Tiny DAC, Big Sound – Impression of Stoner Acoustics UD100 vs. ODAC - Page 7

BTW, using my JH5s on my sansa Clip Zip and they sound great! Also pretty much zero hiss, which makes it even more painful listening to the waterfall that accompanies my galaxy s3 headphone jack .  Too bad I can't listen to pandora on my clip zip.  Can't wait for the ud100 to get here.

i think they're swamped with orders at the moment...i've been emailing them regarding ordering and payment instructions and so far haven't received any reply

The UD100 was not designed to be used directly with headphones.  It is meant to provide a fixed level out to a separate amplifier.  

Have a look at the Fiio E6. Small, affordable - and a surprisingly good amp. Even has basic EQ functions incl Bass Boost which is quite nice. Its under $30 if memory serves. 

 

The impressions I posted earlier are with using it on a Macbook Pro retina.  So yes, it works on a Mac.  Macs can also do 24/192 asynchronous without needing to install drivers, so when you upgrade to something else you are all set.  You will upgrade because you will be hooked...  Welcome to Head-Fi, and sorry for your wallet.

Thanks for the replies guys. Looks like I'll be shopping for a small portable amp.  The e6 looks promising, but I'm curious to see if anyone can recommend a tiny amp, perhaps a bic lighter size cmoy or something even smaller if it exists.  As you can see I'm placing all the emphasis on portability (with little to no hiss) and the least amount of pocket clutter.  I think I'll spring for a real dac/amp down the road, but for now I just want a rig that is ultra-portable.

 

Karliol if you email them at stoneracoustics@gmail.com  they got back to me within 24 hours and I've placed my order within 24 hours as well.  Try that email.
 

Great news - dont know how your impressions post slipped off my radar! Wouldnt you say its better to go for the ODAC?

If I was going to spend money on one of these tiny DACs, it would be the Dragonfly. 

The UD100 is a fifth of the price.

yip, to me the price is more appealing than the size-factor. 

 

Well, personally I'm not interested in anything that the ODAC guy has to sell.  He ran the uDAC-2 into the ground in his posts, due to measurements alone (esp THD at -0 dbfs), and ignored the high audible level of sound quality at any input level less than -0 dbfs.  And, zilch0md thought the ODAC had some issues in it's sound quality anyway, if I recall.

Well, I finally received my UD100 today. It departed from LA on October the 2nd and I believe that USPS used a three legged mule to carry the letter across the US to the Midwest, because it took 17 days!  

 

Anyway, best $49 I have spend on any smaller sized audio gear. I have been using the UD100 with an Arrow 4G amp and a pair of T-Peos H-100 hybrid IEM's for a couple of hours.  Very impressive sounding combo, probably the best I have heard from a compact/ultra light setup. I already know that I will use the UD100 much more often than I initially intended. 

 

Dragonfly will handle 24/192 hi-rez downloads - if I'm going to bother with a DAC at all, it may as well be one which will handle something beyond 16/48. My MS II does, and its quite ancient by current standards. 

 

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/audioquest-dragonfly-usb-dac/

Edited by estreeter - 10/20/12 at 4:16am

Received my UD100 today.

Posted Monday, got it in the morning today.

Currently using it amp-less at the moment but the difference is there.

Great value as well.

Can you please confirm that you can adjust the volume using the control on your source ? Assuming it's an Android device because I already know that on Windows the volume cannot be control.

Thanks!