Nuforce uDac vs Chinese Dac

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archish

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was looking for cheap DAC to power the headphones. uDac is cheap but wanted to find some cheaper chinese stuff and found this,

basically PCM2707 I2S interface to TDA1543 and OPA2134 for amplification.

While the TDA chip is nice sounding on Valab DAC but have read a lot saying it requires good tweaking to get good output which I dount will be done on this chinese dac..:huh:

well for the start uDAC fanboys swear by ES9022/Saber chip
 
Havent tried the chinese DAC but have tried the uDAC and fell in love with it .Its pretty good for the price, can vouch for it ;).
 
And btw, not all Chinese DACs are junk! Here're my inputs on the comparison between the Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 and the Chinese counterpart - Xiangsheng DAC-01A.

The Maverick Audio D1 is essentially a clone of the Xiangsheng DAC-01A. Going by the snaps of the internals, the circuitry has barely underwent a change including the DAC itself which neither of the manufacturers are willing to disclose. I had an hour long interaction with Ryan, the guy behind the Maverick D1. Seemingly a very fond audiophile and a DIY'er, he did tell me that although the internals mimick the Chinese one, the D1 has changed a lot ever since the original TubeMagic A1 was released. The D1 and the Chinese one essentially have the same digital and analog inputs (instead of a line-in on the front of the Xiangsheng, they have one additional RCA at the back). The Xiangsheng offers an additional tube pre-out. The faceplate has underwent the customary change as well.

Btw Ryan did hint me that Maverick Audio is planning to bring about their next product which's probably an amp. Probably something that complements the pre-amp tube outs? :ohyeah:
 
Do look at the Audio.gd Sparrow and the basic FUN unit. Their DAC sections are average, the Amp is where both are brilliant.
 
^ Yeah something like the Alien DAC or the Grub DAC that you were talking of.. If one has the patience and skills to go the DIY way , they are VFM options :)
 
@Desecrator ..

Where does the tube come in the working of the 'Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 '?

In the DAC or the headphone amp?

Does anyone on TE have the "Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1"?
 
abbis said:
@Desecrator ..
Where does the tube come in the working of the 'Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 '?
In the DAC or the headphone amp?
Does anyone on TE have the "Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1"?
Click to expand...

It is not a part of the headphone amplifier. It offers a separate tube pre-out not to be intended to be used with headphones directly but coupled to another dedicated amp and then to the headphones.

Couple of them in the forums own the D1 - esanthosh is one of them. :)
 
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