Upgrading from uDac-2 to Schiite Asgard (or other dedicated desktop amp)
Nov 10, 2011 at 10:38 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 9

phonesonmyhead

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Hey guys,
 
My current main rig consists of a pair of Denon AH-D2000's paired with a NuForce uDac-2. My question is, if I throw a Schiite Asgard into the mix (or another desktop amp of equal or lesser value), will I see any marked improvement in the D2000's?
 
I've been lurking on this forums for a while now (just recently registered, though), and I've seen a number of posts mentioning that a decent amp helps to bring out the mids in the D2000's. The problem is, I'm not sure if my uDac-2 already accomplishes this job, or whether a more powerful amp will further improve the sound any more to a significant degree.
 
Thanks for any suggestions and/or advice.
 
Nov 12, 2011 at 2:37 AM Post #3 of 9
I have never tried the uDac-2, but looking at it...not sure. Schiit has a 15 day return policy, sooooo....
 
Nov 12, 2011 at 9:13 PM Post #5 of 9


Quote:
I have never tried the uDac-2, but looking at it...not sure. Schiit has a 15 day return policy, sooooo....


Hmm, that's a good point. Would definitely make this less of a guessing game :)

 
Quote:
my SRH840 felt like they really came alive once I added matrix m-stage amp to my udac2


Was that because you could drive them to louder levels, or because they actually improved sonically?
 
Thanks for the replies guys. 
 
 
Nov 19, 2011 at 1:56 AM Post #6 of 9
i've A/B tested between "laptop>udac2>D5000" and "laptop>udac2>asgard>D5000" before,  i can say that the improvement from udac2 to asgard is greater than that from laptop to udac2 
IMHO, amps make greater difference than DACs when the same money is spent
 
Nov 24, 2011 at 3:28 AM Post #7 of 9


Quote:
i've A/B tested between "laptop>udac2>D5000" and "laptop>udac2>asgard>D5000" before,  i can say that the improvement from udac2 to asgard is greater than that from laptop to udac2 
IMHO, amps make greater difference than DACs when the same money is spent


Oh, wow this is exactly the kind of comparison I was looking for. I had pretty much decided that I was going to sell the udac2 and get an Asgard (with a better DAC being the second item on my upgrade list), and your post just gave me a lot more confidence in my decision. Thanks a bunch for the input.
 
Nov 24, 2011 at 9:14 AM Post #8 of 9


Quote:
Oh, wow this is exactly the kind of comparison I was looking for. I had pretty much decided that I was going to sell the udac2 and get an Asgard (with a better DAC being the second item on my upgrade list), and your post just gave me a lot more confidence in my decision. Thanks a bunch for the input.



keep the dac for now, until u get a new one.
 
u need a dac, on board soundcard just wou;d not do the job
 
Dec 4, 2011 at 4:44 PM Post #9 of 9


Quote:
keep the dac for now, until u get a new one.
 
u need a dac, on board soundcard just wou;d not do the job


Yea, I think I'm going to hold off on selling the udac until I acquire an Asgard and then determine whether it's worth keeping by A/B'ing between the udac and onboard (while having the Asgard in the mix). I have an iMac, and I haven't found any noticeable difference in sound quality when using the udac; the only effect it has seems to have is an increase in maximum volume. Someone else on this forum messaged me and mentioned that he also found his iMac's onboard dac to be as good as the udac. 
 

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