DAC required for speakers

[Brendon]

The uDAC's line out isn't as coloured as the headphone out .Anyways E7 looks like the one for him since its cheaper and he doesn't need headphone out .I am just not sure how detailed E7 is , still see mixed reviews about it

Dude, the line out of the udac passes through its amplification circuit. Thats why the volume control works. A true line out bypasses the inbuilt amplifier (like on the Apple ipod, when using a LOD, your volume control on the ipod wont work !).

So the udacs line out will be just as colored as its headphone out.

However yes, the E7 has gotten mixed reviews. I haven't heard one myself so it may not be as nice as I believe it to be.

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Well. By powerful output, i mean how hard it can drive a high impedance low sensitivity can. E7 surelly can drive most HPs, but i doubt anything above 120~150 Ohm. Heard uDAC can drive much harder. But this is pointless, if its supposed to be used with a sub 150 Ohm HP.

And Im really thankful to you, for helping me get an E7 . There was no other way of sourcing it that easily.

Yeah, E7 outputs 150 mW with a 16 ohm headphone while the udac outputs 80 mW with a 16 ohm headphone.

This is actually surprising for me as I always felt the udac was much more powerful.

The Audinst MX1 btw, outputs a cool 800 mW with a 32 ohm headphone.

 

[bennysachdev]

+1 for the Audinst MX1

on a side note.....waiting for sum1^ to order one so we can find out how good it really is.

 

[FaH33m]

Dude, the line out of the udac passes through its amplification circuit. Thats why the volume control works. A true line out bypasses the inbuilt amplifier (like on the Apple ipod, when using a LOD, your volume control on the ipod wont work !).

So the udacs line out will be just as colored as its headphone out.

Are you sure about the RCA signal passing through the headphone amp circuit ? NuForce hasn't replied with the technical specs and reply to that part but Headphone Addict on HF seems to have a different opinion which matches that of mine .

The ESS Sabre DAC's 2V output goes through the volume control to the RCA outputs unamplified. There is a headphone amp circuit between the volume pot and RCA out that is disabled when no headphone is plugged in, sending the unamplified signal to the RCA jacks. Plugging in a headphone activates the headphone amp and the RCA jacks are disabled.

The key point is the RCA output is unamplified and the 1/8" jack is amplified. The two outputs retain some of the same characteristics (slight warm, slight mids forward, slight recessed treble) because they share the same source, but do not sound the same to me. The RCA out sounds slightly more neutral to me, giving the amp you are feeding it into a little more neutral tone than the built-in amp. However, I do like the sound of both outputs.

Another guy has a different opinion /reply.

The headphone out and the RCA out are effectively the same thing, as they are both regulated by the uDac's volume control. There are those that say that there is a difference and the RCA out sounds better when the uDac is used as a stand-alone DAC. I think that it sounds best as an all in one unit myself so I prefer the headphone out. I have tried the uDac all three ways (dac only, dac/headamp, usb-s/pdif converter).

Lets see what NuForce has to say . I dont think the line out passes through the headphone amp section for two reasons , it's not as powerful as the headphone amp part and sounds slightly different as well .

 

[Brendon]

Are you sure about the RCA signal passing through the headphone amp circuit ? NuForce hasn't replied with the technical specs and reply to that part but Headphone Addict on HF seems to have a different opinion which matches that of mine .

Another guy has a different opinion /reply.

Lets see what NuForce has to say . I dont think the line out passes through the headphone amp section for two reasons , it's not as powerful as the headphone amp part and sounds slightly different as well .

I have no idea TBH. But when I max out the volume pot the sound started to clip and so I scaled back the volume a bit.

If a person does use the RCA out, then at what position should he/she keep it at ? A line out is considered a pure audio signal without any coloration from an amplifier. But if this signal is being routed through the volume pot then IMO its not a true line out.

However ClieOS also says it has a true line out - In Ear Matters: [REVIEW] NuForce uDAC - Big in Small

So I could be wrong on this count.

However I am very curious as I have yet to see a line out being regulated by a volume control. My old DACs lacked a volume control, but the Compass DAC out is a true line out and the volume control is disabled. I have yet to see / read about a DAC where the volume control works when the line out is enabled.

 

[FaH33m]

^ That's one of the reasons even I was confused.A true line level signal doesn't have volume control . ClieOS on the other hand has a explanation for that as well but I can't find it right now.Most probably the Sflo review thread or some Sansa lineout adapter thread , he had explained how these line outs with volume control work and why they can be considered as a true line out as well .