[tstarn06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by userlander /img/forum/go_quote.gif <snipped for bandwidth> Thanks for the detailed response. You and Jason have more than adequately answered any concerns, appreciate it. Like I said, I wasn't doubting the accuracy of your reviews or impressions at all, but I think it's good to have that info up front. I also think the issue of having a hand in the production and design decisions (which I suspected you did when you were talking about receiving pre- and post-production models, etc.) is an interesting aspect of this, because obviously you are giving feedback to the company which -- if they take it -- is shaping the final product and the sound in some way, most likely in a direction toward your natural listening preferences. So that was one reason I asked. I mean, if someone asked me for my input on how something sounded, and then they implemented my suggestions, I would probably be naturally inclined to like the sound of the product since it would therefore automatically be geared toward my particular preferences. I think you get my point - it's almost like "bias in reverse," if you see what I'm saying. But yeah, this thread is getting big. I haven't read all the recent replies yet, so on to do that.

Plus, the company is getting relatively free R&D. Not so dumb, those NuForce folks.

 

[drizek]

I havent had time to sit down and A/B it with my built in sound(which really wasn't that bad TBH), but I can say that it is amazingly quiet. I was really worried about having all sorts of interference due to the USB power, but there is absolutely none of it. Not like some other players where they say you should disconnect them and run off of battery to get the best sound.

 

[jp_zer0]

I get something weird, the uDAC only gives me clipping/artifacting on my Windows 7 machines. I tried it on an old XP machine and the clipping is gone, What.

 

[lh0628]

Mine is on Windows 7 as well.

 

[blackzarg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drizek /img/forum/go_quote.gif I havent had time to sit down and A/B it with my built in sound(which really wasn't that bad TBH), but I can say that it is amazingly quiet. I was really worried about having all sorts of interference due to the USB power, but there is absolutely none of it. Not like some other players where they say you should disconnect them and run off of battery to get the best sound.

Yes! I am astounded by that too. It was actually one of the primary reasons behind getting the uDAC - for $100 I wasn't expecting much improvement in sound quality (I was wrong), but I definitely wanted to get rid of the hiss from my headphone jack (Macbook Pro).

 

[blackzarg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp_zer0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I get something weird, the uDAC only gives me clipping/artifacting on my Windows 7 machines. I tried it on an old XP machine and the clipping is gone, What.

It's cause Windows is tEh n00b.
















Just kiddin'

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BryanP /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just received it and listened to some FLAC songs with both my 440 and RE0s. I love this DAC! The first thing I noticed was the micro-detail of the sounds produced. This being my first external DAC, I'm very impressed with the representation of the sounds I'm hearing compared to pretty much anything else I've listened through before. It seems like it's brought both of my headphones to life with the way the songs are presented. The mids and definitely right at your face. So far, worthwhile the investment . Great improvement over the HT DACs I was using before. Can't wait to mate it with the EF2 that is on its way.

With RE252 the mids are also right in your face like your RE0, as the they are a fairly forward earphone and that trait gets multiplied. Sometimes it works for the better, other times not.

 

[donunus]

I was just observing the extra punchiness people have been talking about with the udac. Ive noticed that the upper bass is slightly boosted but only if I use the internal amp. IMO this is actually a nice boost to make the little amp in it feel more controlled than the usual amp at the small specified power output it has. As for the lower mids I feel it is perfect with my hd580s. The midrange is a little boosted too when the internal amp is used but also in a pleasant way. When using the udac with my little dot mk2 with ef92... What else can I say? I prefer it to any other dac i've ever owned including the almost $1000 mhdt havana

Take note again that all these impressions are made using hd580s.

EDIT: Just to give you guys an idea of how much of a boost in bass were talking about here, The uDac boosts the bass(compared to my other dacs) relatively less than using the hd650 cable on the hd580s vs the stock cable.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was just observing the extra punchiness people have been talking about with the udac. Ive noticed that the upper bass is slightly boosted but only if I use the internal amp. IMO this is actually a nice boost to make the little amp in it feel more controlled than the usual amp at the small specified power output it has. As for the lower mids I feel it is perfect with my hd580s. The midrange is a little boosted too when the internal amp is used but also in a pleasant way. When using the udac with my little dot mk2 with ef92... What else can I say? I prefer it to any other dac i've ever owned including the almost $1000 mhdt havana Take note again that all these impressions are made using hd580s. EDIT: Just to give you guys an idea of how much of a boost in bass were talking about here, The uDac boosts the bass(compared to my other dacs) relatively less than using the hd650 cable on the hd580s vs the stock cable.

I posted in a cable review a couple of years ago that the HD650 cable did boost both the bass and clarity of the HD600 when used with the cable. It was a small 1-2 dB bump, and along with the extra clarity and detail it makes the $25 HD650 cable a no brainer as well. I haven't paid attention to how much the uDAC does or doesn't bump the bass when feeding another amp, it just feels tight and strong to me in general.

 

[donunus]

the boost of the hd650 cable actually offends me a little on the hd580. I like the stock cable better for them but the udac does its thing in a good way for these cans. Consider myself a udac fanboy now

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp_zer0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I get something weird, the uDAC only gives me clipping/artifacting on my Windows 7 machines. I tried it on an old XP machine and the clipping is gone, What.

I had the same issue on my Windows 7 laptop and it was resolved by:

Go to Control Panel
Open "Sound"
Click on the "Communications" tab
Select : DO NOTHING

This pretty much took that artifacting away.

Hope it works for you too.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif the boost of the hd650 cable actually offends me a little on the hd580. I like the stock cable better for them but the udac does its thing in a good way for these cans. Consider myself a udac fanboy now

The missing link is you need the HD600 grills.

 

[K_19]

Listening to the headphone out of this with my new ESW10JPN's right now (my wallet officially hates me...). The uDAC pretty much turns these into a headphone version of SE530 due to the volume it adds to lower mids and the bass area, making it even more warm and buttery smooth (back to more ESW9ish)... I can easily see some people not enjoying this combo, but for big fans of SE530 like me, it's lovely.

 

[donunus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif The missing link is you need the HD600 grills.

And lose its old school look? Nah

I'll just get another hd600 later and maybe experiment with cardas and aps cables or maybe something silver. I know you might be thinking why not just get hd800s and get it over with. I'm not gonna do that yet because I have a feeling the hd800s pickyness factor will open up a new world of paranoia and spending

 

[drizek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif The missing link is you need the HD600 grills.

What about the grills without the cable?