[BournePerfect]

Quick impressions:
 
I DEFINITELY prefer the uDac-1 to this one with the k702. This one seems much harsher/brighter than that one. Maybe it will improve with burn-in, but I don't see it happening. The first one was definitely smoother, seemed to have lusher vocals, and just an overall warmer signature that I preferred with the AKG. I am using the headphone out by the way until my Matrix arrives.
 
-Daniel

 

[lazpete]

I just got feedback from Nuforce help desk, and they want me to send the UDAC2 back, for a replacement unit, so apperantly, they found something thats not right with the "tone" units.
 
Lasse

 

[Spankypoo]

Yeah I'm most definitely not in Sweden. (Wouldn't be bad, tho; looks pretty.)

 

[BournePerfect]

Anyone else not like this pairing (k702/uDac2)? To me it sounds dry, harsh, brittle-kinda how they sounded out of the box before burn-in. They sounded the same way when I fed the original uDac into the Asgard. But straight from the uDac-1 they sound perfect to me! Not sure if this is an amp or dac issue or what. But as it stands I'm going to go back to the uDac-1 unless the uDac-2/Matrix combo fixes this.
 
-Daniel
 
 
 
 
edit: the uDac-2 has about 50 hours of burnin...not
       sure if it's supposed to change much or not

 

[Party]

[size=medium]Hey guys if you needed more power and need to run the uDAC-2 into an additional AMP, is it best to run it off the RCA or [/size][size=9pt]coaxial other [/size][size=medium]than the headphone jack? Are the other outputs more like “pure line-out” (not amped like the headphone outs? Essentially just using the uDAC-2 as a DAC minus the amp (also is that possible to use the uDAC-2 as just a pure DAC) And if that is the case and your amp only has the traditional 3.5mm line-in/out jack, is it best to get a RCA to 3.5mm line-out cable and utilize the RCA out puts than use the headphone output? [/size]
[size=medium]Thanks.[/size]

 

[BournePerfect]

Well the coaxial only acts as a usb-->coaxial converter...you'd be bypassing the amp and dac. I'm not sure if there's a difference using the rca outs versus the headphone out when connecting to another amp...they sounded the same to me. I 'think' the differences would probably only be from the interconnects in that instance, but I'm not sure.
 
-Daniel

 

[replytoken]

Quote:

[size=medium]Hey guys if you needed more power and need to run the uDAC-2 into an additional AMP, is it best to run it off the RCA or [/size][size=9pt]coaxial other [/size][size=medium]than the headphone jack? Are the other outputs more like “pure line-out” (not amped like the headphone outs? Essentially just using the uDAC-2 as a DAC minus the amp (also is that possible to use the uDAC-2 as just a pure DAC) And if that is the case and your amp only has the traditional 3.5mm line-in/out jack, is it best to get a RCA to 3.5mm line-out cable and utilize the RCA out puts than use the headphone output? [/size]
[size=medium]Thanks.[/size]

Both the RCA outs and the headphone jack pass through the volume control, it cannot be bypassed.  But, the new uDAC-2 has a better volume control than the previous version.
 
--Ken

 

[BournePerfect]

But is there any sonic differences between using the rca outs versus the headphone out when connecting to a seperate amp?

 

[Bina]

Yes, if you use RCA out, you are getting much cleaner signal than from headphone out.

 

[BournePerfect]

Why is that? Does it depend on the dac?
 
-Daniel

 

[Bina]

No, it is about headphone amp, amp in udac isnt extremly neutral and transparent, so if you want to use some desktop amp with it, signal will be degraded by udac amp.

 

[replytoken]

Quote:

But is there any sonic differences between using the rca outs versus the headphone out when connecting to a seperate amp?

I think that somebody with more technical expertise will need to answer this question.  I believe that the RCA line-outs put out 2 Volts RMS, but as I mentioned previously,  they are tied to the volume pot.  Obviously, the headphone out does not put out that strong of a signal, but I do not know if there is a relationship between signal strength and sound quality.
 
--Ken

 

[BournePerfect]

Quote:

No, it is about headphone amp, amp in udac isnt extremly neutral and transparent, so if you want to use some desktop dac with it, signal will be degraded by udac amp.

I'm talking about using another amp with BOTH output: the rca outs and the headphone OUT to another amp?
 
-Daniel

 

 

[Bina]

Sorry, I mean if you use desktop amp, my fault.

 

[JackG]

Strange episode today. I noticed I wasn't getting a signal to my right speaker and swapped cables at the uDAC-2 RCA outs to confirm it was a DAC issue. While swapping cables I found the uDAC-2 to be really hot. I unplugged the USB cable from the back, waited a couple seconds, and after plugging it back in the uDAC is working normally and the temperature is back down to normal. What could cause it to get so hot?