[wankski]

Hi guys,

just looking for some guidance after trawling the forums and reading about the above items...

I am currently using my laptop as a source, and i know i need a decent DAC, so i was looking at the EF2 which is also an amp...

I figure i really need one now as i have acquired a beyer 990 pro to go along with my ms1i, which frankly, i'm not so blown away by, which has really opened my eyes to how subjective these things really are...

I came back here and since found some great press about the uDAC, safe to assume superior to the ef2's dac? I even found 1 comment saying that the $90 bravo amp was better than the ef2, but this i don't understand... how does this work when the ef2 is still $70 more than the bravo? surely they're not asking 70 bux for a mere 2702 based dac? that and the bravo at least comes with a russian tube which may stave off upgraditis vs the chinese unit on the ef2...

1) so my first question is, would at the similar price, the uDAC and bravo combo be better than the ef2 alone for my phones...??

2) secondly, if the bravo or ef2 amp isn't so good, is the millet SS tube amp better? or is it a marginal call?

3) is there any other dac or amp in the $100 price range that may be a better alternative? (especially amp)...


there is even some talk that the uDAC can power the hard to drive akg701s by them selves, so i figured i'd start with a higher spec'd DAC to begin with... price is fair.

Cheers for any guidance guys!

joe

 

[brendon]

Ok, its like this. The Bravo is a nice amp but its build quality aint that great. If it lasts you 2 years then its great. However for some people it didn't last even a week. The biggest culprit being the PSU. I haven't faced any issues - yet (touchwood).

The uDAC is nice and for $100 I doubt you could do any better.

Now the thing about budget tube amps and budget SS amps is that I found both my SS amps had better more extended bass and treble. Mind you the difference is not marginal but at least a 20 - 25% increase in the bass and maybe a 5 - 10% difference in the treble (compared to the tube amp). I have a EF2 tube amp as well and the sound is pretty similar to the Bravo. So I would gauge that most tube amps cannot compete in bass and treble with even budget SS amps.

However, here is the kicker - I still prefer the tube amp. How ? Well the tube amp brings about a certain lush, open, smooth sound that does really well with the HD650.

I suggest you try out the uDAC without any amp. The uDAC's headphone amp is pretty good and will compete with any budget amp. I suggest you get a better amp later on.

 

[wankski]

thanks brendon, i appreciate the response...

that's pretty much what i was thinking about the DAC... i listen to my big cans from my laptop, so i figured the uDAC would be much better and have a bit more juice than teh crappy onboard solution. (lots of static buzz)...

seems to me u're not such a big fan of either the bravo or the ef2? what would be the next step up that would comfortably power 250 ohm cans like the beyer 990 pros? i was also thinking about the ef1, but to be honest, feel less comfortable dropping $300USD on an amp to power $250 phones...

uDAC seemed like great value that would also be great with IEMs and my MS1i phones as well...

 

[brendon]

Hi, sorry to have not been very clear in my above post. I prefer the Bravo to my SS amp. The tube sound is a better match for me.

It gels very well with my HD650 but I don't know how it will perform with a DT990.

What I suggest is this - Get only a uDAC at first and see if you like it.

Don't worry about it not driving your headphones. The Bravo has more than enough juice for any 300 ohm headphone.

If you do wish to experience how a tube amp can sound, spending $60 on a Bravo wont break the bank. One of the major plus points of a tube amp is that rolling the tube makes a big difference in the sound. So if the amp doesn't gel that well with the DT990 you just need to get another tube.

With a SS amp (most of them anyway) you are stuck with the default sound. If you dont like it, your only option is to sell it.