Jump to content
IGNORED

Odac ??


Recommended Posts

have you heard it?

 

compared it to others?

 

I am wondering where all the $$$$ goes in the expensive DACs...

You generally get: higher grade of chip sets, a better power supply, better connectors for inputs/outputs, nice casework, and someone has probably spent a lot of hours listening to the different circuit components to select those that sound the best.

Main System: [Synology DS216, Rpi-4b LMS (pCP)], Holo Audio Red, Ayre QX-5 Twenty, Ayre KX-5 Twenty, Ayre VX-5 Twenty, Revel Ultima Studio2, Iconoclast speaker cables & interconnects, RealTraps acoustic treatments

Living Room: Sonore ultraRendu, Ayre QB-9DSD, Simaudio MOON 340iX, B&W 802 Diamond

Link to comment
have you heard it?

 

compared it to others?

 

I am wondering where all the $$$$ goes in the expensive DACs...

 

I own one. It wasn't the giant killer many fans wanted it to be.

 

Compared to better DACs, it lacks detail in the bass, and the background is more "grey" than "black", which prevents it from obtaining a naturalness of presentation that better DACs can achieve. Better power / usb signal improves the sound, but in my experience, better power / usb signal has made greater impacts with other (better) DACs.

 

It is better than the direct output from an iPhone or iPad, and was probably a reasonable value at the time, however it is likely that newer products have passed it by for value (like the DragonFly). It is also limited to 44.1,48, and 96 sampling rates.

Main System: Mac mini (Audirvana+, MMK, JS-2) -> ISO Regen (LPS-1) -> Icron 2201 (Rex LPS-1.2) -> ISO Regen (LPS-1.2) -> Ayre QB-9 Twenty -> Headamp GS-X Mk2 -> Classe CT-M600 -> KEF Reference 201/2

 

Link to comment

It was marketed to appeal to people who think of themselves as "objectivists." For example, it is objectivist canon that the impact of jitter is overblown. So the company selling the ODAC marketed it as not utilizing jitter reduction measures. The ESS chip they used had one such jitter reduction measure (ASRC) built in, so what they said wasn't correct. It might be the only time a DAC's actual capabilities were minimized for marketing purposes.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

Link to comment
@Jud : It looks likely to me that the ASRC was bypassed. According to the ES9023 advanced information datasheet that I found online, it offered a synchronous mode. Using that and a master clock on PLL with the USB input, the ODAC would behave as advertised. Do you have further information?
Link to comment

If you open up the case on ANY DAC........it is an electronic circuit. If you package that circuit behind a brand name and shiny box with blue LED's it makes it sound better :)

 

I have several DAC's and sometimes I swear the best DAC I ever heard is a USB Sabre HiFiMeDiy that costs $50. I'm kinda partial to my Schiit Bifrost as well.

 

I have a JDSLabs ODAC and bang for buck is a great deal. Hanging off a Raspberry Pi it is quite awesome.

Link to comment
@Jud : It looks likely to me that the ASRC was bypassed. According to the ES9023 advanced information datasheet that I found online, it offered a synchronous mode. Using that and a master clock on PLL with the USB input, the ODAC would behave as advertised. Do you have further information?

 

If you open up the case on ANY DAC........it is an electronic circuit. If you package that circuit behind a brand name and shiny box with blue LED's it makes it sound better :)

 

I have several DAC's and sometimes I swear the best DAC I ever heard is a USB Sabre HiFiMeDiy that costs $50. I'm kinda partial to my Schiit Bifrost as well.

 

I have a JDSLabs ODAC and bang for buck is a great deal. Hanging off a Raspberry Pi it is quite awesome.

 

Jay-dub, I don't have further information. Would it be reasonably easy to determine for someone who owns one?

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

Link to comment

@Ralf11

There are lots of dacs nowadays to choose from and most of them sound very good, but ODAC was the first one that cost ~$100 and sounded like dacs many times its price.

 

It was my first favorite dac and to my surprise I still have it in my headphone desktop rig, it sounds fantastic.

Since, I tried a few dacs. Just 2 years ago one, which is still quite popular and cost $500 just to return it two weeks later, because sound-wise it did not provide anything over ODAC.

A year ago I got the Chord Mojo, yes! it is better then ODAC, but it is also $600 list price. What is better in it, is very nuanced and subtle, it is also not an off the shelf dac chip, however well implemented behind a big name and a fancy box, but years of experience of one man that kept tweaking his code for decades. Is it worth that much - absolutely.

 

Anyways, I'd say if all you care is music and do not want/have to spend ~$500 for Mojo, I'd get an ODAC and didn't look back.

Lots of people will tell you it is not this or that, but most of them are running big buck systems, have experience with expensive equipment and their personal biases or preferences. It also quite often seems that equipment is their primary goal, not the music. You need to ask yourself what is it you are after.

my > overly > fancy > system > with > directional > interconnects > powered > by > ego & linear fusion reactor

Link to comment

These days there are options that simply smoke the ODAC. The New iFi Nano LE at $140 for instance, assuming it is as good as the original. FWIW, the ODAC must use either a PLL or ASRC as it only has one 12MHz clock.

@Ralf11

There are lots of dacs nowadays to choose from and most of them sound very good, but ODAC was the first one that cost ~$100 and sounded like dacs many times its price.

 

It was my first favorite dac and to my surprise I still have it in my headphone desktop rig, it sounds fantastic.

Since, I tried a few dacs. Just 2 years ago one, which is still quite popular and cost $500 just to return it two weeks later, because sound-wise it did not provide anything over ODAC.

A year ago I got the Chord Mojo, yes! it is better then ODAC, but it is also $600 list price. What is better in it, is very nuanced and subtle, it is also not an off the shelf dac chip, however well implemented behind a big name and a fancy box, but years of experience of one man that kept tweaking his code for decades. Is it worth that much - absolutely.

 

Anyways, I'd say if all you care is music and do not want/have to spend ~$500 for Mojo, I'd get an ODAC and didn't look back.

Lots of people will tell you it is not this or that, but most of them are running big buck systems, have experience with expensive equipment and their personal biases or preferences. It also quite often seems that equipment is their primary goal, not the music. You need to ask yourself what is it you are after.

Forrest:

Win10 i9 9900KS/GTX1060 HQPlayer4>Win10 NAA

DSD>Pavel's DSC2.6>Bent Audio TAP>

Parasound JC1>"Naked" Quad ESL63/Tannoy PS350B subs<100Hz

Link to comment
These days there are options that simply smoke the ODAC. The New iFi Nano LE at $140 for instance, assuming it is as good as the original. FWIW, the ODAC must use either a PLL or ASRC as it only has one 12MHz clock.

 

as I said "a big name and a fancy box"

btw the one I tried was iFi's iDSD and the sound wasn't better then my old smoked ODAC

my > overly > fancy > system > with > directional > interconnects > powered > by > ego & linear fusion reactor

Link to comment
@Ralf11

There are lots of dacs nowadays to choose from and most of them sound very good, but ODAC was the first one that cost ~$100 and sounded like dacs many times its price.

 

It was my first favorite dac and to my surprise I still have it in my headphone desktop rig, it sounds fantastic.

Since, I tried a few dacs. Just 2 years ago one, which is still quite popular and cost $500 just to return it two weeks later, because sound-wise it did not provide anything over ODAC.

A year ago I got the Chord Mojo, yes! it is better then ODAC, but it is also $600 list price. What is better in it, is very nuanced and subtle, it is also not an off the shelf dac chip, however well implemented behind a big name and a fancy box, but years of experience of one man that kept tweaking his code for decades. Is it worth that much - absolutely.

 

Anyways, I'd say if all you care is music and do not want/have to spend ~$500 for Mojo, I'd get an ODAC and didn't look back.

Lots of people will tell you it is not this or that, but most of them are running big buck systems, have experience with expensive equipment and their personal biases or preferences. It also quite often seems that equipment is their primary goal, not the music. You need to ask yourself what is it you are after.

 

Nice avatar. :) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_in_the_Fog)

 

I think you generalize too much when you say people with more expensive DACs have equipment rather than music as their primary goal. I selected my current DAC (a little less than 4 times the ODAC's price on sale) with a couple of very specific purposes in mind.

 

First, there are many recordings I am interested in that are only available in formats/resolutions the ODAC doesn't play. I didn't want to be limited in my choice of music. The DAC I chose allows me to listen to any recording I have seen available for purchase.

 

Second, part of a DAC's sound is the filtering it uses. If you select the ODAC (and many other considerably more expensive DACs), you are restricted to the filtering built into the DAC. I like to have my choice here, too, in order to get what I think is the most accurate, musical sound from the recording. So I picked a DAC that allows me to use the filtering I want, whether it comes from the DAC or from other sources.

 

Thus my goal in a DAC was to hear best the widest possible variety of music, rather than being able to say I have a particular piece of equipment. While of course "audio jewelry" exists, my guess is that most audiophiles make choices from a desire to serve the music.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

Link to comment

Big name, fancy box? The item I listed costs less than the JDS ODAC in a relatively simple enclosure. It includes a headphone amp and does more. It also sounds better regardless of if you can hear it or not.

 

Gosh, I just looked. If you want rca instead of a hp jack, it will cost you another $20= $169 for a ready to use item vs $130/40 for the iFi Nano(LE) which also does DSD and higher rate PCM.

as I said "a big name and a fancy box"

btw the one I tried was iFi's iDSD and the sound wasn't better then my old smoked ODAC

Forrest:

Win10 i9 9900KS/GTX1060 HQPlayer4>Win10 NAA

DSD>Pavel's DSC2.6>Bent Audio TAP>

Parasound JC1>"Naked" Quad ESL63/Tannoy PS350B subs<100Hz

Link to comment
Nice avatar. :) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_in_the_Fog)

 

I think you generalize too much when you say people with more expensive DACs have equipment rather than music as their primary goal. I selected my current DAC (a little less than 4 times the ODAC's price on sale) with a couple of very specific purposes in mind.

 

First, there are many recordings I am interested in that are only available in formats/resolutions the ODAC doesn't play. I didn't want to be limited in my choice of music. The DAC I chose allows me to listen to any recording I have seen available for purchase.

 

Second, part of a DAC's sound is the filtering it uses. If you select the ODAC (and many other considerably more expensive DACs), you are restricted to the filtering built into the DAC. I like to have my choice here, too, in order to get what I think is the most accurate, musical sound from the recording. So I picked a DAC that allows me to use the filtering I want, whether it comes from the DAC or from other sources.

 

Thus my goal in a DAC was to hear best the widest possible variety of music, rather than being able to say I have a particular piece of equipment. While of course "audio jewelry" exists, my guess is that most audiophiles make choices from a desire to serve the music.

 

I tried not to generalize, said "lots" not all the people. I'm sure people love music, but some love directionality of cables, re-clockers, all kinds of PSUs more, or at least that's the impression I get from threads where these are discussed.

 

I'm in no way try to promote ODAC, just saying there is nothing wrong with it.

ODAC had a very important role, it showed that very nice(might not be everybody's taste) sounding DAC did not have to cost south of a $1000. Lot's of time passed since, and I found myself with a DAC that I never thought, just two years ago, I'd be willing to buy, but I love it. I arrived at my decision like many people here by trying to read what other people are saying and digging all kinds of information and comparisons.

Above all, I love music, all kinds of good music and threads as http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f15-music-general/album-evening-7578/ are invaluable to me.

 

It is nice to have all these choices of DACs: Dacs | DAR__KO, but it can be daunting and confusing task to make sense why one cost $300 and another $3000, is it 100x times better? For somebody who is coming from a standard 3.5mm jack our of a computer it is not easy to understand all these formats, capabilities, filters, which could be very important, I understand. It takes time to learn.

 

@Jud - avatar comes from Soviet times cartoon:

which I hold dear

my > overly > fancy > system > with > directional > interconnects > powered > by > ego & linear fusion reactor

Link to comment
@Jud - avatar comes from Soviet times cartoon:
which I hold dear

 

Yes, I had heard about it and it was one of the first things I watched when I got my Apple TV. :)

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

Link to comment
I tried not to generalize, said "lots" not all the people. I'm sure people love music, but some love directionality of cables, re-clockers, all kinds of PSUs more, or at least that's the impression I get from threads where these are discussed.

 

Sorry. Not buying it. "Lots" is still pretty general when listing some standard objectivist arguments for the ODAC. I personally don't know anyone who would fit that criteria. That whole piece would be better left unsaid unless one is deliberately trying to be inflammatory.

 

On the other hand, this is an ODAC thread.... :)

Main System: Mac mini (Audirvana+, MMK, JS-2) -> ISO Regen (LPS-1) -> Icron 2201 (Rex LPS-1.2) -> ISO Regen (LPS-1.2) -> Ayre QB-9 Twenty -> Headamp GS-X Mk2 -> Classe CT-M600 -> KEF Reference 201/2

 

Link to comment
Sorry. Not buying it. "Lots" is still pretty general when listing some standard objectivist arguments for the ODAC. I personally don't know anyone who would fit that criteria. That whole piece would be better left unsaid unless one is deliberately trying to be inflammatory.

 

On the other hand, this is an ODAC thread.... :)

 

Just re-read your signature - that is inflammatory, not sure of ego or bank account size ?

my > overly > fancy > system > with > directional > interconnects > powered > by > ego & linear fusion reactor

Link to comment
What is the cheapest DAC that can handle various 'formats' and sounds as good as the uber spendy ones?

 

And, are there any blind listening tests on different DACs?

 

If Objective-DAC wasn't a controversial enough title. I wouldn't even try to answer this loaded question.

 

How about looking at these two lists:

2016 Recommended Components Digital Processors | Stereophile.com

and

The Darko DAC (and digital transport) Index | DAR__KO

 

See which ones appeal to you and your budget and then learning about them. There is no a single dac that seem to satisfy everybody.

my > overly > fancy > system > with > directional > interconnects > powered > by > ego & linear fusion reactor

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...