen to both if there's a chance. 

I compared udac-v2 to Hiface with battery mod, Hiface was clearly better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranhieu 

Please dont make any statement about the sound until you actually hear it. Imagining does not make any more sense than guessing.

I dont want to start a war here, all my comments are based on real experiences, and the OP is free to choose not to take them, and I suggest the OP should listen to both if there's a chance. 

I was simply referring to the USB to spdif conversion....not the DAC or AMP portion so my thoughts don't overly stretch too far out on the branch. Especially considering this circuit was very likely unchanged between the two from my research.

I have heard both the uDAC (used to own) and very recently the uDAC-2 and found them very, very similar.

Sorry, I am quite confused here. Can someone briefly comment on whether using coax on the udac-2 completely bypasses the udac's DAC and amp so that it's purely an amplifier? 

Specifically, what is the difference then in getting the m2tech hiface? Do they both do asynchronous USB to S/PDIF conversion?

The only way to connect to the uDac-2 is by means of  USB connection from a computer. Then you can either use the internal DAC/Headphone amp, or use the S/PDIF OUT to connect to a different device with a S/PDIF input bypassing the internal DAC/AMP combo. In this regard it is strictly a USB to S/PDIF converter when used in this way. There are now drivers available for Asynchronous operation on the uDac-2 as well.

Best Regards,

Jason Smith

NuForce Technical Support