[WiR3D]

Quote:

 
There's no doubt in my mind that the ODAC is really good. If I would buy it I would supply it with a Corsair AX650 (and a recent Z77 Gigabyte mobo) and I think that's a pretty good PSU.
 
But when comparing the ODAC and the Asus card I'm mostly interested in the measurements and from what I've seen they are quite similar in that department and should both be transparent. My real question is, do you think you could tell them apart in a blind test?

Most probably, from my experience with the STX, it measures well, but its coloured, especially out of the headphone port, and IMHO the stock opamps are nasty, the JRC2114D just mess up things and the LM4562 (may have mixed up a digit there) is horrible, it has issues, but then again I'm very picky, and small issues annoy the crap out of me. 

 

[Retarderad]

Quote:

Most probably, from my experience with the STX, it measures well, but its coloured, especially out of the headphone port, and IMHO the stock opamps are nasty, the JRC2114D just mess up things and the LM4562 (may have mixed up a digit there) is horrible, it has issues, but then again I'm very picky, and small issues annoy the crap out of me. 

 
Since the measurements cannot be absolutely perfect there will always be a slight coloration, right? But since both the ODAC and the STX produces measurements that are above the transparent line, I should not be able to tell the difference when listening through them, right?
 
But as you said, small issues can be very annoying and I just ordered the LCD-2 and the O2 amp, so I don't want to worry about the Xonar card ruining the experience. I think I'm going to get the ODAC after all..
 
Thank you for your input!

 

[WiR3D]

Quote:

 
Since the measurements cannot be absolutely perfect there will always be a slight coloration, right? But since both the ODAC and the STX produces measurements that are above the transparent line, I should not be able to tell the difference when listening through them, right?
 
But as you said, small issues can be very annoying and I just ordered the LCD-2 and the O2 amp, so I don't want to worry about the Xonar card ruining the experience. I think I'm going to get the ODAC after all..
 
Thank you for your input!

Or just toss in some proper opamps... which could work out the same price lol. LME49990 (which I haven't tried) or THS4032 (which I have) and when you really feel adventurous, more power supply bypass caps.

 

[Rithrin]

I op-amp rolled with the stx. My first 'mods.' While it was worth it, there is no changing the STX 'wall of sound' and 'Stereo mush' when compared on (more technically revealing and faster transient) classier headphone systems. Do yourself a favor. The Odac is the most transparent thing in the market, or at least when noted to the Benchmark Dac 1 (which is also the most transparent - technically correct, dac in the market.
 
Please buy the odac, and, tell you what. You compare it to the Xonar STX and tell me what you think. ; ) If you don't find it satisfying, you're what, out 10$ after shipping?
 
I just voiced my opinion. I'm leaving.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Since the measurements cannot be absolutely perfect there will always be a slight coloration, right? But since both the ODAC and the STX produces measurements that are above the transparent line, I should not be able to tell the difference when listening through them, right?

 
If anyone is interested, I can create a simple test that compares the following:
 
A) a WAV file of your choice, converted to 96 kHz/24 bit with a high quality software sample rate converter (the filtering used - minimum vs. linear phase etc. - can be customized if requested)
B) a loopback recording in the following setup: your WAV file -> Xonar STX (stock op amps) DAC -> attenuation -> differential amplifier (NE5532AP) -> Xonar D1 ADC -> recorded WAV file -> post-processing (level matching and synchronization with file A)
C) another loopback recording: your WAV file -> Xonar D1 (NJM5532 op amps, not swappable) DAC -> differential amplifier -> Xonar STX ADC -> recorded WAV file -> post-processing
 
I wonder if those who claim to hear "colored sound" would be able to hear it in the foobar2000 comparator. While the test would not represent real world usage perfectly, one would assume that passing the audio signal through all that nasty cheap gear makes an audible difference between at least one pair of files if there are real sound quality issues.

 

[OPTiK]

Has anyone had issues playing 24/96 tracks with the odac in winamp? It'll play it at first, but the kbps will jump around and winamp will give me the error:
 
"Error while processing frame (FLAC__FILE_DECODER_SEEKABLE_STREAM_DECODER_ERROR). This error is caused by corrupt file or hardware malfunction".
 
I've played these files many times before, including with an e17 so I know its not the file. Did I get a bad odac? 
 
EDIT: Foobar plays it fine...

 

[Xaborus]

Has anyone figured out why some ODACs make a high-pitched squeal? Mine does it when I power on my pc. I've had 2 and they both did it so it has to be something other than the DAC...

 

[franconero]

Just got the Audio Poutine ODAC and am using it with Schiit Asgard and like what I'm hearing. I am having a sort of issue that I hope someone can help me out with - when I use BitPerfect with iTunes I'm getting a constant clipping sound that goes away the moment I turn BitPerfect off. Can (or should) BitPerfect be used w/ODAC? Is there some easy fix for the clipping sound? 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

Has anyone figured out why some ODACs make a high-pitched squeal? Mine does it when I power on my pc. I've had 2 and they both did it so it has to be something other than the DAC...

that's the sound of ferrites vibrating, totally normal.

 

[jseaber]

Delete...already posted...

 

[oopeteroo]

got the Odac/amp (built in o2) combo.
 
how do i set it up ?
do i need to config something ?
 
and how do i do with the volume control?
 
using it with my laptop + extern speaker.
 
got the following volume controls:
 

1. windows volume control
2. foobar volume control
3. speakers volume control
4. Odacs volume control

 
should i set all to max and just use odac do adjust the sound volume?
 
and one thing do i press in the gain or do i not use it ? dont really know what it does

 

[stv014]

Quote:

and one thing do i press in the gain or do i not use it ? dont really know what it does

 
Use the low (2.5x) gain with the ODAC, high gain would result in clipping and distorted sound. The digital volume controls should be set to the maximum (or 1-2 dB less at the Windows volume control to avoid any potential clipping issues, but this might be unnecessary), and the volume controlled on the O2 for maximum dynamic range. Make sure that any digital volume control applied has 24 bit resolution, and that no unwanted sample rate conversion (e.g. from 44100 to 48000 Hz) is performed.
However, the ODAC has sufficiently low noise floor that you can lose ~10 dB of dynamic range (maybe even more) with digital volume control without audibly degrading the sound quality; this can be useful for convenience, or to avoid channel balance problems that occur when the volume is set very low on the O2.

 

[oopeteroo]

Quote:

 
Use the low (2.5x) gain with the ODAC, high gain would result in clipping and distorted sound. The digital volume controls should be set to the maximum (or 1-2 dB less to avoid any potential clipping issues), and the volume controlled on the O2 for maximum dynamic range. Make sure that any digital volume control applied has 24 bit resolution, and that no unwanted sample rate conversion (e.g. from 44100 to 48000 Hz) is applied.
However, the ODAC has sufficiently low noise floor that you can lose ~10 dB of dynamic range (maybe even more) with digital volume control without audibly degrading the sound quality; this can be useful for convenience or to avoid channel balance problems that occur when the volume is set very low on the O2.

 
 
sorry iam really a noob dont understand can u explain it a simplier way ?
 
so should i press in the gain button on the odac combo or keep it out ?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

so should i press in the gain button on the odac combo or keep it out ?

 
Use whichever setting that results in less loud sound.

 

[oopeteroo]

Quote:

 
Use whichever setting that results in less loud sound.

oki if i press it it will be louder. so i didnt press it in.
 
how about this ?
'''''
Use the low (2.5x) gain with the ODAC, high gain would result in clipping and distorted sound. The digital volume controls should be set to the maximum (or 1-2 dB less to avoid any potential clipping issues), and the volume controlled on the O2 for maximum dynamic range. Make sure that any digital volume control applied has 24 bit resolution, and that no unwanted sample rate conversion (e.g. from 44100 to 48000 Hz) is applied.
However, the ODAC has sufficiently low noise floor that you can lose ~10 dB of dynamic range (maybe even more) with digital volume control without audibly degrading the sound quality; this can be useful for convenience or to avoid channel balance problems that occur when the volume is set very low on the O2.''''
 
should i set foobar to max. Windows to max -2db
how about the other volyme controller ?
 
and how do i check this ''any digital volume control applied has 24 bit resolution, and that no unwanted sample rate conversion (e.g. from 44100 to 48000 Hz) is applied.''?