Tiny DAC, Big Sound – Impression of Stoner Acoustics UD100 vs. ODAC - Page 6

This DAC really sounds impressive (from the comments.....)! Does it ship with the heatshrink or is that a diy-issue later on? I'm going to give this dac a spin!

Mine came with yellow heatshrink already in place.  It is excellent for the money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR 

Mine came with yellow heatshrink already in place.  It is excellent for the money.

Thanks! Good to know! Would you buy it over the ODAC? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by joetjie2000 

Thanks! Good to know! Would you buy it over the ODAC? 

Hmm.  Hard to say.  I have an ODAC that is cased up by itself with RCA outs which I really like, as it stacks nicely with my O2.  The UD100 is better for travel since it is the size of a thumbdrive.  If I could only have one instead of both, I think I would still take the ODAC, due to the slightly better soundstage and separation, and very much due to the form factor for my particular listening habits.  I am at a desk nearly all day long so a portable setup isn't a priority.  Roughly $100 separating the two, and while   the ODAC definitely isn't 3x or even 2x better when you look at the price, the money was worth it for me to have the desktop implementation.  I still need to do more critical listening tests to really get a feel for the UD100 vs ODAC vs HDP (which has a differnt Sabre DAC chip in it IIRC) differences.  

That being said, I am still surprised by how dynamic and fun the UD100 paired with my Cmoy sound.  

BTW, this is what my UD100 looks like now:  

Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR 

 

BTW, this is what my UD100 looks like now:  

 

I like that.

Go for it!  Just be very, very careful when removing the jack.  I actually had to do this.  A different plug got stuck in the jack and the jack finally broke when I was able to remove the plug (the ground tab broke off).  Stoner is very, very good about service and supposedly there is a replacement in the mail (haven't gotten a tracking number yet).  Since I had a replacement coming, I decided to see if I could fix mine by removing the jack and soldering directly.  When trying to remove the jack, I completely broke 2 solder pads.  They come off quite easily when heat and a little force are applied.  Luckily, I discovered there is no problem with soldering wires directly to the output pins of the DAC chip itself.  (maybe even better since not going through a thin pcb trace and another solder point).  This allows for a very simple straight cable.  I used some 1" 3-1 ratio heatshrink to cover it, although I want to use something like Sugru to make it look a little nicer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcpk 


I should definitely try this with my broken one as well!
Edit: Plus Sugru is easily available here in Dublin, since it was invented in Ireland

Lucky!  Even though they have a distribution center in the US, it is still a little more expensive than I like.  I would use it for a lot more things if I could buy bigger amounts for cheaper.

Hi Everyone!

Has anyone tried this with a Mac? I contacted Stoner and they got back to me saying...

"We can't comment much on MAC output as we don't know the designs and specifications on it"...

I might be leaning towards the ODAC again in that case. 

This seems like an amazingly promising DAC - but if it wont be better than the DAC in my MAC (rhyme time)... doesn't make sense!

It should be better than the DAC in your Mac, but the question is about drivers.  Unfortunately I don't have a Mac to try for you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joetjie2000 

Hi Everyone!

 

Has anyone tried this with a Mac? I contacted Stoner and they got back to me saying...

 

"We can't comment much on MAC output as we don't know the designs and specifications on it"...

 

I might be leaning towards the ODAC again in that case. 

 

This seems like an amazingly promising DAC - but if it wont be better than the DAC in my MAC (rhyme time)... doesn't make sense!

I bought this Dac, I have a Mac.  Once I hear it, I'll provide feedback...  (I am terribly, terribly sorry for that rhyme attack...)

Quote:

Originally Posted by aamefford 

 

I bought this Dac, I have a Mac.  Once I hear it, I'll provide feedback...  (I am terribly, terribly sorry for that rhyme attack...)

Please let me know, then I'll give it a go! 

Hey guys, long time iphone user here who just got the samsung galaxy s3.  I'm loving this phone, but only recently started using it as my music player.  My second big purchase along with the phone is a pair of custom iems, the JH5 Pros.  I love the new iems, but straight of the headphone jack of the s3 I get tons of hiss, which I believe is due to the low impedance of the JH5s.  After a lot of research on the forums, I decided to take the plunge and order the stoner acoustics ud100 as this seems to be the most portable solution available to get rid of the terrible hiss.

   However, now I'm worried about plugging the JH5s directly into the ud100 as it seems volume control might become an issue.  I'm assuming I'll be able to adjust the volume directly on my phone, or does the ud100 simply function as a lineout with a fixed volume? Should I also consider purchasing a small amp to pair with the ud100 or will I be ok plugging my headphones in directly.  I've seen danba's posts showing that there are some users satisfied with no amp.  I'm just curious if anyone has more info about this.