[Mad Lust Envy]

Hmmmmm... I may have to get in on this.

Which is better sonically, the HDP or this?

 

[wolfgang0119]

Quote:

Hmmmmm... I may have to get in on this.

Which is better sonically, the HDP or this?351 Posts. Joined 11/2008

Icon DAC and Icon HDP shares the same chassis as in several models in this line. But they have completely different design.
Icon DAC headphone amp is seriously powerful, same power as some pure class A headphone amp. 
Icon DAC also support USB audio for Android 4.1 and above with OTG feature (just about all the new Android devices should support it, see the list on our website), PC and Mac.
 
Icon HDP is a more general purpose high performance preamp, headphone amp and DAC.
Icon DAC is a designed to support Android where HDP can't.  
Basically if you do not need the SPDIF or preamp feature, definitely get the Icon DAC.



 
Like Jason's reply, we recommend the Icon HDP for its Android support and powerful headphone amp. There'll be reviews coming out soon. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Can you describe it's tonality? Is it slightly warm, slightly bright, neutral?

 

[Armaegis]

And is it compatible with the LPS?

 

[HiFiGuy528]

In case you guys missed it.  It pairs very well with MrSpeakers Mad Dog headphones.
 

 

[olegausany]

Specifications on the website are confusing. Maximum sampling rate is 96 kHz. Supported file format PCM (192kHz). So is 96 kHz applies to DSD only? Looks no one listed as authorized dealer have them in stock

 

[giedrys]

Quote:

Specifications on the website are confusing. Maximum sampling rate is 96 kHz. Supported file format PCM (192kHz). So is 96 kHz applies to DSD only? Looks no one listed as authorized dealer have them in stock

 


+ All this secrecy about DAC chip specs. I've requested info multiple times-no reply. So it's either sh.t or they have no idea themselves what they put in it.
 
I was really enthusiastic when this thing was announced at first but they are cooling me down very successfully

 

[Armaegis]

Many companies do not publish their chips/specs (including several other well loved companies on headfi). As with most things, implementation beats name-dropping, and many companies do not want people to buy or not buy their product based on the serial numbers contained within.

 

[wolfgang0119]

Quote:

 


+ All this secrecy about DAC chip specs. I've requested info multiple times-no reply. So it's either sh.t or they have no idea themselves what they put in it.
 
I was really enthusiastic when this thing was announced at first but they are cooling me down very successfully

 
Hi giedrys,
 
NuForce has adopted a policy of not revealing detailed information regarding the parts we use in our products. The reason is that there is a large number of audiophiles that possess only a limited level of engineering knowledge and experience, and therefore find themselves unwitting subjects to the opinions of others. There also happens to be a relative handful of self-proclaimed "experts" willing to share their opinions with respect to which parts they believe to be the best. As a result, manufacturers often find themselves and/or their products in a compromised position if the parts they use don't happen to be "en vogue" at the moment. This is an unfortunate situation as many consumers are misguided into believing that good product design is nothing more than a "battle of parts" between products from different manufacturers.
 
Individuals with genuine engineering experience and insight know though that such thinking is flawed, and that good engineering that produces products of superior value is equally about innovative circuit design and extracting the most performance possible from a given part. Considering the above NuForce has decided that it is best to rely on our innovation and not participate in such battles, but rather let the consume decide for themselves by simply listening to the product in order to make the final determination as to whether or not it meets their needs and expectations. Thank you for your understanding.

 

[giedrys]

Wolfgang,
 
Thanks for your response. Sure better than silence-even if no direct answer was provided, at least there's reason behind.
 
Frankly, the main reason why i wanted to know chip specs was to be sure that Icon DAC is capable to decode DSD straight to analog without PCM conversion in the middle.
 
Does your policy allows you to reveal such info?

 

[wolfgang0119]

Quote:

Wolfgang,
 
Thanks for your response. Sure better than silence-even if no direct answer was provided, at least there's reason behind.
 
Frankly, the main reason why i wanted to know chip specs was to be sure that Icon DAC is capable to decode DSD straight to analog without PCM conversion in the middle.
 
Does your policy allows you to reveal such info?

Hi giedrys,
 
The major it of Audio DSD implementations either convert to PCM on the PC (which is optimized for the computing power of a PC) or on the integrated DAC chip. The Icon DAC utilizes the PC for DSD to PCM conversion as we believe that this implementation allows for design optimization to achieve a performance that far exceeds the price point. As with all of our products, NuForce offers a 30 day refund if you are not satisfaction with the Icon DAC's performance. 

 

[olegausany]

But what about maximum supported bitrate? Does it supports 192 kHz or it downsamples it to 96 kHz before converting to analog?

 

[earfonia]

  Hi giedrys,
 
The major it of Audio DSD implementations either convert to PCM on the PC (which is optimized for the computing power of a PC) or on the integrated DAC chip. The Icon DAC utilizes the PC for DSD to PCM conversion as we believe that this implementation allows for design optimization to achieve a performance that far exceeds the price point. As with all of our products, NuForce offers a 30 day refund if you are not satisfaction with the Icon DAC's performance. 

 
DSD to PCM conversion using foobar is applicable to other regular PCM DAC.  Meaning, this statement on NuForce website:
"Supports PCM and DSD over USB playback (DSD support on PC only)"
Is misleading as the DAC is not natively support DSD conversion, and the DSD signal is 'NEVER' transfer over the USB connection between DAC and PC, only PCM data is transfer over USB.
Am I right to say that?

 

[Speakerphile]

   
DSD to PCM conversion using foobar is applicable to other regular PCM DAC.  Meaning, this statement on NuForce website:
"Supports PCM and DSD over USB playback (DSD support on PC only)"
Is misleading as the DAC is not natively support DSD conversion, and the DSD signal is 'NEVER' transfer over the USB connection between DAC and PC, only PCM data is transfer over USB.
Am I right to say that?

 
In order for it to say that it supports DSD, the decoding would have to take palace on the chip.  Now it could just convert DSD to PCM on the chip and then feed it to the DAC, but it at least decodes it on the chip and not your PC.  

 

[earfonia]

   
...but it at least decodes it on the chip and not your PC.  

 
Sorry I don't get it... according to wolfgang0119 the decoding of DSD to PCM is done by foobar in the PC, not in the DAC:
 

  Hi giedrys,
 
... The Icon DAC utilizes the PC for DSD to PCM conversion as we believe that this implementation allows for design optimization to achieve a performance that far exceeds the price point.