[runnin17]

 
Quote:

They sound slightly different. uDAC-2 has a narrower soundstage and is more aggressive sounding, the MX1 is more laid back and has a wide soundstage. It's not a huge difference, these are just small things I noticed. The differences between decent or good DACs is not as big as some people make it out to be, I'd be happy with either one as a source to a dedicated amp.
 
Quote:

For use as a pure DAC (no concerned about the amp section) is the Audinst a better choice than the uDAC-2?
 
I am up in the air about purchasing the MX1, uDAC-2, Audio-gd NFB-11, or the Maverick USB DAC. Any thoughts?

 

 Thank you for the reply. After some more reading and searching. I think I am going to go with the Maverick D1. While I would like to try out the NFB-11, I will probably wait until some are posted on the for sale forum to snatch one up. Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Danfl]

      hello, i´m quite new in all this audio world, an i end up bying a audinst after reading a lot here in the comunity. i,m quite happy with the sound that it delivers to my headphone ( a ath m50) but when i conect it to my minisistem using the RCA line out  it doesn´t make much of a improvement over my pc sound card.
      Do you think it would sound better if i use the headphone out and try to conect it to the  system using a p2 to RCA cable? and  would i risk damaging the audinst by doing it? ( i was thinking if it could work as a pre-amp this way , sorry if it doesn´t make sense, like i said i new to this hobby)
 
thanks.

 

[audiofil]

Audinst actually operates as preamp via RCA, so there is no practical need to use the headphone sockets.
But if you want to try it anyway, don't worry! Nothing bad will happen.
 
What mini-system are you using?
 

 

[Danfl]

i,m using a aiwa 100w rms that is what i had in my living room .
 
sorry about the language i,m from Brasil.
 
tks

 

[Danfl]

i was thinking about bying a matrix m-stage , do you think it would give me better sound or  it would be better to have  just a audio gd fun?
 
i,m using it with a ath m50 and possibly a grado225i in the near future.
 
tks a lot

 

[Danfl]

please i really would like a sugestion on a amp to use with the audinst,  and i also would like  a idea to get two hp outputs  cause usualy i listem to music  with someone else   tks

 

[erozsolt]

 
[size=medium]

Audinst has an amp.
Audinst has two headphone outputs.
​

[/size]


Quote:

please i really would like a sugestion on a amp to use with the audinst,  and i also would like  a idea to get two hp outputs  cause usualy i listem to music  with someone else   tks

 

[Danfl]

i don´t believe the two hp outs are made to be used at the same time, they are supposed to be in paralel and that would divide the power if used  at the same time to drive two headphones.  does anyone know if i can use thma simultaneously?
 
and  the amp would be to upgrade the sound a bit, i listen to something that i could call distortin when a heavy sequence of drums happens in the music and i think it could be lack of power.  but anyway  like i said i´m not very experient in this hobby. tks again

 

[AlexRoma]

 
Hi Danfi. I can answer your question as I had some experience with 2 headphones simultaneous connected to audinst. This combo worked fine, no volume or quality degradation happened. It was somehow a surprising result `course I had the same doubt , but, It just worked fine ! In the big output I've pluged DT990-s 250ohm and in the small output some HeadDirect RE0 in-ears. Again, no complains at all. I have also no distortion problems. The devise does it's job fine for a half an year... The only complain I have is the SQ on the absolute scale, that is inferior to other device like Asus Xonar STX or Emu 1212 in the same price range..

   Recently I have upgraded the amp section, I've purchased a Little Dot MKIII tube AMP . And you now what ? I think I have spend about 300$ in vain (200$ the amp, 50 shipment and about 50$ for tube rolling)! The difference in sound quality is definitely smaller than i expected, it got warmer, a little more lied back, but no detail, separation or frequency response improvement compared to the stock amp, in other words, the Little Dot amp did only 'equalizer cosmetic job' instead of a substantial quality enhancement (even for some High Impedance Headphones like my DT990-s 250ohm).. So my conclusion is, Audinst has a really nice stock amp that does a good job for it's own, and any cheap upgrades in the amplification sector are not justified.  

         If you intend upgrade the amplifier, you should buy a really good one, preferably High-End, like Burson SS (700$) or the WooAudio 6 (620$) tube amp to get some noticeable improvement over the stock. As for me, I'm gona sell Little Dot MKIII and save money for the Burson HA160D dac/amp. It is somehow expensive (1150$), but they say, in this league Burson dac/amp is an overall winner.  It should put a solid end to my dac/amp upgradings. Till then, I'll be happy using Audinst HUD MX1 as it is.

 

[audiofil]

As stated above Audinst is fine driving 2 headphones at the same time. Given your models of choice, AT M50 and SR225 (not particularly demanding on amps) it should be more than fine.
 
 
Quote:

... and  the amp would be to upgrade the sound a bit, i listen to something that i could call distortion when a heavy sequence of drums happens in the music and i think it could be lack of power.  but anyway  like i said i´m not very experient in this hobby. tks again

Adding a good amplifier to Audinst will always improve the sound if the headphones respond well to such a change and if you are sensitive and quite particular about nuances and subtleties in your music.
By how much ?! ... It's hard to tell and depends solely on the listener and his/her system....
 
In my opinion you'll be a lot better served by a headphone upgrade rather than an amplifier.
On the other hand if I were to upgrade the MX1 I would aim a bit higher in the "food chain", somewhere in the + 500$ category. The sound improvement would be a lot more meaningful and consistent.

 

[deephile]

Hi all,
 
I'm planning to buy my first DAC/Amp combo for an IE8 and hesitating between the uDac-2 and the MX1.
So far, my dim (and possible inaccurate) imagination about the sound of these DACs, solely based on some comments here on head-fi:
 
1. uDac-2:
  +: more agressive (compared to the MX1) sound could complement the laid-back IE8 signature
  -: might be too warm and bassy (for the already warm and bassy) IE8?
 
2. Audinst HUD-MX1
  +: more neutral signature,
  +: more detailed (even though maybe the IEM would be the bottleneck here?)
  +: replaceable opamp
  +: more extended in both the bass and treble (?)
  -: maybe too laid back, combined with the IE8? (someone mentioned here that the MX1 would be not recommended
for the HD650 and it is a laid-back phone too)
 
About my sound preferences:
- Kind of a basshead, but I would like to enhance only the sub-bass section of the IE8 (no additional mid-bass needed )
- I would prefer some added clarity and sparkle
- I Like: fun, dynamic, lush, smooth, "big" sound
- Dislike: cold, analytical, boring, fatiguing sound
 
Which DAC could have a better synergy with the IE8?
With the opamps, can the MX1 be "fine-tuned" for various IEMs, or are those customizations just making
subtle differences to the sound?
 
thx in advance

 

[avexdevil]

hey guys anyone kind enough to help me troubleshoot my crackling issues with my audinst? it doesn't happen all the time, but it seems to be getting more frequent. It's especially evident with instrumental/piano tracks.
 
my setup as follows:
 
hardware: vaio sr13gn 2.26ghz, 4gb ram, realtek hd running windows 7 64 bit
software: foobar /w wasapi, most of my files are flacs, wavs (96hz)
output: audinst > ath-m50/re0s
 

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

hey guys anyone kind enough to help me troubleshoot my crackling issues with my audinst? it doesn't happen all the time, but it seems to be getting more frequent. It's especially evident with instrumental/piano tracks.
 
my setup as follows:
 
hardware: vaio sr13gn 2.26ghz, 4gb ram, realtek hd running windows 7 64 bit
software: foobar /w wasapi, most of my files are flacs, wavs (96hz)
output: audinst > ath-m50/re0s
 

I don't own the Audinst, however on a couple of my devices the buffer length on Foobar using WASAPI usually needs to be under 200ms.  I usually stay about 230ms.  Hope that helps.
 

 

[DDVX]

Mine is at 800 currently in Foobar and I use the Audinst. I've pretty much used the Audinst with everything with no problems. Sorry to hear about yours. 

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiofil /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Adding a good amplifier to Audinst will always improve the sound if the headphones respond well to such a change and if you are sensitive and quite particular about nuances and subtleties in your music.
By how much ?! ... It's hard to tell and depends solely on the listener and his/her system....
 
In my opinion you'll be a lot better served by a headphone upgrade rather than an amplifier.
On the other hand if I were to upgrade the MX1 I would aim a bit higher in the "food chain", somewhere in the + 500$ category. The sound improvement would be a lot more meaningful and consistent.

 
Whoa - another measured and logical response on Head-Fi, land of the 'OMG!' FOTM  DAC/amp
 
He's right, of course - we buy all sorts of toys in the hope of making a $150 pair of phones sounds like a $300 pair of phones, when we may well have been better off just buying the $300 (or whatever) pair of phones in the first place. That said, my DAC and amp are a definite improvement over the headphone-out on my Netbook with any pair of phones I plug into them - for those with a good DAP, this may not be a problem.