[jr41]

Quote:

Nice writeup, jr41 and welcome to the "dark side of diminishing returns"

 
My feeling is that it is indeed "just a characteristic of the recordings", this is a big issue in general IMO. Be sure and let us know how things improve with your Meier-Audio Corda Stagedac, Concerto and Beyerdynamic T1 setup, and "sorry about your wallet"!

 
 
Thanks grokit. I will let you know how I get on with the "full setup" when I decide to push the button and go for it. Still weighing up options at the moment. In the mean time I'm still very much enjoying the uDac. It's interesting comparing it to the sound from my iphone 4. I would say the iphone is a little more neutral sounding (less warm), but no way near the detail retrieval.

 Another observation is listening to my car stereo sounds particularly bad now by comparison (not that it ever sounded that good!). After being spoiled by the uDac it's like I can barely make out the music when listening in-car.

 

[jasonl]

Someone should start a new review thread for uDAC-2.
We will offer upgrade for existing uDAC customers after October (the upgrade will come in the form of a complete circuit board for easy replacement).
 
uDAC-2 shipping today.
 
As a step beyond the successful uDAC, the uDAC-2 boasts a highly linear TOCOS volume control for improved channel tracking at low listening levels, in addition to 24bit/96kHz USB DAC and an improved headphone amp.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Great news.
Any idea about the DAC chip? Still the same ESS?

 

[jr41]

 
Quote:

Someone should start a new review thread for uDAC-2.
We will offer upgrade for existing uDAC customers after October (the upgrade will come in the form of a complete circuit board for easy replacement).
 
uDAC-2 shipping today.
 
As a step beyond the successful uDAC, the uDAC-2 boasts a highly linear TOCOS volume control for improved channel tracking at low listening levels, in addition to 24bit/96kHz USB DAC and an improved headphone amp.

 

 A uDac-2?
 
Noooooooooo!
 
I only just brought a uDac-1!

 
Oh well, that's progress for you. Not sure I'll bother with the upgrade option (unless it's very cheap) as I'm pretty pleased with how the original sounds, though it would be interesting to hear the difference. I think it's good when manufacturers offer this kind of upgrade path though.

 

[sling5s]

I just bought the udac, a month ago.  Do I qualify for upgrade and how do I proceed? 
 
Quote:

Someone should start a new review thread for uDAC-2.
We will offer upgrade for existing uDAC customers after October (the upgrade will come in the form of a complete circuit board for easy replacement).
 
uDAC-2 shipping today.
 
As a step beyond the successful uDAC, the uDAC-2 boasts a highly linear TOCOS volume control for improved channel tracking at low listening levels, in addition to 24bit/96kHz USB DAC and an improved headphone amp.

 

[Yikes]

I don't believe that it will be a free upgrade. It sounds as if the enclosure will be unchanged, so the new circuit board will slide directly into our old cases. So for existing uDac customers (original owners) they will be offering the new board for a lower price. The uDac-2 is going to be $129. So I'd Guesstimate that the "Upgrade" will be somewhere between $59 - $89

As soon as I get my Music Hall 25.2 DAC back from being modded by Exemplar Audio I'm planning on giving my uDAC along with my set of Grado SR-60's to a female friend as a gift, so I'm not going to be taking advantage of any upgrade. That being said, the uDAC-2 looks like it will allow users to take advantage of high resolution music files such as those offered by HDTracks. So it looks like a cheap entree to higher resolution audio.

 

[ulyses]

I think the most interesting part of this new udac is coax out and jitter reduction system. A budget dijital transport with traveling amp/dac option would be good solution for higher dac owners.

 

[sling5s]

If you're not going to use higher resolution: 24bit/96khz, will it make enough difference to upgrade?  When is this upgrade going to happen.  Is it October?  If October, why so late when the udac 2 is already shipping? 
 
Quote:

I don't believe that it will be a free upgrade. It sounds as if the enclosure will be unchanged, so the new circuit board will slide directly into our old cases. So for existing uDac customers (original owners) they will be offering the new board for a lower price. The uDac-2 is going to be $129. So I'd Guesstimate that the "Upgrade" will be somewhere between $59 - $89

As soon as I get my Music Hall 25.2 DAC back from being modded by Exemplar Audio I'm planning on giving my uDAC along with my set of Grado SR-60's to a female friend as a gift, so I'm not going to be taking advantage of any upgrade. That being said, the uDAC-2 looks like it will allow users to take advantage of high resolution music files such as those offered by HDTracks. So it looks like a cheap entree to higher resolution audio.

 

[Yikes]

 
Quote:

If you're not going to use higher resolution: 24bit/96kHz, will it make enough difference to upgrade?  When is this upgrade going to happen.  Is it October?  If October, why so late when the udac 2 is already shipping? 
 

 

I didn't see enough information to determine if upgrading would be worthwhile if all you're using is Mp3 or even 16/44.1 WAV. What's exactly changed? DAC? is there a SRC? (It appears that there might be a SRC now) A technical breakdown would be necessary. And I am decidedly not a fan of any DAC that won't do 88.2 Khz.
 

 

[jasonl]

Answers to a few questions:
 
1) We need time to produce enough boards for upgrade order. The 1st production was already made for a batch of uDAC2 completed with case and packaging etc. This is volume production from contract factory. We can't change it. 
Furthermore, if you already have uDAC and you have no intention of ever using higher resolution music than 16bit/44.1kHz, then you might want to wait for reviews of uDAC2 versus uDAC with 16bit music to find out if it is worth the extra cost.
 
2) For the upgrade price, we will offer special upgrade price for people who bought in July. We have to draw the line somewhere so if you bought on June 30, you have to pay the normal upgrade price.
The NORMAL upgrade price should be around $65 (on the lower end of your guess).  You don't have to ship back the original board .
 
3) uDAC2 did improve upon uDAC even for 16bit music file. We modified the circuit around the headphone amp, upgraded to a much more expensive volume pot (made in Japan).

 

[Yikes]

I applaud Nuforce for continuing to offer exceptional value, sticking to the low range of my Guesstimate. My planning to get rid of my uDAC says nothing negative about the uDAC, it says more that I'm a higher end user. I have recommended the uDAC to at least two other people who have purchased it, and both love it.
 
Oh, and I wasn't expecting Nuforce to take the boards back, what would they do with all of them? Hmmm offer referb uDAC's at $50 a pop. Return shipping and a new case makes this fiscally unpractical?

 

[grokit]

Quote:

I think the most interesting part of this new udac is coax out and jitter reduction system. A budget dijital transport with traveling amp/dac option would be good solution for higher dac owners.

The "uDac 1" had coax out. Do you mean BNC out? Are there any other improvements to the s/pdif converter?
 
It would also be helpful for Nuforce to tell us what they are thinking of charging uDac 1 owners for the new board.

 

[paudley]

Quote:

Answers to a few questions:
 
1) We need time to produce enough boards for upgrade order. The 1st production was already made for a batch of uDAC2 completed with case and packaging etc. This is volume production from contract factory. We can't change it. 
Furthermore, if you already have uDAC and you have no intention of ever using higher resolution music than 16bit/44.1kHz, then you might want to wait for reviews of uDAC2 versus uDAC with 16bit music to find out if it is worth the extra cost.
 
2) For the upgrade price, we will offer special upgrade price for people who bought in July. We have to draw the line somewhere so if you bought on June 30, you have to pay the normal upgrade price.
The NORMAL upgrade price should be around $65 (on the lower end of your guess).  You don't have to ship back the original board .
 
3) uDAC2 did improve upon uDAC even for 16bit music file. We modified the circuit around the headphone amp, upgraded to a much more expensive volume pot (made in Japan).

 
My uDac(1)  just arrived yesterday and though I'm super happy with it, I'll happily take you up on the upgrade offer    I bought through Amazon - does that affect the upgrade pricing?
 
I have to say that this has made a huge and very noticeable (to my non-phile friends and family as well) difference in SQ.  Thanks for putting together such a sweet little product.  It makes me want to buy a Mobile for my ... err.. mobile things
 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I've started a new thread that I'll be filling out soon:
 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Nuforce uDAC-2 24/96 USB DAC AMP with line out and S/PDIF out

 

[ulyses]

Quote:

The "uDac 1" had coax out. Do you mean BNC out? Are there any other improvements to the s/pdif converter?
 
It would also be helpful for Nuforce to tell us what they are thinking of charging uDac 1 owners for the new board.

 
Based on their website it will have new jitter reduction system. I don't remember any one recomended udac1 as a transport which only have 16/44 passthrough.