[129207]

Slim.a, would you think this would be a step up from my Nuforce uDAC? I am looking to replace the little bugger because I want something more sturdy and potentially a bit higher up the ladder.

 

[slim.a]

Quote:

slim.a :
Our designer Dr. zhou told me, can not mix area B with different brand capacitors, so for your convient and also can real show our products, we will send you all parts by TNT today, after 3,4 days will reach you, please check.

Thanks for the info and for the picture of the internals (after the mod) you sent me by mail.
Since I am no soldering expert, one of my friends agreed to help solder the parts you sent. I will take the dac A-1 to his place next week-end if I receive the parts by then and I will keep you updated.
 
 
For those interested, below is a picture of the internals (sent by purepiper) after the mod:

 

[godluvsxs]

Hi Negakinu,
 
Even before the recent upgrade, I would say it's definitely an step up from your Nuforce uDAC, and with the recent upgrade, that's would be quite an no-brainer purchase at USD200 range.
 
From what I seen from their china forum, all upgraded users reported with positive feedback of better details without sacrifice much musicality, better bass extension and impact!
 
Regards,
Steve

 

[slim.a]

Quote:

Slim.a, would you think this would be a step up from my Nuforce uDAC? I am looking to replace the little bugger because I want something more sturdy and potentially a bit higher up the ladder.

 
Hi Negakinu,
 
I have never listened to the nuforce uDAC so my comments are only based on the design and my experience with different DACs.

The Nuforce uDAC is a good all-in-one DAC headphone amp which should be better than the line out of many notebooks.
The Purepiper DAC A-1 (in my opinion) is a much better DAC. As I indicated in my review, it is exceptionally well built for something under $200 and performs better than the EMU 0404 usb or the Audio-gd DAC-100 (Compass DAC). In the soundstaging and imaging, I felt that it performed even better than a very expensive Audiomat DAC I have listened to before.
 
My guess is that with the right equipment downstream (heapdhone amp and headphones), the Purepiper will not only be better but a few steps above the Nuforce uDAC.
Of course this is only speculation from my end but after listening to a lot of DACs and CD players, I have come to the conclusion (shared by many audio experts) that all excellent sounding DACs share some common characteristics (Good power supply, discrete output stage...) that are found on the Purepiper and are lacking in the nuforce.

So there is a high probability that you will notice a big jump in performance from your nuforce uDAC. But at the mean time you have to keep in mind that you need a separate headphone amp as the Purepiper DAC A-1 is a DAC only (no headphone amp section).
 

 

[slim.a]

Quote:

Hi Negakinu,
 
Even before the recent upgrade, I would say it's definitely an step up from your Nuforce uDAC, and with the recent upgrade, that's would be quite an no-brainer purchase at USD200 range.
 
From what I seen from their china forum, all upgraded users reported with positive feedback of better details without sacrifice much musicality, better bass extension and impact!
 
Regards,
Steve

 
You got me pretty curious trying those new mods ...

 

[129207]

I have a Headstage Arrow 12HE amp which is a decent enough amp for now. Might upgrade to a pretty SS later this year when I have some new headphones.
 
Seems like a no-brainer then. Lemme see if I can get them to send me one of those cuties to Holland. Thanks for your advice and explanations!

 

[godluvsxs]

Quote:

 
You got me pretty curious trying those new mods ...

    Oh ya, the soundstage is getting wider and imaging is better too 

 
Quote:

I have a Headstage Arrow 12HE amp which is decent enough amp for now. Might upgrade to a pretty SS later this year when I have some new headphones.
 
Seems like a no-brainer then. Lemme see if I can get them to send me one of those cuties to Holland. Thanks for your advice and explanations!

    Welcome to the purepipper family, too bad right now they are focusing on the speaker setup, hopefully there's a headamp from them soon 

 

[IPodPJ]

What is wrong with this picture?
 

 
Notice anything about the IEC jack? 

 

[slim.a]

Quote:

What is wrong with this picture?
 

 
Notice anything about the IEC jack? 

Yes the IEC jack is upside down LOL.
I found it annoying at first because all my other gear is the other way around and I use very stiff power cable (solid core conductors) but forgot to mention about it as I got pretty quicky used to it.
I wonder why did it this way ... there don't seem to be a space issue.

 

[slim.a]

I received the parts (capacitors, resistors...) Purepiper sent for the upgrade today.
Now, I just have to take the dac and the parts to a friend's place this week-end so that he can do the soldering at my place. Since I have never done any soldering myself, I don't want to risk ruining the unit.

I will update my findings later once everything is installed and after a little bit of burn-in (those big yellow capacitors might need 100 hours+ burn-in...).

 

[godluvsxs]

Cant wait for the initial impression A little bit of burn-in is quite important to see the real potential of upgrade, I seen few Chinese user reported there are some sort of improvement after some burn-in

 

[pure-piper]

Today I try using following way to play W1000, find sound is good, Slim ,maybe you try it.
use foobar to adjust to volume, you can use this way to compare your AMP.

 

 

 

 

[slim.a]

Quote:

Cant wait for the initial impression A little bit of burn-in is quite important to see the real potential of upgrade, I seen few Chinese user reported there are some sort of improvement after some burn-in

Sorry, I didn't have time to try the mod suggested by purepiper. No new updates on the sound ...
 
Also, since I won't be able to do the the mods the next few weeks, I am going to send the review sample to jkeny so that he can give it a listen and perhaps try the mods suggested by Purepiper. But given the extreme mods he has done to the Hiface, I am very curious to see what he will come up with the DAC A1 ...

 

[pure-piper]

Thx slim.a
Waiting for new review by jkeny after "mods"

 

[129207]

Bump for this thread! More people with Purepiper experience? I sold my uDAC by now so am looking for a replacement.