A first venture into Head-Fi
Hi all, this is my follow-up to the
post I added to this thread advising I had placed an order for the NuForce uDac. The order was placed via the NuForce Icon Europe e-store (
http://www.nuforce-icon.eu/) on 14/07/10 and it arrived on 23/07/10 (interestingly, most of that time wasn't shipping; it took a few days before the order went beyond "payment processed").
Preamble
I thought I would post my first impressions of the uDac as a beginner to Head-Fi, along with an insight into my journey that led me to the world of Head-Fi. Since I imagine this product will be a potential starting place for many new to the hobby, I figured the impressions of a beginner could be useful.
Background (feel free to skip but might give some context to my impressions)
My experience with headphones and related equipment is relatively limited. My first introduction to reasonable headphones were some £30 Sony in-ear - I can't remember the model. I was quite pleased with their sound, especially the bass. My source has always been MP3 players (ipod mainly), playing variable quality MP3s. Sometime later I treated myself to the Audio-technica ATH-OR7 (a portable closed back headphone, apparently uncommon outside Japan) as an upgrade. Sound quality was definitely better but they were quite flat and un-engaging. I then discovered IEMs, thanks to the Head-Fi forum, and invested in some Westone UM1. Again an improvement in sound quality and their reproduction of music struck me as very neutral. That brings us up to the Sennheiser HD-25 II, which I purchased a few months ago. By far the favourite of my purchases to date. A very enjoyable sound which is detailed, with good bass response.
I've always had at least a passing interest in Hi-Fi, having a desire to acquire and enjoy a set-up which will render music well. Sometime after purchasing the HD 25-1 II, I landed back on the Head-Fi forum after seeing a picture of someone's Grados, headphone amp and dac - all that nice looking kit seemed rather interesting. This led to a fervour of research which introduced to me the merits of lossless, foobar, WASAPI, amps, DACs etc.
The aim now is to purchase as good a headphone set-up as I can afford (the Meier-Audio Corda Stagedac, Concerto and Beyerdynamic T1 are looking like the strongest candidates at the moment). I stumbled across HeadphoneAddict's excellent review of the uDac while doing general research and became intrigued. Here was an opportunity to hopefully sample some of the sound characteristics everyone on this forum raves about for minimal outlay (in Hi-Fi terms anyway). I also felt it wouldn't be sidelined by the main set-up when I purchased it, as due to the uDac's diminutive size, it will make a great accompaniment to my laptop and provide me with a more portable high-quality listening post.
My music tastes are quite varied but with focus on progressive rock, folk, blues, electronic and jazz.
Set-up
Secure ripped CDs > ALAC > Windows 7 > foobar2000 > WASAPI > NuForce uDac > Sennheiser HD 25-1 II
Initial Impressions
I plugged in the uDac, checked all software volumes were at 100% and that the bit and sample rates were correct (16-bit, 44.1Khz) and went straight to the music. I'll only comment on the differences I noticed and won't talk about relative terms such as warmth, etc., which I'm not comfortable with, as I don't feel I have enough experience to comment.
I was relieved to be immediately struck by a difference over the output of the on-board sound chip from my PC. This was the test for me; do I invest lots of money in Head-Fi? Will I be able to detect the subtle nuances everyone is making reference to? If the uDac didn't give me that, this would be a dead-end for me.
So, what were the improvements (in ascending order of "apparentness")
1. Detail
2. Separation
3. Realism
4. Environment
5. Sound stage
On Under My Thumb, The Rolling Stones, I always enjoyed the catchy wood percussion which follows the song. I wasn't until I heard this recording through the uDac that I could clearly identify this instrument. It sounds very natural and detailed, you can hear the wooden blocks being struck. Nor did I know there was clapping or finger clicking accompanying the recording.
It's a pleasure to discover the reverberation of the double bass strings in Perfect, Fairground Attraction. There's a real sense of rhythm and pace now and it's got me tapping my feet. The more detailed, accurate rendering of the separate instruments make listening to this track far more engaging and enjoyable. It's closer to a live listening experience.
The End by the Doors now has a much airer feel to it. I can hear the percussion on the left and the guitars on the right, giving a sense of where the performers are located. The rending of symbols is what's always irked me most about lossy formats and inferior equipment, so I'm pleased to report they sound more realistic now, with a much longer decay/lingering.
The uDac really brings life and realism to the older recording from the 70's; Joni Mitchell's Carey sounds wonderful for example. The acoustic guitar is much better defined and you can really hear her strumming and the strings reverberating. The backing vocals are clearer, as is the hand percussion.
Having the uDac in the equation is less obvious with some recordings though. Some of Led Zeppelin's heavier numbers still have a slightly dense, "muddy" feeling. Other tracks which have always had a "closed" sound haven't improved much either, i.e. The Memory of Trees by Enya. The uDac certainly doesn't detract from the sound I was already familiar with from my PC on-board sound in these instances though, and there is still greater detail retrieval in these recording. It's possible the Sennheisers could be part of the issue here, or this is just a characteristic of the recordings. The uDac only has ~10 hours on it as I write this, so perhaps things will improve here (and generally) with time.
Other thoughts
I'm pleased I purchased the uDac, it has provided a discernible improvement to my headphone listening experience - making it more engaging and enjoyable, and has provided me with further proof that it is worth investing money to achieve a better sound. I consider it to be good value too.
I am (probably clearly!) a beginner to listening and to putting my subsequent observations to paper. I'm aware there is an official lexicon for audio terms, which I'll confess I haven't referred to - I've just chosen the adjectives which I feel fit my observations best. There seems to be plenty of better informed posts on this thread, so it's well worth reading through from the beginning.
Thanks to HeadphoneAddict for his great review and to all the posters who provided useful contributions to the thread.
A couple of photos of the uDac in situ:
