[USCdeacon]

 

My current setup is a Macbok Pro -> NuForce uDAC (1st Gen) -> Audio-Technica ATH-M50's (I actually prefer my M50s to my TF10s with this setup.  Am I crazy? ).​

With that said, I've been interested in the DigiZoid Zo 2.3 - I'm torn.  The Zo would function fine going in between my iPhone 4s and my M50s for on the go use.  The problem is with the  setup described above.  ​

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I want a good DAC feeding the Zo... but am unsure how this is possible.  I don't want to connect the Zo to the uDAC's headphone out as this will cause double amping and less clarity/distortion.  Any idea or recommendations?  ​

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Thanks in advance! 

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[USCdeacon]

would it make sense to use the nuForce uDAC's passthrough capability to the digizoid, therefore bypassing the internal headphone amp completely?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Well from my testing, ZO seems to work differently regarding "double-amping" not causing issues as most "normal" amps would. In fact I very much like the sound of ZO2 when used out of the headphone jack BUT then it heavily depends on the quality of the DAC/amp on how good the result will be (don't expect miracles out of an iPod/iPhone for example xD). But with nuForce uDAC I wouldn't be worried about that. =)
 
So the moral of the story, the better source used, the better it'll work out of headphone jack. If source is low quality, bypassing the internal amp would bring a bigger advantage than if the source is very high quality to begin with. I would treat the ZO more like a sound processing & volume boost (in high gain only with fixed volume so headphone jack has to be used anyway!) device than a traditional amp.

 

[ClieOS]

Yeah, ZO usually behave quite well when double amped, just set it to high-gain (fixed volume) mode and use the uDAC to control the volume. uDAC has a pseudo-lineout (the RCA connection) on the back you can use to connect to the ZO, just needs a RCA-to-mini cable.

 

[USCdeacon]

Thanks for the replies!  I'll give it a try and see how I like the sound fitting it in between the nuforce and the m50s.  I'll report back, hopefully with good news :]