[mmerrill99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogsonar /img/forum/go_quote.gif like with any other component, synergy is the most important thing when comparing components. the udac with grados and even sensitive warm phones has a nice smooth sound signature, and using headphone amp is even better imo as it is slightly more direct signal , even though i usually use the line out. I think it totally depends on matching the rest of the equipment involved. The headphone amp in the udac is actually very good with my sr60's, and the udac>grado combo is what should be used when comparing to other source electronics. However I think it would benefit greatly without any headphone amp at all, and possibly an output stage and some rubicons, and possibly a different power supply. But I do really enjoy the udac for what it is, and like the actual dac chip's characteristics compared to the other manufacturer chips that are commonly used (the udac is basically the chip right to the amp) I am bored with reading and hearing all of these dacs that use the same 1 or 2 dac chips inside. overall a good value, if it matches your system.

Has anybody looked inside this uDac? I thought the output from the DAC chip was going straight to the connectors? What's the difference between the line out & headphone outputs? Both are analogue. Are both controlled by the vol pot? Is there an amplifier circuit on the Headphone out?

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkeny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Has anybody looked inside this uDac? I thought the output from the DAC chip was going straight to the connectors? What's the difference between the line out & headphone outputs? Both are analogue. Are both controlled by the vol pot? Is there an amplifier circuit on the Headphone out?

LOL...Oh boy, jkeny is at it again. You transformed the Musiland 01USD, then the M2Tech, now on your list is the uDac...You da man...

Quote:

Originally Posted by K_19 /img/forum/go_quote.gif In other news... I've been trying my uDAC as an USB to S/PDIF (to my Stello DA100 -> WA6) for the last little while and I'm really liking what I'm hearing... I'm not sure it's because of the uDAC SPDIF conversion itself or Stello DA100 coax input being much better than its USB, but I'm hearing noticeable improvements in detail, soundstage, treble and bass compared to Stello USB. I never thought I'd use this feature of the uDAC much when I first got it, but with my last two DACs (DA100 and HDP) having coax inputs I've been really able to appeciate its SPDIF out inclusion. What's too bad here is that I usually need my uDAC for my secondary rig and it's a hassle to bring it out to my primary rig all the time... oh well. Perhaps I'll just invest in a different converter like a m2tech hiface or something like that for my main rig.

I use it as a converter quite frequently. Nice versatile device...

 

[mmerrill99]

Wha,ha,ha,ha my plans to take over the world are coming along nicely

I just need the info above & I'll be ready to launch my first invasion

Anybody willing to send me a spare one to examine - it will remain untouched & returned fully working - I'm just too cheap to buy one & it's not really in my plans, I just have some ideas about the ESS DAC

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkeny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wha,ha,ha,ha my plans to take over the world are coming along nicely I just need the info above & I'll be ready to launch my first invasion Anybody willing to send me a spare one to examine - it will remain untouched & returned fully working - I'm just too cheap to buy one & it's not really in my plans, I just have some ideas about the ESS DAC

The output of the DAC goes to the volume pot and then to the headphone amp and RCA outputs. The RCA out is unbuffered and unamped, but RCA is turned off when a headphone is plugged into the amp's 1/8" output. When the volume pot is turned off the S/PDIF RCA out is activated.

 

[mmerrill99]

Thanks Mr. Addict,
Any idea what the headphone amp consists of? - an opamp circuit, discrete, other?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkeny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks Mr. Addict, Any idea what the headphone amp consists of? - an opamp circuit, discrete, other?

All I know is that Nuforce told me there were no opamps in the headphone amp, and it is very similar to the Icon Mobile amp circuit (but with a much better DAC/source influencing the sound).

 

[mmerrill99]

Thanks Addict,
I presume we don't know the details of the icon mobile amp circuit?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkeny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks Addict, I presume we don't know the details of the icon mobile amp circuit?

Nope

 

[Crazy*Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by burgunder /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really think this any newcomers should grab one of these and some ath-ad700's, shure 840's, some grados or other easy to drive headphones and then leave as fast as possible.

I have thought about this to... wisest words on head-fi.

 

[audiofil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkeny /img/forum/go_quote.gif I presume we don't know the details of the icon mobile amp circuit?

Actually we do.
Here are some pictures of Icon Mobile's innards:
NuForce Icon Mobile New Case - a set on Flickr

The output stage is discrete using SMD transistors (SOT-23 package). I presume uDAC is very similar.

 

[okur]

I've just ordered a uDac and waiting for this baby to arrive!

But I'm totally confused about making a connection among my speakers and uDac. I have Klipsch Promedia 2.1 and it has a headphone in and an aux-in on one of its satellites, also a cable terminated with a 3.5 mm jack going to my pc (o/b sound card, you know).

Now, to have best performance, what ic cable should I use? A male RCA to female 3.5 mm stereo cable (connecting speakers with its stereo output male cable to uDac's RCAs) ooooor a male RCA to male 3.5 mm stereo cable (putting ic cable to aux-in of sattelite and RCAs to uDac) ?? If I chose the second, then what will I do with the 3.5 mm male terminated output going from satellite to my pc and should I disable o/b sound card from bios options?

Damn, hope you could understand and help me.

I will also use uDac as an amp for my Denon Ah-p372's at anytime just putting headphone's jack to uDac's headphone out, though do not care about it cuts the sound of speakers while in use.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ITau]

Hello again from me... my baby uDAC is nicely singing for past 10 or so days. I must say i am pretty much satisfied with it so far. And if any of you people are wondering how this baby looks inside, here is a peek...

Also got 2 ?.

1. What kind of caps are these? "A" ? Never heard of it.... do you guys think that this thing would benefit from some audigrade caps inside?

2. Shouldn't there be ESS tech somewhere inside? I heard that this dac is based on ES9022 but i do not see any print like that... does this mean that nuforce has custom printed chips from ESS??

 

[ayz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by okur /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've just ordered a uDac and waiting for this baby to arrive! But I'm totally confused about making a connection among my speakers and uDac. I have Klipsch Promedia 2.1 and it has a headphone in and an aux-in on one of its satellites, also a cable terminated with a 3.5 mm jack going to my pc (o/b sound card, you know). Now, to have best performance, what ic cable should I use? A male RCA to female 3.5 mm stereo cable (connecting speakers with its stereo output male cable to uDac's RCAs) ooooor a male RCA to male 3.5 mm stereo cable (putting ic cable to aux-in of sattelite and RCAs to uDac) ?? If I chose the second, then what will I do with the 3.5 mm male terminated output going from satellite to my pc and should I disable o/b sound card from bios options? Damn, hope you could understand and help me. I will also use uDac as an amp for my Denon Ah-p372's at anytime just putting headphone's jack to uDac's headphone out, though do not care about it cuts the sound of speakers while in use. Thanks in advance!

I doubt it will make a difference whether you use Male RCA/3.5mm female or male RCA/3.5mm male into the aux-in.

As for the 3.5mm male going to PC, just because there's a plug or a jack doesn't mean you HAVE to plug it in somewhere.

 

[K_19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ITau /img/forum/go_quote.gif 2. Shouldn't there be ESS tech somewhere inside? I heard that this dac is based on ES9022 but i do not see any print like that... does this mean that nuforce has custom printed chips from ESS??

I believe Nuforce had the chip labels erased or custom printed... Most of the Nuforce products internals related stuff are kept secret I believe (for example, they haven't mentioned what DAC chip is used in the HDP... not yet anyway). They didn't announce what the chip used inside the uDAC was at first either... it was only a while after its release that they decided to confirm that it was the ESS chip when people started speculating on it.

 

[okur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I doubt it will make a difference whether you use Male RCA/3.5mm female or male RCA/3.5mm male into the aux-in. As for the 3.5mm male going to PC, just because there's a plug or a jack doesn't mean you HAVE to plug it in somewhere.

Then should I understand from this, any connection options I've told above is all OK and no difference in performance?

And my last question, will uDac prevent me from sound distortions when i play with my media player's EQ? And plus, does it have some set bunch of EQ's?