[daniel521]

People say its the best DAC in the price range but many people say it sounds fatiguing, is that true? Would the HRT MusicStreamer II be a good alternative?

 

[K_19]

Depends on the amp. Through my M3 (a warm amp) there is no hint of any harshness.

 

[hodgjy]

You have to understand what the "O" in ODAC means.  It means objective.  The whole goal of that project is to make a DAC that presents the source material exactly as it was recorded and rendered into the digital format.  Unfortunately, so many mixes these day are terrible digital dumps that are fatiguing on their own end.  If that's the case, the ODAC won't cover any of that up.  In other words, if the recording is fatiguing, the ODAC will present it as fatiguing.  If the recording is smooth and pleasant, the ODAC will present it as smooth as present.  Some DACS are very forgiving.  The ODAC was designed to be ruthless.
 

 

[daniel521]

Quote:

You have to understand what the "O" in ODAC means.  It means objective.  The whole goal of that project is to make a DAC that presents the source material exactly as it was recorded and rendered into the digital format.  Unfortunately, so many mixes these day are terrible digital dumps that are fatiguing on their own end.  If that's the case, the ODAC won't cover any of that up.  In other words, if the recording is fatiguing, the ODAC will present it as fatiguing.  If the recording is smooth and pleasant, the ODAC will present it as smooth as present.  Some DACS are very forgiving.  The ODAC was designed to be ruthless.
 

Does the HRT MusicStreamer have the same problem? (I don't know if you consider that a problem or not)

 

[caracara08]

It was fatiguing for me. Used with an o2 and flac files through foobar. With a t1 and mad dogs . It might produce measurements showing it to reproduce what's being fed to it, but doesn't mean everyone wants that. I sold it and went back to the bi frost and to my ears, matches my sound signature better.

 

[hodgjy]

The HRT MS is less resolving and more forgiving.
 
Quote:

Does the HRT MusicStreamer have the same problem? (I don't know if you consider that a problem or not)

 

[wje]

Quote:

The HRT MS is less resolving and more forgiving.
 

 
Are you talking about the HRT Music Streamer (ver. 1), or the HRT Music Streamer II ?

 

[muad]

I think it depends on the the headphone you're using. A bright headphone will sound sound "nicer" through a warm amp/dac compared to a neutral dac/amp like the odac. What headphones do you plan on using with it?

 

[muad]

...how can a cheap flat response sound more fatiguing than an expensive flat response? 

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

...how can a cheap flat response sound more fatiguing than an expensive flat response? 

.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

...how can a cheap flat response sound more fatiguing than an expensive flat response? 

 
Because frequency response, which is flat for most DACs (excepting the slope of their filters as you get towards the Nyquist frequency) doesn't tell the whole story. Not to mention that the impressions people have of the ODAC will be affected by the quality of the power supplied by the USB port of whatever they plug it in to. That is the limitation of the design and why it is cheap.

 

[muad]

I'm curious... I don't know as much as some of you guys. So I asked a question to enlighten myself...
 
assuming the power supply is good and there's no added emphasis on the fatiguing frequencies, then can a cheap flat dac be more fatiguing than a more expensive dac? I've just noticed quite a few of the people that find the odac fatiguing have bright/neutral cans... its in their profile usually. I can see how this can be annoying on many recordings...

 

[HamilcarBarca]

Quote:

...how can a cheap flat response sound more fatiguing than an expensive flat response? 

 
Your statement points out a logical fallacy. Flat is flat regardless of price or brand (or country of origin.)
 
Of course, this doesn't imply, logically, that the ODAC is the best DAC available. Is it? Caveat auditor.

 

[zilch0md]

Quote:

People say its the best DAC in the price range but many people say it sounds fatiguing, is that true? 

 
In comparison with a Centrance DACport LX and an iBasso DB2, I indeed found the Objective DAC to be fatiguing - at least with my equipment chain.   See this post.
 
Mike

 

[islandman]

Quote:

People say its the best DAC in the price range but many people say it sounds fatiguing, is that true? Would the HRT MusicStreamer II be a good alternative?

 
After approximately  75hrs of use the ODAC came into full bloom and developed into one of the best, if not the best, sounding computer DAC I ever heard.  You need to be patient and allow the ODAC plenty of time to "burn-in".   At first it sounded grainy and fatiguing to the point that I thought I wasted my money and could not see what all the hype was about.  After about 15hrs a lot of the grain was disappearing.  After about 40hrs the bass on my Mirage OMD-15's started becoming tight and defined, and the grain was almost gone.  After about 75hrs the sound became so addictive that I found myself not wanting to turn my computer off.  It is truly one of the great finds in the audio world, and is very reasonably priced.
 
Steve Guttenberg is one of the most respected audiophiles around.  He presents no non-sense reviews that are well documented and written.  It was his opinion that the JD Labs O2 was the best headphone amp that he had ever heard (and made in the USA)  that put me on the trail of the ODAC.  I had to find out what DAC was in this thing.
 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57526726-47/jds-labs-overachieving-headphone-amplifiers/
 
Nwavguy is an audio engineer that designed the ODAC.   This guy really  knows his stuff.   I bought into his philosophy of design about DACs in general which led me even further to consider purchasing of the  ODAC.
 
Remember to not go by a first impression and allow the ODAC plenty of time to break in, and then be prepared to be amazed by it's sound.