[livewire]

Dang I love this little DAC!
 
Something strange happened the other day, I almost went into withdrawals.
My Odac just died when I went to fire up my Stax rig. Nada, no sound whatsoever.
I leave it plugged into the USB all of the time, I was worried it burned out. 
Something glitched out, dont know if it was the computer or the Odac.
Anyhow, unplugging the Odac from the USB port and the amp inputs, then rebooting the computer did the trick.
Plugged it back in, re-applied the computer settings when prompted,
then the beautiful music started to play again!

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

Dang I love this little DAC!
 
Something strange happened the other day, I almost went into withdrawals.
My Odac just died when I went to fire up my Stax rig. Nada, no sound whatsoever.
I leave it plugged into the USB all of the time, I was worried it burned out. 
Something glitched out, dont know if it was the computer or the Odac.
Anyhow, unplugging the Odac from the USB port and the amp inputs, then rebooting the computer did the trick.
Plugged it back in, re-applied the computer settings when prompted,
then the beautiful music started to play again!

winXP? lol

 

[livewire]

Close. Vista.

 

[bobeau]

FWIW, my ODAC also is a little funky with connectivity.  On OSX I'm using MOG to stream my music, and if I unplug/replug while MOG is running the OS will switch back to the ODAC in the settings, but sound does not come out.  I have to quit and restart MOG.  Haven't experienced this issue w/ my E17.

 

[hamburgerladdy]

"...the odac is not very pleasant to listen to. It's thin and hard-edged, with a headache-inducing digital sheen that frankly I haven't experienced since the early gen CD players of the 1980's."
 
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/blogs/rjm/888-nwavguy-odac-24-96-dac-review.html
 
Wow, this is the first negative review I have found.

 

[MattTCG]

Just wanted to add a few brief impressions to this thread. Not ready to do a full review yet. I just received my odac today. I bought a pre-assembled unit from Joseph Tam at JDM Performance. 
 
I have been listening to the fiio e17 for about a week or so. I really do like the e17 and feel that it really overachieves for it's price. I plugged in the odac to a Schitt Asgard and nearly fell out of my chair. 

 I expected some modest improvements in the sound signature but I was truly stunned at the sound produced by the odac/asgard (I should add that I have been using the e17 as a straight dac to the asgard for this past week. 
 
I am forming some opinions of the odac compared to the Bifrost but they have not fully developed yet. But let me say this...the odac goes toe to toe with the bifrost at about half the cost. I will need to do further auditioning to hone in some differences in the sound signature though. 

 

[Raines]

check for that   ODAC vs bitfrost me wants to know
 
Is the asgard better than O2?
 

 

[MattTCG]

I don't have the o2...bifrost, not bitfrost 

 

[wushuliu]

Quote:

"...the odac is not very pleasant to listen to. It's thin and hard-edged, with a headache-inducing digital sheen that frankly I haven't experienced since the early gen CD players of the 1980's."
 
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/blogs/rjm/888-nwavguy-odac-24-96-dac-review.html
 
Wow, this is the first negative review I have found.

I agree with the review, although I did not find the odac 'unpleasant', I do find it cold, sterile, and 'digital'. On the plus side it pulls a lot of microdetail out of the music and the low noise and channel separation is amazing. IMO yes it's better than HRTs but that's not saying much. I still prefer Hiface 2 with the equally small and well designed French TDA1543 available on ebay. The odac does detail and treble better, but that's it. The microdetail is addicting though and very impressive, if listening fatigue doesn't do you in. I also have a suspicion that lack of power holds it back. It shares the 'lightweight' quality of every usb-powered dac I have heard, with the exception of the Dacport Lx. For $100 can't complain, but will probably sell mine shortly. Just my .02.

 

[jono454]

Quote:

Just wanted to add a few brief impressions to this thread. Not ready to do a full review yet. I just received my odac today. I bought a pre-assembled unit from Joseph Tam at JDM Performance. 
 
I have been listening to the fiio e17 for about a week or so. I really do like the e17 and feel that it really overachieves for it's price. I plugged in the odac to a Schitt Asgard and nearly fell out of my chair. 

 I expected some modest improvements in the sound signature but I was truly stunned at the sound produced by the odac/asgard (I should add that I have been using the e17 as a straight dac to the asgard for this past week. 
 
I am forming some opinions of the odac compared to the Bifrost but they have not fully developed yet. But let me say this...the odac goes toe to toe with the bifrost at about half the cost. I will need to do further auditioning to hone in some differences in the sound signature though. 

ODAC a worthy upgrade from the E17?

 

[MattTCG]

Yes, the odac is a very nice/significant upgrade from the e17 when you are coming dac to dac. Now, when you consider that the e17 is also a very portable device that is also an amp that you can buy shipped for $139 then it's a different game. Depends on what you're looking for. Straight dac vs dac, the odac is superior by a considerable margin to my ears. 

 

[Maxis]

Quote:

Yes, the odac is a very nice/significant upgrade from the e17 when you are coming dac to dac. Now, when you consider that the e17 is also a very portable device that is also an amp that you can buy shipped for $139 then it's a different game. Depends on what you're looking for. Straight dac vs dac, the odac is superior by a considerable margin to my ears. 

 
Funny.. I think i was in the running to get your MSII to replace my Fiio E10  then we meet again here !! lol 
 
Well it looks like i wont be needing to be sniffing the FS forums daily for another MSII considering this is the better product and from your opinion it is a step up when paired with the Asgard.. (which incidentally i also use lol)
 
I do however worry that my already slightly lean Q701's may take another hit in the bass dept but ill take the risk and see.
 
Cheers

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

"...the odac is not very pleasant to listen to. It's thin and hard-edged, with a headache-inducing digital sheen that frankly I haven't experienced since the early gen CD players of the 1980's."
 
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/blogs/rjm/888-nwavguy-odac-24-96-dac-review.html
 
Wow, this is the first negative review I have found.

 
Quote:

I agree with the review, although I did not find the odac 'unpleasant', I do find it cold, sterile, and 'digital'. On the plus side it pulls a lot of microdetail out of the music and the low noise and channel separation is amazing. IMO yes it's better than HRTs but that's not saying much. I still prefer Hiface 2 with the equally small and well designed French TDA1543 available on ebay. The odac does detail and treble better, but that's it. The microdetail is addicting though and very impressive, if listening fatigue doesn't do you in. I also have a suspicion that lack of power holds it back. It shares the 'lightweight' quality of every usb-powered dac I have heard, with the exception of the Dacport Lx. For $100 can't complain, but will probably sell mine shortly. Just my .02.

 
I had the same experiences out of the box, I was so disappointed I was ready to get rid of it the day I received it.  I even looked up the JDS return policy.  I have since tried a few things to isolate issues and have had some positive listening sessions and some confused ones.  There's a few things I need to test out still before I can determine which is the real ODAC.  I've never experienced this phenomenon from a DAC before so I need to filter out what's what.  All I can say is that sometimes it's performed brilliantly, definitely being the upgrade to my Leckerton DAC I was hoping for, other times it's been painfully fatiguing and incoherent.  To be continued....

 

[jono454]

Quote:

Yes, the odac is a very nice/significant upgrade from the e17 when you are coming dac to dac. Now, when you consider that the e17 is also a very portable device that is also an amp that you can buy shipped for $139 then it's a different game. Depends on what you're looking for. Straight dac vs dac, the odac is superior by a considerable margin to my ears. 

 
Thanks for the info....needed a direct comparison between the ODAC and the E17. I was considering the HRT MSII but people have been telling me it's not much of an upgrade from the E17. THEN i came across the ODAC and have heard it's roughly on par with the MSII+ and even some thousand dollar DACS..for only a fraction of the cost. 
 
Thank goodness the guys at audio poutine live within a very close distance so i can just do a local pickup when i order one =)

 

[wushuliu]

Quote:

 
 
I had the same experiences out of the box, I was so disappointed I was ready to get rid of it the day I received it.  I even looked up the JDS return policy.  I have since tried a few things to isolate issues and have had some positive listening sessions and some confused ones.  There's a few things I need to test out still before I can determine which is the real ODAC.  I've never experienced this phenomenon from a DAC before so I need to filter out what's what.  All I can say is that sometimes it's performed brilliantly, definitely being the upgrade to my Leckerton DAC I was hoping for, other times it's been painfully fatiguing and incoherent.  To be continued....

 
Please keep us posted (or feel free to PM).