My UHA760 arrived in the mail today. I listened to my UHA-6S.mkII extensively over the past 2 months at work on a daily basis. The headphones I use to listen are a pair of Brainwavz B2 IEMs. I listen almost exclusively to streaming music on soundcloud, di.fm and youtube, which was what attracted me to the UHA760.
Before you read any of this please note that my UHA-6S.mkII has the default AD8610ARZ op-amp, where I chose the OPA209AID op-amp for the UHA760. I won't know what is the cause of the differences I'm hearing but I'd still like to share some initial impressions.
The genre of music I listen to the most is electronic music, all genres, but I really focused on some melodic dubstep, vocal trance, progressive psy and drum and bass to produce my experiences I'll do my best to describe.
Not to start off on a bad note, but the upon plugging in the UHA760, the first thing that irked me is when the volume is all the way down, it still plays music at low volume. My UHA-6S.mkII didn't do that, it was dead silent with 0 volume. My next comment is also volume related, I didn't realize how big of a difference a +18 db gain made compared to a +12 db gain. On the UHA-6S.mkII I would steadily listen to music in high gain mode and have the volume knob around 8 o'clock. With the UHA760, on high gain I'm between 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock for a similar engagement.
To me the xfeed feature is pointless, I cannot ever see using it as it just narrows the soundstage. I prefer the soundstage as wide as possible and welcome mind spinning sweeps in the music. This will permanently remain in the off position on my unit.
So is there anything good to say about the UHA760? Yes, thankfully!
After my ears settled down from the obvious volume differences, I just let the music play in the background at low volume as I would at work. The best way I can describe the differences is the music felt more alive, more engaging. Instrument separation was more apparent, random noises I would have to listen closely for had it's moment without trying. The sound stage does seem wider with xfeed on the off position. As a general statement, the overall presentation of the music sounds more accurate and how the recording was meant to be heard. I'm assuming this has something to do with the USB upconversion to 192 kHz.
Edit: Another thing I'm noticing is that vocals sound clearer, crisper and more separate and spacious from the music.
Bass response may seem more accurate, tighter and less sloppy, but I'm having a tough time determining if that's from the improvements in the DAC or the different op-amp. I miss having a little extra boom but I'm not disappointed by any means. I remember I noticed a little additional warmth after my UHA-6S.mkII had some time to break in, so I'll monitor that as time goes on.
Edit: After listening some more, I think what I'm experiencing in addition to tighter more controlled bass, is that the mids and highs I wasn't hearing as much before is what was causing the bass sound slightly more recessed, but in a good way!
While I'm sure I'll be able to provide more info on this over time, the UHA760 did seem less fatiguing. My ears are pretty sensitive and I noticed one song on the UHA-6S.mkII got to me and it didn't on the UHA760.
I know overall I'll be very pleased with the upgrade to the UHA760 and it'll make my work experience that much more enjoyable.
For anyone interested, the music I used to compare the two units were:
https://soundcloud.com/housemusic/electric-glow-by-tritonal-ft
https://soundcloud.com/seven-lions/royksopp-running-sevenlions-remix
https://soundcloud.com/tritonalmusic/tritonal-now-or-never-pierce
https://soundcloud.com/xthemout/holly-drummond-out-of-my-mind-cto-remix
https://soundcloud.com/adventureclub/lullabies-yuna-adventure-club-remix
https://soundcloud.com/scullious/scullious-meant-to-be-ft-jdr-tiff-lacey
https://soundcloud.com/shogunaudio/optiv-btk-understand-vip
https://soundcloud.com/minnesota/relax-astral-projection-ep
https://soundcloud.com/omnia/bones
http://youtu.be/IGHxe_QOHgc - Psy Trance Mix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH56w5N4SeQ - Live Set
Edit: I should have avoided an initial review after only an hour listening, it's becoming more and more apparent as time goes the benefits of the UHA760. I'm in shock how beneficial the upconversion is for streaming music. Nearly every track I've listened to sounds like an upgraded recording. I'm also finding myself moving to the music more, tapping my foot, drumming a beat, etc.