DP-U50 as dac and temporary amp

[EdipisReks]

i'm currently using my airport express as my output from my PowerBook, and i'm interested in getting a DAC and an amp. how well would the DP-U50 do as a dac with the optical out of the AX? will it be worth spending the money on (assuming i can find one, as they seem to be a bit scarce right now)? also, would the DP-U50 do half way decently as a headphone output?

i'm on a student budget, and i will be able to get both a decent amp (z-audio pimeta, bada, if i can find one, or shellbrook maxi moy) and the SP-U50, but i can't get them both at the same time. if i go ahead and get the DP-U50 this week and then get the amp in a month will i be fairly satisfied? as a reference, i think my SuperMini and ER-4P sound really good, so i'm not going to be disappointed if the DP-U50 doesn't sound any better than that. afterall, it's just going to be temporary.

 

[TheWayofWay]

Well, my current setup is:
Revolution 7.1 digital coax -> dp-u50 -> Pioneer A-35r -> A500s

What I have to say is that the dp-u50's headphone jack is nothing spectacular. I suppose its better than running your headphones straight out of a chaintech... or something. A member on these boards had a mini review of the DP-U50, search for dp-u50 review on yahoo!

As a DAC, I'm not all that sure. As that other member said (more experienced than I), an outboard DAC is likely better than an internal DAC. He does speak favorably of the DAC however, as it is the same as the DACs in higher end Yamaha receivers. The DSP effects are good in my opinion and the downmixing of Dolby Digital and DTS are well worth the cost. If you do want to buy a dp-u50, I do recommend you get an amp later on.

Strangely enough, the virtualization of Dolby Digital and DTS didn't work when I plugged directly into the dp-u50, but only when I plug into the pioneer. I suppose you could do without Dolby Digital and DTS until you get a proper amp.

 

[EdipisReks]

i can do without dolby digital and dts completely, i would say.

thanks for your impressions of the device.

 

[450]

http://www.consumerdepot.com/products.asp?id=DP-U50

They have it for $50. I'm right now deciding which one is a better buy: the Xitel Hi-Fi Link (non-Pro) or the Yamaha DP-U50 for my potential speaker setup.

 

[EdipisReks]

you might want to skip consumer depot.

 

[TheWayofWay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdipisReks i can do without dolby digital and dts completely, i would say. thanks for your impressions of the device.

It's actually quite good, especially for movie viewing so I'd consider it a bonus in favor of the dp-u50, especially if you decide to get an amp. However, they're becoming quite scarce. I ordered mine off of yamahashoponline but they don't have the dp-u50 anymore. If you can find a decent price, then I would say go for it.

 

[gradofan]

Ooh... consumerdepot.com isn't doing so well with customer satisfaction. Ouch! Just wanted to say, though, that I ordered the dp from them, along with an ancient hard drive, and they shipped it promptly and packaged it well. Only problem now is how to hide all the new boxes in my bedroom from mom!

 

[acs236]

I have the U50 and use it occasionally. It's a lot of fun. The built-in amp is okay, not great, but decent enough. The quality of the DAC is good. And it has a really big volume knob.

 

[EdipisReks]

hmm. i'll definitely see if i can find one for a decent price somewhere (it's nice to see that consumer depot isn't totally a scam,but i'm not willing to trust them with my money based on the ratings i saw).

 

[450]

I think I might actually skip the Xitel Hi-Fi Link, and buy this instead!

 

[gerG]

I think that the DP-u50 is an absurdly good deal right now. I've had one for a couple of years, and I just bought 2 more. Consider that it has a usb interface, can accept 2 more digital inputs (and switch between them from the front panel, remote, or on the PC control panel), has a nice remote, a very powerful headphone amp, and a wonderful giant volume control. It is easy to find a use for it. If nothing else it is useful as a switcher between toslink inputs (it has a toslink output). I don't care for the effects, but they work for some people.

The built in headphone amp is not the greatest, but is better than what you find in most receivers. The mini-plug is a pain, though. I use one at work as a preamp (with a pc and itunes) and run the analog outputs to a Perreaux headphone amp. Very nice listen. I call it the Yameaux.

It is a rather large chunk, so it is no fun to move around.

I did have a bit of trouble when I connected usb to DP-u50 to Grace M902. The usb conversion is out of the tolerance boundaries for the s-lock on the Grace to work. No problem routing optical through the Yamaha.

I did buy one from consumerdepot. No problem with the purchase. The unit was new and unopened, but they do not double box like Yamaha does. I also started getting 130 spams a day after I bought from them (not from them, the machine generated junk) but that is probably a coincidence.


gerG

 

[ooheadsoo]

gerG, how is it as a digital preamp? I was thinking of using it BEFORE an external dac.

 

[GChow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ooheadsoo gerG, how is it as a digital preamp? I was thinking of using it BEFORE an external dac.

I actually bought one for that purpose. I've been feeding a DP-U50 with an Xbox and Chaintech AV710, then sending the optical out to an Entech 205.2 and analog out to a Perreaux SXH1. I really like the DP-U50 because it can pass the "simulated headphone surround dsp" out digitally for games and then I can disable the dsp when I listen to music. I didn't spend a lot of time comparing the Chaintech directly to the Entech vs. having the Yamaha in the chain, but I don't think it degrades the sound much if at all...

I got mine for $50 off ebay but the headphone amp is sorta busted (probably need to resolder) but since I don't use that anyway, I didn't bother fixing it. $50 new from Consumerdepot is quite a bargain IMO, as long as they come through...

 

[gerG]

ooheadso, I have used it in that mode as well, but without processing. usb in, optical out to a DEQ, AES from there to a dac (Grace 901 in my case). The volume control on the U50 is strictly analog, so it does not affect the digital signal. It can't be used to control volume in a digital stream. It passes digital streams at their native sample rate and bit depth. I ran a 24/96 signal through it just to make sure, and it worked fine. This was with the signal processing switched off.

An interesting feature: with the DSP off, the equalizer still works, and I believe that it is doing the calculations in the U50, not on the PC. I do not know if it also affects the bitstream, but I could check. It is not a very detailed eq, but at least it unloads the PC for this duty. That means the eq will also apply to the other inputs (eg I had the digital output of an XMPCR as one of my inputs to the U50, and the eq settings would affect that signal as well). You can also turn on a mixer to mix the PC input with the signal that you are monitoring. That allows you to hear the various beeps, pings, or explosions from the PC while listening to music from some other input (digital or analog).

The only letdown has been the conversion of USB to s/pdif (toslink). Sounds fine on a 901, but the 902 s-lock has issues with it. Oh well, for $50 it is a forgiveable transgression.


gerG

 

[go_vtec]

IMHO, DP-U50 is quite decent for its current selling price. It's headphone out performance is similar to home theater receiver (not stellar, but much better than most of soundcards or PCDPs).