Tiny DAC, Big Sound – Impression of Stoner Acoustics UD100 vs. ODAC - Page 14

Hi, mrAdrian ! I will be patient ! What did the first unit die by ? What source do you use with the ud100 ?

Hey the jack was super tight on the first one, me and dad together pulled the 3.5 plug out; and then it became super loose. However it still worked fine until one day crosstalk developed.

The second one is good.

Just got the UD100 through the mail over the holidays, and have only tried it through the Mac Mini, outputting to a Bravo v2 (unmodded) hybrid amp, then to DIY Magnum v3 phones.  Too early to give any meaningful impressions, so I will check back in on that after some time.

 

However, I am having trouble with using the DAC through a Dell Latittude E6320 laptop.

 

My setup is using iTunes with the Dell laptop, streaming audio through my Mac Mini.  I am using Windows XP, and something really strange is happening.

 

If my laptop is on mute when I plug the UD100 in, the iTunes music through the laptop will remain mute no matter what I do afterwards (no sound despite unmuted), but if my laptop has sound when I plug the UD100 in, the iTunes music laptop will always have sound coming out of the built in speakers, but not through the UD100.  That said, other sounds, such as YouTube, clicking sounds and such, does come through the UD100 under both circumstances.

 

Is there a setting in iTunes that I have to toggle with to make sure it works with the UD100?  I have checked under control panel, and the USB DAC is in fact the default playback device.

iTunes is a bit fickle. Since I'm guessing you have all your music and playlists set up with it, you could also try Doubletwist. It will automatically sync with your library, and hopefully will have fewer playback issues.

Thanks.  After rebooting a couple of times, with and without the UD100 plugged in during reboot, the problem is solved.

 

I am now using Dell E6420 (iTunes) --> UD100--> Alo Rx MkII --> Heavily modded Fostex T50RP, and I must say, this little USB DAC is dynamite!  The sound is smooth and sweet, loads of details.  I have been listening to Radiohead all morning, and even though I not immersed in the music, as I am working, I am picking up new details from the music.  I have never heard of those little percussion sounds coming out of Hail to the Thief during the very beginnings of the song (when those guitar reverb sounds came in), not even with my ESP950s, but I am hearing them now.  The sounds are natural and smooth.

 

I can't wait to plug this into my Koss ESP-950 and listen to that combo.

 

Granted I have never used an external DAC before, but this $52 is money well spent.

I'm looking into this to feed a Schiit Magni, as I only have 44.1 stuff so I thought I might as well save $50 and get this over the Modi. Think it'll be a good combo, or should I just go for the Modi?

The 24-bit is more important than the 44.1 khz, since your 16-bit songs now do not suffer bit loss from digitally attenuating (turning the volume down via software) the signal. I very much doubt the difference will be audible though.

 

And since both seem to be very close to the ODAC in quality, I'm assuming that they are very close to each other in performance as well.

Ultimately, it's up to style and convenience now. Both companies have records of great customer service, though Stoner Acoustics understandably will take longer to ship a replacement. The tiny size of the UD100 is great, but the matching factor of the Modi is fantastic as well, especially since the cabling will be super convenient. You'll get a Modi more quickly, and will have supported a US business (America!). One is portable, the other is much less so. You might misplace one, but I very much doubt you'll ever lose the other. There's obviously a price difference, which also correlates to a difference in the quality of casing. 

Unfortunately at this point, you're going to have to decide for yourself. And if the decision bugs you too much, pray and flip a coin. Heads for Schiit and tails for a Stoner, Best of luck!

Edited by tzjin - 1/3/13 at 10:34pm

Hello mr Lyonnais

J have décided toi buy the hifimediy sabre, not the ud100. J have ordered it the 01 january , i am waiting now :-)
I gonna use it with my dock jbl "on beat extrem" that ils a very very very good dock. Trust me !

Manu
Edited by manu54 - 1/5/13 at 12:25pm

thanks much ^_^ Maybe I will go with the Modi...

Received mine two days ago. It works well with my old Acer Aspire. Sounds great, very detailed. However doesn't work with my MSI laptop. Also doesn't work with the iPhone 4s (jailbreak + CCK + CameraConnector tweak...) : "the connected usb device requires too much power" ! I have never read something like that about the ud100 working with other smartphones ! Has something be changed in the architecture of the ud100 since it has been launched ? I've noticed that the sound is quite loud with my iems (the ultimate ears ue700) directly plugged in the jack of the dac...

My setup : Acer Aspire > foobar > ud100 > ue700.

Hey mr lyonnais buy un hub USB alimenté .

and use an amp for those Ue900 instead of connecting it directly to the dac (it's not an amp) ;)

 

Thank you for your advice, Ultrainferno. But the iems I've got are the ue700. And when connected directly to the the dac they work perfectly ! The issue I meet is with the iPhone 4s !

Hi, Manu54 ! Is it possible to connect a powered USB hub to the iPhone through the Camera Connector Kit, and then plug the UD100 dac in it ? I can't figure all that chain !

 

I believe you want to go through the CCK into a powered hub, which the UD100 is plugged into.