[sune]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't believe you canceled the order cos of reading the impressions. Nuforce does have 30-day return policy and it never hurts to give it a try.

Shipping to Europe and back + import taxes, makes a potential return less appealing

I've been reading through a great chunk of the complete thread now and I'm warming to the idea, but any other feedback on the forward/agressive issue, would be great.

Thanks Guys

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sune /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I ordered the uDac today.. But then I found this thread and it made me cancel my order. The mention of the uDac being very forward and agressive sounding scares me.. I'm looking for something, not harsh at all, that I can listen to for a long time, with minimal fatigue. Maybe I should shell out for the iBasso D4 instead? (I have Sennheiser HD-380's and Goldring ns-1000's and listen mainly at low to medium sound levels)

Nope, this was the one you wanted. Don't know where you got the idea that it was "very forward and aggressive sounding". It's not harsh at all and you can listen for hours with no fatigue.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by userlander /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, the uDAC *is* forward, punchy, mid-centric and relatively aggressive - maybe he simply doesn't want that kind of sound. I agree in principle in giving something a try, but if he knows in advance that he's looking for something more laid back I don't think he should order it just because it's a FOTM. btw, when I say "aggressive," I not referring to any specific frequency, but to the overall presentation. I didn't know what other word to use, but that seemed pretty close. It's like if all the frequencies on your DAP EQ are set at 0, and it goes to 5/-5, then ramp up all the freqs to 2 or 3. That's kind of like how it sounds to me, and what I mean by 'aggressive' - it's like its EQ is boosted across the board a little.

That's like saying the HD600 is aggressive like a Grado. Compare the uDAC to a Predator or P-51 or opamp rolled D4, and you'll call the uDAC laid back.

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's like saying the HD600 is aggressive like a Grado. Compare the uDAC to a Predator or P-51 or opamp rolled D4, and you'll call the uDAC laid back.

Well, everything's relative. I'm using my V-DAC as a reference, which is very neutral, if not just the slightest touch warm. The uDAC is more warm and aggressive than that, there is no doubt about it. Like I said, it's like the EQ is boosted a little across the board. I wouldn't be surprised to find that it was intentionally tuned or enhanced that way. Not that that's a bad thing, but there's no way the uDAC is "laid back," either.

I would never say the HD600 is aggressive like a Grado, because it isn't. So that analogy isn't really correct, imo.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by userlander /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, everything's relative. I'm using my V-DAC as a reference, which is very neutral, if not just the slightest touch warm. The uDAC is more warm and aggressive than that, there is no doubt about it. Like I said, it's like the EQ is boosted a little across the board. I wouldn't be surprised to find that it was intentionally tuned or enhanced that way. Not that that's a bad thing, but there's no way the uDAC is "laid back," either. I would never say the HD600 is aggressive like a Grado, because it isn't. So that analogy isn't really correct, imo.

Well, there are more choices than "laid back" vs "aggressive". Maybe something else will come to mind.

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nope, this was the one you wanted. Don't know where you got the idea that it was "very forward and aggressive sounding". It's not harsh at all and you can listen for hours with no fatigue.

Forward and aggressive doesn't have to mean "harsh." Not sure why you equate those, but aggressive is aggressive, and harsh is harsh - two very different things. I wouldn't call the uDAC harsh - very slightly grainy, maybe, though not in a bad way - but not harsh. The lower mids are slightly emphasized, as someone else also noted, the highs are a little muted or rolled off, but not badly. There is no sibilance that I can detect, except on recordings that are a little sibilant. That definitely stands out as a plus, and is the opposite of what I would call "harsh," in fact. It's warm and even very organic sounding. But the entire EQ gives the impression of being boosted slightly, i.e., what I'm calling "aggressive." It has some punch and oomph to it - which sounds great with rock, but I wouldn't use it for classical because of this aggression. It's a little fatiguing compared with more neutral or less aggressive presentations, imo.

 

[donunus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Worth getting an HD 600 if... Read all my posts there, as I get more detailed up to my post last night..

Thanks Larry, The udac should be here tomorrow

 

[pcfranco]

I want to thank Larry for the truth about the uDAC. It delivers what it promises and we should not criticize the equipment that costs only one hundred U.S. dollars. Very cheap for the performance.

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcfranco /img/forum/go_quote.gif I want to thank Larry for the truth about the uDAC. It delivers what it promises and we should not criticize the equipment that costs only one hundred U.S. dollars. Very cheap for the performance.

We should always critique everything, and we should always be honest. Otherwise, it isn't really fair to our fellow head-fiers.

Let's face it: trying to pretend a $99 dac is the perfect end-all and be-all of DACs is a little unrealistic. It's a good dac, not bad at all, especially for the money *and depending on the application,* but we might as well be honest about its characteristics, its strengths and weaknesses, and what it's best suited for. I'm doing that, but I'm not so sure some others are.

 

[K_19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pearljam5000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you saying the uDAC can drive the K701 very well?almost as good as your WA6?

IMO, it's close. Closer than I want it to be, considering how much the WA6 and Pico is.

It powers it well enough, and I feel that the difference is subtle between the two rigs (with only K701 funny enough; it's no comparison with my 650 and RS1, my main rig does those MUCH better). It could be mainly the DAC differences, though... I never felt that the Pico DAC is a good match for the K701 because it has a slight boost in upper mids and treble (compared to uDAC and DAC Straight that I've had), which is not something that it needs. While the uDAC alone does K701 well enough, uDAC -> WA6 is even better! Unfortunately, I only have 1 uDAC and it needs to be in my secondary rig, so I can't really use it to feed the WA6 without effort (Pico's a better match for my HD650 and RS1/Flats however).

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sune /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I ordered the uDac today.. But then I found this thread and it made me cancel my order. The mention of the uDac being very forward and agressive sounding scares me.. I'm looking for something, not harsh at all, that I can listen to for a long time, with minimal fatigue. Maybe I should shell out for the iBasso D4 instead? (I have Sennheiser HD-380's and Goldring ns-1000's and listen mainly at low to medium sound levels)

Just because one person claims it's forward is no reason to cancel your order. Nuforce really stands behind their products with a 30 day money back guarantee.

I would much rather trust HPA's review. I've had my uDac for a few weeks now and find it on the warm sound of neutral...which doesn't concur with upfront and aggressive which I can't agree with.

For the price it's pretty hard to beat!

 

[donunus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by userlander /img/forum/go_quote.gif We should always critique everything, and we should always be honest. Otherwise, it isn't really fair to our fellow head-fiers. Let's face it: trying to pretend a $99 dac is the perfect end-all and be-all of DACs is a little unrealistic. It's a good dac, not bad at all, especially for the money *and depending on the application,* but we might as well be honest about its characteristics, its strengths and weaknesses, and what it's best suited for. I'm doing that, but I'm not so sure some others are.

I'm getting my udac either in a few hours or by tomorrow by the looks of it... so more uDac impressions to come.

I have a forward dac (valab) to compare it with so lets see how it fares. In case anyone is wondering how I can say the Valab is forward, I compared it with the emu0404 usb which seemed laid back and thin in comparison although a tad more refined in the highs.

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacedonianHero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just because one person claims it's forward is no reason to cancel your order. Nuforce really stands behind their products with a 30 day money back guarantee. I would much rather trust HPA's review. I've had my uDac for a few weeks now and find it on the warm sound of neutral...which doesn't concur with upfront and aggressive which I can't agree with. For the price it's pretty hard to beat!

It's not just one person, at least one other person has said that, as well as a number of people noting its warmth.

I'm not so sure I would trust a review that doesn't seem to be true. Especially with "funny" stuff going on, like a member with only 1 post chiming in out of the blue to say "thanks Larry for stating the truth," and that we shouldn't criticize anything. That seems a little fishy to me, but whatever.

I don't know why people act like describing the characteristics of a product honestly means it's a bad product. This is an awesome DAC for rock and related genres, I have always said so. In my opinion it is not as well suited to classical and those kinds of genres, because it is definitely a punchy DAC with some forward energy. I know that because I have compared it against a very neutral DAC, the MF V-DAC, as well as a very neutral but lesser dac, the hotusb1 dac. The uDAC is in a different class than that dac, but it's still warmer, punchier and more forward, there is no question about that. That means this dac is on the warm side of neutral and has some forward energy. You can dispute that all you want, but it doesn't magically change the characteristics of the DAC just because you want it not to be true.

What's important to keep in mind is that what Larry or anyone says comparing it with *their* gear is just as valid as me or anyone else comparing with our gear. So you have to take that into account rather than saying one person has the "truth" of the dac, or amp, or whatever is being considered. It's all information that goes into the "database" describing the item, and if someone says something that you don't like, or take the wrong way, you shouldn't just discount it because you want to push a FOTM.

 

[donunus]

It also depends if the slightly warmer character seems more realistic sounding for one person than another. In my case, I could use a little more warmth(more energy in the 250hz to 1khz regions) than my current dac. i just dont want it to be as warm and slow as my old mhdt havana

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm getting my udac either in a few hours or by tomorrow by the looks of it... so more uDac impressions to come. I have a forward dac (valab) to compare it with so lets see how it fares. In case anyone is wondering how I can say the Valab is forward, I compared it with the emu0404 usb which seemed laid back and thin in comparison although a tad more refined in the highs.

I look forward to these impressions, because I know you have heard a lot of gear and that you are objective. I'm confident that you will hear the warmth and that sense of slightly boosted EQ, whatever that might be called (forwardness, aggression, punchiness, etc.). If anyone else has terms to describe that it would be welcome. I'm not sure exactly what to call it, so maybe the terminology is what's giving people problems.