[castleofargh]

 

  Tip for those who find the ODAC a bit thin in the mids. Don't upsample your ODAC to 24-bit/96Khz on Windows, instead go for 24-bit/44.1Khz if you're listening to CD quality material. Mids gain a hint of warmth and become more liquid, though at the expense of a smaller soundstage. Try it.

 
This tip is applicable to all DACs! Here's a set of measurements of a PCM5102A DAC to back you up. The ES9023 in ODAC performs the same.
 
Win7 set to 24/96k, streaming a 24/96k sine wave at 10kHz (no up-sampling):

 
 
Win7 set to 24/96k, streaming a 24/44.1k sine wave at 10kHz (up-sampled):

 
 
Check out that noise!

do you happen to have the same test done with16/44 and then 24/44 as the output setting, but using 16/44 files?
I was just asked if 24/44 was a "real value". my buddy might no be alone thinking "but it's wrong, the output is 24/44 and the track is 16/44!"
 
thank you for this one anyway it's good to have.

 

[dorino]

Don't upsample. Just output at whatever the track is.

 

[jseaber]

 
do you happen to have the same test done with16/44 and then 24/44 as the output setting, but using 16/44 files?
I was just asked if 24/44 was a "real value". my buddy might no be alone thinking "but it's wrong, the output is 24/44 and the track is 16/44!"
 
thank you for this one anyway it's good to have.

 
Bitrate only impacts the noise floor (i.e., background hiss). The signal remains the same in terms of THD, just with more hiss.
 
Here's a quick test with the OS set to 24/44.1k, playing a 24/44.1k signal:
 

 
 
Here's the same 24/44.1k OS setting playing a 16/44.1k signal:
 

 
 
Notice the baseline noise moves upwards.

 

[castleofargh]

thanks a bunch! be it to buy you something or to ask a question, you're impressively quick to react!

 
yeah I wasn't expecting a difference in distortion, just that it makes for a complete set or measures so people don't have to trust me to see what does what. so really useful in it's own way ^_^.

 

[dazzerfong]

Hate to disturb you folks with something of a technical nature, but I decided to put a standalone ODAC onto my phone (Z1 Compact, Lollipop). Unfortunately, it didn't work: I tried using a powered USB hub, but that didn't do anything either. I'm positive that my phone has USB audio enabled, so any pointers?

 

[jseaber]

  Hate to disturb you folks with something of a technical nature, but I decided to put a standalone ODAC onto my phone (Z1 Compact, Lollipop). Unfortunately, it didn't work: I tried using a powered USB hub, but that didn't do anything either. I'm positive that my phone has USB audio enabled, so any pointers?

 
We've had a few calls from owners of various DACs recently, reporting that an Android Lollipop update in April broke USB audio support. Not just for ODAC, but for all USB DACs. This may not be your particular issue, but what equipment have you tried?

 

[Medaud]

According to JDS Labs operating instructions, for Windows Vista/7/8:

Right click volume icon in taskbar, click 'Playback devices', set ODAC as default device. Suggested Properties (right click on ODAC "Speakers" icon): Enhancements: Check "Disable all enhancements".

At Advanced, JDS suggests 24-bit, 96000 Hz (Studio quality), and then "Apply". I don't. At the expense of soundstage, the mids gain a fraction more warmth and a touch of liquidity if you choose the 24-bit, 44100 Hz option. I suggest this if you are listening to CD quality music. However, if you have high resolution 96000 Hz files your mileage may differ.

It's a small difference, not night and day, but it does make the mids sound less thin and anaemic.

Hope this works for you.

But what if you're gaming or watching movies? Some games and movies might have 48000Hz sample rate. So while you might not be upsampling the music you're suddenly downsampling the game's audio?

 

[James-uk]

I know it makes no difference to perceived SQ but nice to see this awesome transparent DAC is even better on paper now.
http://epiphany-acoustics.co.uk/the-odac-gets-an-update/

 

[castleofargh]

I know it makes no difference to perceived SQ but nice to see this awesome transparent DAC is even better on paper now.
http://epiphany-acoustics.co.uk/the-odac-gets-an-update/

so did someone end up getting in contact with nwavguy(if he's alive) to get the right to modify the boards, or did everybody just decide to do what they wanted since some changes were necessary anyway?
because I know he gave the stuff to be used for free, but I have kind of a doubt that it includes using the name to make something else (I'm just really guessing here).

 

[JacobLee89]

 
so did someone end up getting in contact with nwavguy(if he's alive) to get the right to modify the boards, or did everybody just decide to do what they wanted since some changes were necessary anyway?
because I know he gave the stuff to be used for free, but I have kind of a doubt that it includes using the name to make something else (I'm just really guessing here).

 
Regardless, we could benefit if we bought them whilst they are still available.

 

[mcandmar]

I know it makes no difference to perceived SQ but nice to see this awesome transparent DAC is even better on paper now.
http://epiphany-acoustics.co.uk/the-odac-gets-an-update/

 
Interesting bit of marketing as its got a different USB controller and DAC chip so its got nothing to do with an ODAC at all.  Basically its a completely new DAC, and one that is based on a Ti PCM chip so it gets a big thumbs up from me.

 

[jseaber]

 
so did someone end up getting in contact with nwavguy(if he's alive) to get the right to modify the boards, or did everybody just decide to do what they wanted since some changes were necessary anyway?
because I know he gave the stuff to be used for free, but I have kind of a doubt that it includes using the name to make something else (I'm just really guessing here).

 
The official release article and ownership information is available here:
http://blog.jdslabs.com/?p=1003
 
I would quote, but the article is rather lengthy. In summary, Yoyodyne Consulting owns ODAC. NwAvGuy owns O2.
 

   
Interesting bit of marketing as its got a different USB controller and DAC chip so its got nothing to do with an ODAC at all.  Basically its a completely new DAC, and one that is based on a Ti PCM chip so it gets a big thumbs up from me.

 
Indeed, the chipset update is a significant change. The performance criteria and test methodology is the same.

 

[castleofargh]

nice article, it does explain a lot of interesting points.

 

[Jason8777]

I'm asking this question for a friend of mine.  He has O2 amp + ODAC with RCA in the back.  He recently asked me to build him a Bottlehead Crack and he wants to know if he can use the O2 amp + ODAC as a DAC to connect to the bottlehead crack.  Can he do that or Does he need to get another DAC? Thank you.

 

[dorino]

  I'm asking this question for a friend of mine.  He has O2 amp + ODAC with RCA in the back.  He recently asked me to build him a Bottlehead Crack and he wants to know if he can use the O2 amp + ODAC as a DAC to connect to the bottlehead crack.  Can he do that or Does he need to get another DAC? Thank you.

I'm pretty sure there's no way to use just the ODAC in the typical combo configuration. He'd need another DAC to avoid double amping.