[439598]

You can't rely compare them both since R2R11 is true NOS (no op amps,filters,etc.) very coherent,smooth/sexy , pairs very well with planar magnetics - bright cans should behave very nice with this set up (HiFiMan Sundara calling my name)
D50 sounds like OPA1612 (3x) it's not dry ,clear ,good separation and sound-stage,good low end -round + Sabre which gives you that sparkle ,accuracy
I liked it so much that I end up getting cheap amp to roll some op-amps and see what works best ,so far tested OPA2107,OPA2111,OPA2134,..and few more coming soon

All based on testing with only two can's HD650 and LCD-2
I'm pretty sure most will like/love this little D50
Cheers

Have to disagree about the R2R11 pairing well with planars, specifically the HE560. the HE560 is forward and treble focused, the LCD2 and 650 are a very forgiving, the 560 not so much.

The R2R11 to me was a coarse sounding DAC (upper mids were the culprit I think) and I upgraded from the ODAC hoping for a much smoother sound but it wasnt much better. With well recorded music it wasnt an issue and could sound very nice but It isnt very clear sounding, the HE560 has amazing clarity and I felt bored listening with the R2R11 because of the lack of detail.

I cant recommend the Hifime UDA38Pro enough if you are using more analytical cans, everyday I like it more. It is liquid smooth but beats both these DACs in clarity and detail... its a perfect match for the he560. Im sure it would sound great with HD650 but It seems like waste to use warmer can when the treble is so smooth.

I suspect it would pair particularly well with the HD600.

 

[Bhargu]

Have to disagree about the R2R11 pairing well with planars, specifically the HE560. the HE560 is forward and treble focused, the LCD2 and 650 are a very forgiving, the 560 not so much.

The R2R11 to me was a coarse sounding DAC (harshness in the upper mids I think) and I upgraded from the ODAC hoping for a much smoother sound but it wasnt much better. With well recorded music it wasnt an issue and could sound very nice but It isnt very clear sounding, the HE560 has amazing clarity and I felt bored listening with the R2R11 because of the lack of detail.

I cant recommend the Hifime UDA38Pro enough if you are using more analytical cans, everyday I like it more. It is liquid smooth but beats both these DACs in clarity and detail... its a perfect match for the he560. Im sure it would sound great with HD650 but It seems like waste to use warmer can when the treble is so smooth.

I suspect it would pair particularly well with the HD600.

What power supply and amp do you use with UDA38Pro? How does it compare to D50? Will it be possible for you (or anyone) to compare D50 (or UDA38Pro) with iFi Micro/Nano Black Label?

 

[439598]

What power supply and amp do you use with UDA38Pro? How does it compare to D50? Will it be possible for you (or anyone) to compare D50 (or UDA38Pro) with iFi Micro/Nano Black Label?

Im currently using an LM317 power supply kit I got on ebay but Im going to upgrade to something better, the LT3045 regulators are extremely low noise and perfect for the 9038Pro DACs, expensive though.

Dont own the D50 so cant say but someone already made a comparison here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/topping-d50.876669/page-3#post-14242846

In short they're both great DACs but the UDA is special.

 

[Bhargu]

Have to disagree about the R2R11 pairing well with planars, specifically the HE560. the HE560 is forward and treble focused, the LCD2 and 650 are a very forgiving, the 560 not so much.

The R2R11 to me was a coarse sounding DAC (upper mids were the culprit I think) and I upgraded from the ODAC hoping for a much smoother sound but it wasnt much better. With well recorded music it wasnt an issue and could sound very nice but It isnt very clear sounding, the HE560 has amazing clarity and I felt bored listening with the R2R11 because of the lack of detail.

I cant recommend the Hifime UDA38Pro enough if you are using more analytical cans, everyday I like it more. It is liquid smooth but beats both these DACs in clarity and detail... its a perfect match for the he560. Im sure it would sound great with HD650 but It seems like waste to use warmer can when the treble is so smooth.

I suspect it would pair particularly well with the HD600.

Sorry for the barrage of questions. I couldn't find much user opinion of UDA38Pro anywhere. It would be great if you could help.

 

[Bhargu]

D50 seems to be an absolutely sexy looing device. The 11cm squarish box is tiny and cute in black. The bright white lettering on the front doesn't really suit the otherwise perfect look of this device. On the other hand, UDA38Pro looks utilitarian and compact. If only they added a battery into it, it would have been perfect. Still, I the utilitarian design won't send to on a guilt trip when you try to mod it

 

[439598]

D50 seems to be an absolutely sexy looing device. The 11cm squarish box is tiny and cute in black. The bright white lettering on the front doesn't really suit the otherwise perfect look of this device. On the other hand, UDA38Pro looks utilitarian and compact. If only they added a battery into it, it would have been perfect. Still, I the utilitarian design won't send to on a guilt trip when you try to mod it

yep, the LCD screen is really nice. the UDA doesnt even rubber feet so it slides around if you have a thick RCA cable attached

 

[Bhargu]

The D50 is really good, but I think the Hifimediy ES9038Pro Dac is better though not as feature-rich. Also, if you are using a PC for the D50, install the XMOS drivers and lower the latency and buffer samples as low as you can. You should get some seriously good microdetails and realism. And use the lowest noise power supply you can find.

Can you please elaborate on how the sound signatures of D50 and Hifimediy ES9038Pro compare (with each other). I got the feeling that D50 is neutral with a bit bass presence without any loss of details and the highs are detailed yet smooth and non-fatiguing. How does the Hifimediy ES9038Pro DAC differ from this?

 

[spacequeen7]

Have to disagree about the R2R11 pairing well with planars, specifically the HE560. the HE560 is forward and treble focused, the LCD2 and 650 are a very forgiving, the 560 not so much.

The R2R11 to me was a coarse sounding DAC (upper mids were the culprit I think) and I upgraded from the ODAC hoping for a much smoother sound but it wasnt much better. With well recorded music it wasnt an issue and could sound very nice but It isnt very clear sounding, the HE560 has amazing clarity and I felt bored listening with the R2R11 because of the lack of detail.

I cant recommend the Hifime UDA38Pro enough if you are using more analytical cans, everyday I like it more. It is liquid smooth but beats both these DACs in clarity and detail... its a perfect match for the he560. Im sure it would sound great with HD650 but It seems like waste to use warmer can when the treble is so smooth.

I suspect it would pair particularly well with the HD600.

I can bet my left nut that you didn't wait for the R2R11 to fully burn in (mandatory 500hours or so ),tried both my HE400 and LCD-2 against all my none planars ,this thread is about D50 so I will stop there
Cheers

 

[wushuliu]

Can you please elaborate on how the sound signatures of D50 and Hifimediy ES9038Pro compare (with each other). I got the feeling that D50 is neutral with a bit bass presence without any loss of details and the highs are detailed yet smooth and non-fatiguing. How does the Hifimediy ES9038Pro DAC differ from this?

The Hifimediy has better midrange presence and a more three dimensional presentation in my setup. Vocals pop. Guitars soar without fatigue. Excellent dynamic range. Perhaps it's the OPA2134s used, or perhaps it's specific programming they did with THD and gain compensation, etc. The Hifimediy UAD38Pro is just more involving IMO. The D50 had a little bit of upper mid peakiness, but that could have been due to needing a good burn-in. I had them both and I kept getting bored with the D50 and going back to the Hifimediy. I think Hifime spent more time fine tuning the ES9038Pro to get the best (or what they wanted) out of it (there are a LOT of options in programming the chip, but NDAs prevent people from going into too much detail). It sounds different from the typical Sabre.

 

[franz12]

The Hifimediy has better midrange presence and a more three dimensional presentation in my setup. Vocals pop. Guitars soar without fatigue. Excellent dynamic range. Perhaps it's the OPA2134s used, or perhaps it's specific programming they did with THD and gain compensation, etc. The Hifimediy UAD38Pro is just more involving IMO. The D50 had a little bit of upper mid peakiness, but that could have been due to needing a good burn-in. I had them both and I kept getting bored with the D50 and going back to the Hifimediy. I think Hifime spent more time fine tuning the ES9038Pro to get the best (or what they wanted) out of it (there are a LOT of options in programming the chip, but NDAs prevent people from going into too much detail). It sounds different from the typical Sabre.

What headphones and amps do you use with them? Matching right amp/dacs is as much important as finding a good dac. Without information about it, your argument is incomplete.

 

[439598]

I can bet my left nut that you didn't wait for the R2R11 to fully burn in (mandatory 500hours or so ),tried both my HE400 and LCD-2 against all my none planars ,this thread is about D50 so I will stop there
Cheers

this could be the case. I just returned it after a couple weeks, letting it burn in almost everyday. not sure how many hours but it was a lot, a big change was noticed after a couple days but not much after that. I can understand with that many discreet components there's a lot that can change but you'd expect at least the majority of the improvement to happen after a few weeks.

not sure if its matters but I used the integrated amp very little, just the DAC out to a modified O2 and another DIY amp

 

[wushuliu]

What headphones and amps do you use with them? Matching right amp/dacs is as much important as finding a good dac. Without information about it, your argument is incomplete.

HD599s and a heavily modded JLH Class A amp from ebay. My main 2 channel is no longer setup for demoing dacs, however so that definitely makes evaluation more difficult. Good speakers are much, much better for evaluating dacs than headphones. Other than that I have listened to more sub <$500 Dacs, both retail and diy, over the past ten years than most. I'm comfortable with my assessment. I would recommend listening to both dacs if possible.

 

[ostewart]

My D50 has shipped, looking forward to reviewing this little DAC. Their D30 is excellent so I've got high hopes for this.

 

[Bhargu]

I personally like to replace my headphones than DACs. 'Finding the right DAC/Amp' always sounded to me like finding the right software equalizer. You are getting a pair of headphones and trying to make them sound different by using DACs with the specific colourations. If I needed changing sound signature, I prefer op-amp rolling in the amp (only did it for two devices, one to remove noise with IEMs and another to smooth out harsh highs). I guess, doing it at the end of the chain is better than at the head of the chain. But the sound variations of an op-amp changes with each device and I found getting the right combination hard without community help (or you should buy a large variety of them and try each one out yourself - too tiring) .

 

[junki]

I personally like to replace my headphones than DACs. 'Finding the right DAC/Amp' always sounded to me like finding the right software equalizer. You are getting a pair of headphones and trying to make them sound different by using DACs with the specific colourations.

This would be true, if technicalities are the same as frequency response, which they're not. Unless you believe the only thing audible is the frequency response, in which case you are indeed new.