| | |  | DAC & Headphone Amp | Home » » NuForce Icon uDAC-2 (Black) Headphone Amp and USB DAC (24bit/96kHz) | | | | | | | Description: | | "A must-have laptop companion! Discover digital music's true headphone potential". NuForce uDAC-2 is a high-performance USB Digital Audio Converter (24bit/96kHz) 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 ***** | | | Features: | |
• Discrete USB audio receiver and D/A converter (24bit/96kHz)
• Coaxial S/PDIF output
• Double jitter-reduction mechanism at data level and at oversampling filter stage
• High voltage 2V analog output
• A highly linear TOCOS volume control for improved channel tracking at low listening levels.
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 1.6 inches | | Product Width:
| 0.6 inches | | Product Height:
| 2.6 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.18 pounds | | Package Length:
| 6.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.5 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 65 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 65 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 57 found the following review helpful:
 Does everything it claims and moreOct 23, 2010
By Kashif
Let me preface this review by saying that I am no audiophile but just an audio enthusiast who really enjoys and gets into his music.
Now, the review:
SIZE / BUILD / DESIGN / AESTHETICS :
The udac-2 is small i.e. very portable (more than the pictures lead you to believe) and I love that. I travel a lot for business and its size is so very much appreciated.
Looking at the pictures I thought it would feel slightly cheap or plasticy but I was VERY VERY wrong; the all aluminum construction is first rate and the unit feels EXTREMELY solid. The volume control has a good feel / actuation and the soft blue led light (when on) is a classy touch.
The RCA and Coaxial(S/PDIF) outputs are all gold plated and again, like the rest of the construction, very solid. I'll cover the sound quality from the RCA outputs in the audio performance section of the review.
There are a few color choices. I decided to get black but after getting it, seeing and feeling it, I wish I had gotten red or silver; its that good looking.
AUDIO / PERFORMANCE / SOUND QUALITY :
Right out of the box the sound quality is outstanding. The DAC and amplifier are both very musical. I listen to all kinds of music and all genres and ever since I got the udac2, I have listened to every kind from Jazz to hip hop, rap, dance, rock, pop etc. I just cannot wipe the grin off my face.
I have the following headphones:
Ultimate ears super.fi 5 pro
Klipsch Image S4i
Sennheiser HD595.
I tried the udac2 will all three and although each and every one of them sounded great, the udac2 made my Sennheisers sing. I usually reserve the use of the Sennheisers with my old Nakamichi stereo receiver but no more. This thing just blows the Nak's headphone amp out of the water. The audio review that follows is the udac2 with the Sennheisers.
Group/ Artist: Down To The Bone
Album: From Manhattan To Staten
Track: 01 - Staten Island Groove
Format: flac
I think this is a very dynamic (albeit quite long) track filled with layers and layers of elements. While listening to the track and almost each and every element stayed distinct and I think I may have picked up another element that I didn't know existed. I tapped my fingers and feet the whole time I listened to it.
Group/ Artist: DEPECHE MODE
Album: Violator (Remastered 2006)
Track: 06 - Enjoy The Silence
Format: flac
I have heard this track countless times and is one of my favorites. The udac2 did it justice. The baseline, drums, the guitar riff throughout are crystal clear and in perfect harmony.
Group/ Artist: Blue Man Group
Album: The Complex
Track: 03 - Sing Along (Featuring Dave Mathews)
Format: MP3, 320Kbps
I got completely lost in this track the 2 or 3 times I listened to it over and over. I don't know what else to say.
Group/ Artist: Bass Mekanik
Album: Max Killa Hertz
Track: 02 - Aktivate-Terminate
Format: MP3, 320Kbps
The bass and percussions were solid. Never once did the bass get muddy.
Group/ Artist: Green Day
Album: American Idiot
Track: 04 - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Format: flac
I felt Green Day were playing live for me.
I feel like listing every track I listened to and there was about 40 or 50 but this review would never end then.
The RCA outputs as I mentioned earlier are very solid. I connected the udac to the old nakamichi receiver in the bedroom. The signal was very strong and I wished this product was around a few years ago. I would have got this instead of a sound card to connect my HTPC to my home theater receiver; the sound quality would have been 10x better.
CONCLUSION / CLOSING THOUGHTS
It is everything that nuForce claims it is and more. Truth be told, I just cannot seem to stop listening to it and at $129 it is a steal. It has allowed me to enjoy my music when I am on the road as much as my main rig (some electronics connected to a McIntosh amp feeding paradigm studios) at a fraction of the cost.
Bravo nuForce!!
UPDATE APRIL 22, 2011
This thing is still as awesome as ever. Now that its broken in, it sounds even sweeter than before. In fact it sounds so good that I ended up replacing the sound card on my HTPC with the uDac2 (using the RCA outputs to my receiver). Results in one word? Fantabulous! And man is it Quiet! I cannot believe how much noise the old sound card (sound blaster X-Fi Xtreme) was picking up from the motherboard. Now, with the uDac2, all I hear is very detailed music and nothing more.
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Best Audiofile Bang For The BuckSep 14, 2010
By David K Pak
I had the udac-1 and thought it was a tremendous bang for the buck.
Just as a dac alone, is worth the price.
Not that it was perfect. I thought the udac-1's midrange was a little too forward, and treble a little rolled off. But again, nothing to complain about considering the price.
Well now with the udac-2 they have worked on these small imperfections making it definitely worth the upgrade. When I hook up the udac-2 to my B&K amp through the B&W 705 speakers, they sound so close to the Pico dac that it's hard to tell the difference.
I will add that the udac-2 still retains a slight midrange forwardness and warmth to the tone of the sound. Not as much as the udac-1 but enough to make the midrange shine and give warmth to the sound of any speaker or headphone. You can almost say that they are very tube like in character.
Really pleased!
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Plain wonderfulAug 26, 2010
By Chester Li
I only very recently began my journey into getting the very best audio for my systems.
I've tried out many pairs of headphones, and settled on a lower-budget pair of Senn HD595's. I figured, my system (Macbook Pro) wouldn't be pumping awesome music anyway, considering I have very little 320kbps FLAC/other lossless music on my computer. I took the dive to get the uDAC from a recommendation by a good friend.
WOW. This little thing has increased the quality of my music more than any of the other hardware I've bought so far. Every noise that now comes out of my Mac is jitter-free, as if someone had replaced every sound on my computer with one that was much higher-quality.
I read online that some people are worried about the controls with this thing. I have tested this on both the OSX and PC sides of my Mac. The system volume controls now work well with the DAC - I can now control the DAC's volume through both its own hardware switch (which is a great feature by itself) as well as through the computer/OS.
It's remarkably small, and requires no knowledge of anything to set up - just plug and play. Comes with a proper USB cable of good length (for me anyway). For those who are wondering, the light on the uDAC 2 (at least for this black one) is a less intrusive white, not bright blue.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Noticable improvement in sound qualityNov 13, 2010
By SteveAtlanta
First I do not regret this purchase for one second. This is a definite improvement in sound quality over the sound card in my computer I was using. Best description for the improvement is the sound is airier and crisper. Love the quality, compact and portable design. I have also started experimenting with high definition audio files, talk about another step up in sound quality. HD Tracks and B&W Society of Sound offer a few free downloads of up to 96 kHz, 24 bit FLAC files that will blow your mind on a decent sound system. These files are the Blu-Ray of sound. The Nuforce uDAC 2 will play these files in their native format. The NuForce uDAC even motivated me to dig out my old SennHeiser headphones, works great.
The one negative of this experience for me was set up of the NuForce Icon uDAC 2. Yes, on my Win 7 computer, just plug it into the USB port and the drivers auto install. But I ended up having to waste a half-hour of easily avoided frustration if Nuforce would have provided some instruction on how to "activate" the DAC to output sound. One option is to go to the Control Panel Sound screen and Set Default to the NuForce uDAC 2. This is not ideal as all computer sound travels only to the uDAC. What worked great for me was to set up Media Monkey to play my music through the uDAC to my stereo. Media Monkey Options, Output-Plugins, Direct Sound, Configure allows you to setup the NuForce Icon uDAC as the default. Voila, audio nirvana.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Better Than Buck RogersFeb 18, 2011
By Boulderito
With this little DAC, any computer, a decent pair of headphones, and a 24/96 FLAC music file download (about $15), you have a ticket to genuine high-end sound. Not the highest there is, but sound that would cost over $1000 to obtain any other way, and sound that is better than many a clown has paid 10 to 20 kilobucks for. It is about the size of a cigarette lighter, so taking it on business trips is practical. You can actually run this directly into a major power amp + speakers and it sounds very good; put a good pre-amp in between and you won't believe how fine it can sound.
One caveat: this device has ONE input: USB. It has THREE outputs: 1 stereo headphone mini-jack, 1 RCA stereo pair (female, R+L), and 1 SPDIF female coax RCA OUT. Some sites have this listed as having a coax SPDIF in and it does not. The only thing you can drive it with is a USB computer port. Windows XP and 7 computers can be set to handle 24-bit USB data, but you have to go into the sound settings and enable it. Once you do you can listen to true high-resolution material like high-res LP rips and digital master recordings and hear how much better than CDs they sound.
See all 65 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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