[Music3nthusiaSt]

 
 
thanks for ur detail review..i'm kinda new in audio quality...currently i own a pair of audioengine 2...and thinking to buy this dac to pair with them....so i want to know how good this dac will work with them?
 
and also can u tell me what is the "timbre" means??  and did this dac has a lot of the "timbre"??

 

[SowonAoD]

How does this dac/amp compare to audinst hud mx1 or yulong d100?

 

[Bummrounde]

I'm trying to size up the benefits of the D1 against the HRT Music Streamer II. I use my PC almost exclusively for music. Do you have any comparisons you can make here? In your experience, how important is the asynchronous USB feature? Do you think that might be related to the noise you receive when using the 8-port hub?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

thanks for ur detail review..i'm kinda new in audio quality...currently i own a pair of audioengine 2...and thinking to buy this dac to pair with them....so i want to know how good this dac will work with them?
 
and also can u tell me what is the "timbre" means??  and did this dac has a lot of the "timbre"??

Timbre is the combination of qualities of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds of the same pitch and volume.  It's the texture of the instrument that makes a cello sound different from a bass fiddle, for example, when playing the same note.  
 
The D1 is good enough to distinguish between various string instruments and not get them mixed up, but so is most gear costing as little as $50.  However, the D1 timbre and tone is lively and textured/detailed enough that with a good pair of headphones it gets closer to realistic reproduction than the cheap stuff.
 
The D1 pairs very well with my A2 speakers via RCA connection.
 
Quote:

How does this dac/amp compare to audinst hud mx1 or yulong d100?

Don't have one to compare to, sorry
 
Quote:

I'm trying to size up the benefits of the D1 against the HRT Music Streamer II. I use my PC almost exclusively for music. Do you have any comparisons you can make here? In your experience, how important is the asynchronous USB feature? Do you think that might be related to the noise you receive when using the 8-port hub?

Don't have the HRT either to compare to.  Async is supposed to help with jitter reduction I believe, but adaptive USB and Async can perform similarly well when implemented right.  Conflicts between my 24/96 DACs did improve when I removed the 8-port hub and just use the two built-in USB of the Macbook Pro.  I don't think the noise has anything to do with whether the DAC is Asynch or Adaptive, but more likely the power supply implementation inside the various DACs and how well it isolates the noise from the hub.

 

[miniteich]

Thanks for the great review. I am new to Headfi and have been looking for a DAC for a couple of months. Would you recommend the uDAC-2 or the D1? Both seem to be around the same price point. I would be planing on using them with Monster Turbines, B&W P5 and maybe AiAiAi TMA-1/HD-25 II. Thanks 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Thanks for the great review. I am new to Headfi and have been looking for a DAC for a couple of months. Would you recommend the uDAC-2 or the D1? Both seem to be around the same price point. I would be planing on using them with Monster Turbines, B&W P5 and maybe AiAiAi TMA-1/HD-25 II. Thanks 

Boy, that's a tough one. Note - I've been comparing the D1 to the more more expensive $249 uDAC-2 SE with 24/96 assynch USB, which sounds a little better than the std uDAC-2 (I posted the differences in my uDAC-2 1st impressions thread).  Basically I mentioned in this review that either one or the other of these might be a better choice depending on (1) your phones and (2) options needed.  
 
I'll have to try these with my Monster Turbine Pro Gold and my son's HD-25 II soon, to be able to give some feedback on their synergy. The MTPG should not be so sensitive that I'd expect a problem using them with the D1, where it can only play so quiet before the volume suddenly cuts out if you turn the knob too low. As a matter of fact, my Westone 4 IEM are a good match for the D1, due to their lower sensitivity vs my custom IEM.
 
Otherwise, I think these two units are fairly comparable and interchangeable.  I ended up swapping the uDAC-2 SE to the kitchen iMac because I kept shocking the uDAC-2 while shuffling across the bedroom carpet in my socks, and causing it to go haywire.  I use the uDAC-2 mostly with some Nuforce UF-30 headphones that I can easily hide behind the iMac when I'm not using them.  I moved the D1 to my bedroom with Macbook Pro and mostly use it to feed audio to my A2 speakers, and sometimes I listen to my HE-500 or LA7000 headphones with it.  I actually use the DACmini the most with my bedroom headphones, but it's too big to fit onto the small rolling table with my Macbook.
 
In my case I am not using the coax S/PDIF out of the uDAC-2 SE, nor the optical S/DIF input of the D1.  I mostly just use either the RCA line-out or the 1/8" headphone output on these units.  But, the extra output or input on the units might make a difference for some people and that could guide them one way or the other in their choice.
 

 

[mshan]

Any idea how RCA output compares to stock Logitech Transporter and Lavry DA10?

 

[Bummrounde]

Just got my D1 today.  Shipped 28th, arrives 30th, can't complain about that at all.  Audioengine site recommends 40-50 hours burn-in so I'm going with initial impressions.  For fairness, I have consumed several alcoholic beverages. 
 
In easy to digest list form:
1. Seems very loud.  By seems, I mean the volume dial in the lowest area of the dial is silent and then the sound cuts in abruptly.  I suspect that in actuality, they just don't operate well or at all for very quiet listening
2. Using the USB causes many pops during use.  I unplugged all other USB devices and went straight in without any hubs; still an unsettling amount of popping, almost a ticking sound
3. Optical works flawlessly
4. If I peg the dial at 100%, I get listenable volume from my DT990 600 Ohm.  Initial opinion is that it sounds way, way better than my E9, but we'll see what sobriety does to that tomorrow
5. Unexpectedly, my Shure SRH840 show a lot of sibilance.  That does not occur using the E9, E11, Turtlebeach Earforce or unamped.
6. Grado SR225 sibilance was increased slightly, though I was pleasantly surprised to hear bass in some songs; not the forte of these cans and this is best bass I've coaxed out of them yet
 
I'll be paying attention to see if the sibilance smooths out, and will also troubleshoot the living hell out of those USB pops.
 
HeadphoneAddict, thanks for your great post.  It was a major help in making my choice.  I recall you also had some noise issues using USB until you bypassed the hub.  Do you have any other suggestions for the issue, as I seem to be facing it as well.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Any idea how RCA output compares to stock Logitech Transporter and Lavry DA10?

No idea, sorry, but it's almost up to the level of the Pico DAC-only line-out.  The D1 is a little more forward sounding, i.e. with slightly less deep soundstage, but very detailed and transparent in tone.  I've heard a DA10 before, and that's more on the level of a Stello DA100 or Apogee mini-DAC or better, and should surpass the D1 pretty easily.
 
Quote:

Just got my D1 today.  Shipped 28th, arrives 30th, can't complain about that at all.  Audioengine site recommends 40-50 hours burn-in so I'm going with initial impressions.  For fairness, I have consumed several alcoholic beverages. 
 
In easy to digest list form:
1. Seems very loud.  By seems, I mean the volume dial in the lowest area of the dial is silent and then the sound cuts in abruptly.  I suspect that in actuality, they just don't operate well or at all for very quiet listening
2. Using the USB causes many pops during use.  I unplugged all other USB devices and went straight in without any hubs; still an unsettling amount of popping, almost a ticking sound
3. Optical works flawlessly
4. If I peg the dial at 100%, I get listenable volume from my DT990 600 Ohm.  Initial opinion is that it sounds way, way better than my E9, but we'll see what sobriety does to that tomorrow
5. Unexpectedly, my Shure SRH840 show a lot of sibilance.  That does not occur using the E9, E11, Turtlebeach Earforce or unamped.
6. Grado SR225 sibilance was increased slightly, though I was pleasantly surprised to hear bass in some songs; not the forte of these cans and this is best bass I've coaxed out of them yet
 
I'll be paying attention to see if the sibilance smooths out, and will also troubleshoot the living hell out of those USB pops.
 
HeadphoneAddict, thanks for your great post.  It was a major help in making my choice.  I recall you also had some noise issues using USB until you bypassed the hub.  Do you have any other suggestions for the issue, as I seem to be facing it as well.

If you are on a PC you could have a noisy PSU, as I find them to be noisier than my Macbook Pro and iMac.  There could be some RFI from a hard drive, GSM phone or cordless phone or microwave, etc.
 
I did note the sudden onset of sound at the lowest volume levels on the volume pot, which made it a little harder to use with IEM.  at very low volumes I would have to turn down the software volume in iTunes to use my most sensitive IEM.  That was my only real concern with the D1.  
 
I'm not getting any sibilance with my favorite phones and the D1 (LA7000, HE-500, LCD-2, HE-300, HF-2, MS-1) but I'm using Amarra mini on a macbook Pro to play the music, and I know in the past using most USB DAC on my old PC sounded terrible (didn't have ASIO software installed).  The HD800 can sound slightly sibilant or aggressive with most amps including the D1, and I have to use those on my ZDT amp.
 
I still need to try my 600 ohm AKG K240M, MTPG earphones, and my son's HD-25 II and report back.
 

 

[Bummrounde]

You may be correct on the interference. I moved it to the table top, and also plugged into the back of the PC instead of the front so I utilized the USBs directly on the mobo. All the noise vanished by doing that, though which of those two helped the issue I can't say.

 

[dparker83]

An engineer at AudioEngine tells me that this DAC is capable of accepting 24/192.  It is also USB 2.0 compliant.

 

[goodvibes]

I would suspect that it has some internal regulation but noise on the ground is difficult to reject. Maybe why you were getting noise with the hub. People are way too into what dac is used. How supply noise and usb interface is implimented along with what happens before and after the DAC itself will be more important. Not that the DAC doesn't matter, of course it does and this one probably handles a great deal of the circuit but it's just part of the soup. You're already at a huge advantage with Amarra over what most will be using.

 
Output impedance matters but topology and current available is in the mix so the results can vary. How much the damping factor changes and it's effect on transducers is quite variable and I'd be more interested in your individual observations than any spec here also.
 
Great review!

 

[dparker83]

Correction on my previous comment:
 
The TI1020B USB interface is not class 2 audio compliant.  24/192 can only be achieved through the optical.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I would suspect that it has some internal regulation but noise on the ground is difficult to reject. Maybe why you were getting noise with the hub. People are way too into what dac is used. How supply noise and usb interface is implimented along with what happens before and after the DAC itself will be more important. Not that the DAC doesn't matter, of course it does and this one probably handles a great deal of the circuit but it's just part of the soup. You're already at a huge advantage with Amarra over what most will be using.

 
Output impedance matters but topology and current available is in the mix so the results can vary. How much the damping factor changes and it's effect on transducers is quite variable and I'd be more interested in your individual observations than any spec here also.
 
Great review!

I'm now using it plugged in directly to the MacBook Pro front USB port, and I have the 8-port hub plugged into the rear USB port, and it's nice and quiet. So at least the hub noise isn't making back into the MacBook through any ground loop. The hub is powered by a wallwart AC adapter, and I could probably use a better power supply on it, but moving the D1 took care of it.

I played with it a bit today without using Amarra Mini and it still sounds very good with my LA7000 and HE-500 out of iTunes by itself. Obviously a good music player and good headphones will make a big difference, but the DAC/amp can make or break the sound more than using Amarra Mini or not.

As they say, "garbage in = garbage out" and iTunes with Apple Core Audio has always sounded better to me than any USB DAC plugged into a PC. I never was into PC enough to use ASIO software (haven't turned on either of our PCs in over 18 months, and one is so slow you can watch it draw windows). Amarra Mini is just icing on the cake, but I'd guess it's not as important as some kind of ASIO software would be on Windows.

However, Amarra Mini let's me get the most out of the D1, and it's very musical and enjoyable to listen to. I can't think of anything cheaper that beats it hands down. Granted, if I had room on my rolling laptop desk for my DACmini then I'd be using that for my A2 speakers, but in the tight space that I have the D1 is more than acceptable. Plus i can control the speaker volume with the D1 while my DACmini has fixed outputs. And while my DACport may be a little better with my custom IEM, it's not as convenient when I have to unplug my speakers from the DACport in order to listen to headphones. With the A2 speakers much of the improvement in the DACport's deeper soundstage is lost anyway.

 

[ACDOAN]

Would you do a SQ comparison between the D1 vs the E9/E7 or the E10 using USB port? I have the E9/E7 but I like the E10 better for classic rock and hard rock. Is it just a lateral move from FiiO to AE ? Thank you.