[Armaegis]

I have the new output jack with lower impedance. Will post impressions and pictures after I've had some listening time, and maybe try to take some measurements. .
 
Most obviously noticeable (though also expected): volume is louder.

 

[project86]

Quote:

I have the new output jack with lower impedance. Will post impressions and pictures after I've had some listening time, and maybe try to take some measurements. .
 
Most obviously noticeable (though also expected): volume is louder.

 
Cool. I'll have to confirm if mine is the old or new model. Hopefully new. 
 
Burning it in right now - so far so good, sounding quite impressive. Case gets fairly warm on mine but nothing too concerning. 

 

[jackskelly]

I have a question, I hadn't bought 24/96 or 24/192 music files until a few days ago. I bought the album Pet Sounds in 24/192 Apple Lossless. However, when I played them with Itunes going through the DAC-100 via USB, the light on the front of the unit stayed at 44.1/48, and did not go to 176.4/192. Is there something I need to do to make sure it's at 176.4/192?

 

[jackskelly]

Nevermind guys, sorry, I figured it out. Through the driver's settings, duh.

 

[Armaegis]

A while ago I asked Nuforce about measuring their output impedance. They replied that this wasn't strictly possible due to the class A circuitry implementation which would pull readings negative. Strange right?
 
So anyhow, I've got the new output jack which lets me bypass the output series resistor. I'm measuring the resistance from left channel to ground with a 1M resistor in parallel. Reading is 2 ohm and wobbles a lot. Ok, that seems reasonable, though I can't explain the wobble. Then I measure without the resistor, and get... -0.8 ohm ??? I turn the amp off and it floats up to +0.5 ohm. Huh, well waddaya know.
 
I guess thinking about it, an active class A load which pulls current would certainly account for odd resistance readings, assuming my cheapo multimeter simply calculates resistance from current flow. 

 

[Armaegis]

I'm curious, can anyone here offer a comparison vs the Audioquest Dragonfly?

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Quote:

I'm curious, can anyone here offer a comparison vs the Audioquest Dragonfly?

 
DAC-100 vs. DF?  That may not be a fair comparison.  Completely different design and price point.  How about Meridian Explorer vs. DragonFly? 
 
post #246

 

[kazsud]

Quote:

I haven't used the remote since the first week, since I use it right next to my chair in the bedroom for headphone listening.  It's nice to have around if your listening chair is not as close to the gear.

How do you turn it on and off without the remote?

 

[kazsud]

Quote:

I just upgraded my PC to Windows 8.  Then Nuforce's asynchronous USB driver for DAC-100 no longer seem to work and DAC-100 is not recognized by the PC at all.  Has anyone encountered this problem?  Do you know if Nuforce will be updating their driver soon?

They posted a Win8 driver to their download page

 

[runswithaliens]

Quote:

 
Cool. I'll have to confirm if mine is the old or new model. Hopefully new. 
 
....

 
 
Wait, is this implying that they are sending out production units with this new output module instead?

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

 
DAC-100 vs. DF?  That may not be a fair comparison.  Completely different design and price point.  How about Meridian Explorer vs. DragonFly? 
 
post #246

 
I wasn't looking for a "fair" comparison. Just curious how to stack up against each other. 
 
 
Quote:

How do you turn it on and off without the remote?

 
You press the volume knob. 

 

[project86]

Quote:

 
 
Wait, is this implying that they are sending out production units with this new output module instead?

 
Dunno. I've got an email in and I'll post here if I find out. I haven't had a chance to open mine and see if it looks like the new one or the old one, based off the pics Armaegis took of his. Might have time later this week. 

 

[Armaegis]

For anyone curious, the new output jack has a jumper which lets you choose between the original configuration or the new one  (which is essentially putting a 15 ohm resistor in series with the signal path). 
 
Very brief impressions of the configs, which applies for both the DAC-100 and HAP-100:
old: better soundstage/separation/crosstalk, more of a "groovy" feel perhaps a tad warmer (ie: bass has a bit more oomph)
new: more power and thus volume available for low impedance (no significant difference for high impedance headphones) but will still clip at current limits
 
Noise floor for the DAC-100 seems about the same. 
 
DAC-100 feeding full output into HAP-100 powering HE-6, I can now hit volume 88 instead of 84 before clipping. It's loud, not super loud, but enough for most listening. 

 

[jackskelly]

Armaegis,
 
What low-impedance headphones sound good or have the potential to sound good with the DAC-100? Given it's specialist nature (recommended for high-impedance headphones), have you heard any reviews about pairing the LCD-3 or HE-6 with it (or other low impedance quality headphones)? Why/how would they sound good with the DAC-100 if their impedance is well below the recommended range for this amp?

 

[Armaegis]

Due to the noise floor, the DAC-100 does not mesh well with low impedance high sensitivity headphones. Any other combination of impedance/sensitivity is fine though. Due to the current limit of the DAC-100 though, low impedance headphones will tend to clip the amp at high volumes. 
 
I have an HE-6 and it sounds good with the DAC-100. It doesn't have a ton of headroom, but it's enough to hit 100dB. A while ago I had compared against a Lyr and an LCD2. I preferred the LCD2 with the Lyr, but sonically preferred the HE-6 with DAC-100 more, even though the Lyr had significantly more power and headroom. I would feed the DAC-100 into a speaker amp to drive the HE-6, or in my case into the HAP-100 preamp then into a speaker amp. 
 
Planar magnetics in general don't care too much about output impedance interaction since their own impedance curves are practically flat across the audible range. There may be slight differences in electrical damping, but most people will never be able to tell the difference unless you make a habit of listening to harsh test tones. The Fostex T50rp sound just dandy from the DAC-100.