Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I originally bought the uDAC-2 to use for both my portable setup and my "real" home setup. For reference, here are my setups:
Portable: Laptop --> uDAC-2 --> Sennheiser HD650 or Shure SE-115K
Home: Desktop Computer --> uDAC-2 --> Matrix M-Stage Amplifier --> HD650
As a DAC, the uDAC is simply outstanding in its class, especially considering both its price and form factor. As a moderately active headphone listener (and [...] addict), I have tried numerous portable DAC and DAC/Amp solutions, such as the iBasso D10, the iBasso D4, the HeadAmp Pico DAC/Amp, the HeadAmp Pico DAC only, and the Zero DAC that was making waves all over the internet a couple of years ago. I believe the uDAC easily matches these DACs in prowess, with maybe only the HeadAmp Pico DAC only sounding slightly more detailed in its lower frequencies (although this is a highly subjective opinion, as I did not compare both the DACs with the same headset or same amplifier, and am only doing the comparison from memory as I had sampled a friend's Pico a while back).
The DAC is outstanding: it uses high quality components, has fantastic fit and finish, and requires only a USB port with no external power.
The headphone amplifier, however, was the most surprising part of the product for me. I did not really expect much of a headphone amplifier to be integrated into a $100 budget DAC, but the amplifier was outstanding for its price. It even managed to almost power my HD650s, which have an extremely high impedance of 300ohms, and are usually terrible sounding from budget amplifiers. The HD650s still sound a bit muddy (it's to be expected in a budget portable DAC/Amp combo), but my Shures sound phenomenal -- miles ahead of my laptop or desktop's built in headphone output. Since it's such a small accessory, it's perfect for making long study sessions in the library much more bearable with great audio coming out of my laptop.
I would highly recommend the product: it easily competes with products double its price (the iBasso D10), and is a fantastic way to get into high fidelity audio for a bargain price.
A note of caution: all of these products simply output your source material much more accurately and clearly than your internal sound cards (for the most part). Thus, any flaws in the source will also be more easily heard. I wouldn't really recommend listening to 128kbps MP3s with this. At least 196kbps (preferably V0 or 320kbps) MP3s/AACs if you must use compressed audio, but lossless audio formats such as FLAC and ALAC are generally much preferred.
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NuForce Icon uDAC-2 (Silver) Headphone Amp and USB DAC (24bit/96kHz)Product Description: "A must-have laptop companion! Discover digital music's true headphone potential". NuForce uDAC-2 is a high-performance USB Digital Audio Converter (DAC) that connects your personal computer's audio with your home stereo, desktop sound system, or headphones. The quality and versatility of the uDAC-2's performance belies its diminutive size. With its extensive power supply, filtering capabilities and charge-pump circuit as a foundation, the uDAC-2 processes incoming data via a USB audio receiver. A D/A converter chip then translates the data to a two-volt analog signal. The NuForce uDAC-2's performance equals or exceeds that of a great many audiophile CD players. The unit's exemplary flexibility -- analog RCA, digital coaxial, and high-performance headphone outputs -- is bound to satisfy the needs of the most critical music lover. The highly successful uDAC has been upgraded with improved headphone amp, 24bit resolution and higher quality volume control.
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