New Leckerton UHA-6S MKII Portable Headphone Amplifier Announced (Update User Impressions Added... - Page 87

Originally Posted by fzman 

I see many posts from people who claim the dac in the mkii is not that good.  Compared to what?  I think it sounds better than the dacs in most lptops, phones, and many 'mp3' players.  while i might agrtee that the amp is a better amp than the dac is a dac - it's still quite good, and is a sonic improvement over going via the headphone out of many devices.  It has a lower output level than most headphone jacks, so i  suspect that people are being (subconsciously) swayed by the output level differences.....  

 

 

anyway, it's quite a good performer, and well worth the asking price.  (NO, I do not sell this unit).

Originally Posted by fzman 

I see many posts from people who claim the dac in the mkii is not that good.  Compared to what?  I think it sounds better than the dacs in most lptops, phones, and many 'mp3' players.  while i might agrtee that the amp is a better amp than the dac is a dac - it's still quite good, and is a sonic improvement over going via the headphone out of many devices.  It has a lower output level than most headphone jacks, so i  suspect that people are being (subconsciously) swayed by the output level differences.....  

 

 

anyway, it's quite a good performer, and well worth the asking price.  (NO, I do not sell this unit).

Originally Posted by kskwerl 

I agree with you completely, the DAC is just fine by me and I prob couldn't even tell the difference if a "better" or "worse" DAC was in it

Originally Posted by thegrobe 

 

I agree as well. 

I don't have a bunch of experience listening to other DAC units out there, but compared to the other equipment I have the Leckerton DAC sounds best to me. Are there better DAC's out there? I am sure there must be but running FLAC/Foobar right into the UHA 6 gives me a pretty fantastic sound. 

 

My other stuff is a 7G ipod classic, 5.5G DIY iMod w/polypropylene caps, a stock 5G ipod, a 6G iPod classic, and two Clip Zips, all running rockbox.

 

You know what sounds best to me? The UHA 6. It is more tight and controlled but with a smoothness to it as well. Very pleasant and non-fatiguing to listen to. But I can't lug a laptop around all the time...lol. 

Originally Posted by kskwerl 

I've had various entry level DACs and IMO the difference is minimal

Originally Posted by thegrobe 

I have to disagree with you there juuust a bit. Yes, the differences are minimal but there is certainly a character to each one I listed - At least to my ears. 

 

That said, I was agreeing that the DAC in the UHA 6 is certainly good... I prefer it overall to my other stuff.  I just wish I could carry it around with me! My second favorite overall is probably a tossup between the modded 5.5G and 7G

 

Well, I guess I can carry it around -  on the Nexus 7 using USB Audio Recorder but that's not really super functional yet.

Originally Posted by fzman 

I see many posts from people who claim the dac in the mkii is not that good.  Compared to what?  I think it sounds better than the dacs in most lptops, phones, and many 'mp3' players.  while i might agrtee that the amp is a better amp than the dac is a dac - it's still quite good, and is a sonic improvement over going via the headphone out of many devices.  It has a lower output level than most headphone jacks, so i  suspect that people are being (subconsciously) swayed by the output level differences.....  

 

 

anyway, it's quite a good performer, and well worth the asking price.  (NO, I do not sell this unit).

Originally Posted by lee730 


DACport LX, DX100. Simply put no comparison. I agree it is better than the DAC in an iphone4 or your average DAPs. But it's nothing special compared to what I'm use to using and it sounds quite harsh and unrefined IMO to what I have now. The only reason I bought the UHA6 MKII to be honest is for its amp section. That is where the units bread and butter is. The DAC is just an afterthought.

Originally Posted by shotgunshane 

Lets see: to call it harsh, unrefined and an afterthought, you have to compare it to a dac only product that used to be $300+ and an $800+ ibasso. I'd like to be enlightened as to what sub $300 very portable unit offers more.

Not everything is a race to have the best product on planet earth. Reality is that for its price point, both the dac and amp are a great value. Afterthought indeed.

Originally Posted by shotgunshane 

Lets see: to call it harsh, unrefined and an afterthought, you have to compare it to a dac only product that used to be $300+ and an $800+ ibasso. I'd like to be enlightened as to what sub $300 very portable unit offers more.

Not everything is a race to have the best product on planet earth. Reality is that for its price point, both the dac and amp are a great value. Afterthought indeed.

Originally Posted by shotgunshane 

Lets see: to call it harsh, unrefined and an afterthought, you have to compare it to a dac only product that used to be $300+ and an $800+ ibasso. I'd like to be enlightened as to what sub $300 very portable unit offers more.

Not everything is a race to have the best product on planet earth. Reality is that for its price point, both the dac and amp are a great value. Afterthought indeed.

Originally Posted by lee730 

It's a great value yes. But the fact remains there is better out there to be had for those who want more. To say otherwise is misleading.