| | |  | DAC & Headphone Amp | Home » » NuForce Icon uDAC-2 (Red) 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
• High-quality analog volume control
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 2.36 inches | | Product Width:
| 1.65 inches | | Product Height:
| 2.72 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.18 pounds | | Package Length:
| 6.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.6 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.45 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 17 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 17 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Small and powerfulJan 05, 2011
By A User
The NuForce Icon uDAC-2 has been a useful and effective addition to my computer audio setup.
Pros: (1) Tiny footprint; (2) USB powered, so no wall-wart; (3) Excellent sound quality; (4) Handy onboard volume control; (5) Good connectivity for its size (one USB input, one headphone output, one coaxial digital output, and one pair of RCA line-level audio outputs); (6) Recognized by MS Windows immediately and without additional software. Cons: (1) On/off switch is at the "smallest" end of the rotary volume control, like an old car radio. This causes undue wear on the control and "forgets" your ideal volume setting between sessions; (2) Depending on the power arrangement of USB port it's connected to, it may be on, off, or sleeping while the computer itself is powered down; (3) Sound quality improvement may not be dramatic if your motherboard sound hardware is already good. (4) Won't drive some larger headphones such as over-the-ear models from AKG; (5) Content to really leverage the DAC's capabilities (24 bits, 96 KHz) may not be readily available for all genres (but that's not really a uDAC-2 criticism).
For me the uDAC-2 solved a particular problem: my motherboard audio hardware is severely polluted by the digital circuits in the PC. There is a noticible whine present 100% of the time, and louder noises always occur during periods of disk activity. As an external digital device the uDAC-2 is immune to these conditions, and gives me crystal-clear audio without any of the artifacts. Sweet!
Whether the uDAC-2 is worthwhile for you will depend on your current computer audio arrangement. If you already have a soundcard with decent DACs on it, then you probably can
pass. If you use your PC for proofing audio files, but do your serious listening elsewhere, you can pass. But if you do a lot of music listening on your PC, and you're still using motherboard AC'97-style audio, the uDAC-2 will give a noticible improvement in both frequency response and dynamics.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Tiny Amp, Huge SoundSep 10, 2010
By Micaiah D
I've never written a review for anything but after receiving this amp I just had to. It's actually a gift for my brother. A few months ago I got him some Audio Technica ATH AD-700 headphones and they sound quite good plugged into a laptop or iPod. You can tell though that they could sound a lot better with a better source. After reading the glowing reviews about this little dac/amp and the price being reasonable I decided it was worth a try. Well I just got it in the mail yesterday. I've got some 10 year old Sony headphones that don't sound nearly as good as the Audio Technicas. After not being able to stop myself from opening what's supposed to be a gift for my brother, I plugged the usb cord it into my laptop. I was expecting it to sound ok but the Sony's sounded amazing. They have never had a sound stage before. Well hooked to the Icon uDac they have one. The clarity is amazing and more than enough power for songs that have tons of bass. Then I plugged the uDac icon 2 into my sound system as a source, which includes revealing Magnepan MMG speakers. Again there was a huge improvement and they never sounded so good. My source normally is Cambridge Audio's D500SE CD player which is about 7 years old but still sounds good, or at least it used to till I tried this tiny thing as a source. I'm sure there are better amps and dacs out there but I'm pretty sure they would be a lot more expensive. Another plus is that it has not only RCA outputs on back that are controlled by the volume knob but it can be used as a 24/96 USB to SPDIF converter with the digital out rca. Above all, this thing is just fun to listen to, especially when I think of how little I paid for it. To bad I already told my brother I got him something. Guess I'll have to by one for me now.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
hear your music again for the first time...Mar 12, 2011
By P. Wells
I am most impressed with my uDAC-2, I put this on my wish list and my wife picked it up for my bday. I am really enjoying this little device. This is my first DAC, like many these days I've got a fairly extensive digital music collection, I also have a pretty large vinyl collection, and as I transfer that stuff to MP3 or FLAC files I really want to make sure I'm hearing everything. I was doing some digging around on the web recently and came across a review of this device and downloaded some FLAC test files. I played them through my regular pc headphone jack and then through the NuForce2, wow. Initially I did notice improved clarity and details I'd been missing before but doing some AB'ing really made that stand out.
Some have complained about some channel balance issues with the pot on this device. Short of spending as much as this device costs to 3x as much on a high end volume control, I find no fault what so ever with the pot on this device. At very low volume levels it is not uncommon to experience some channel balance issues. I have a couple other amps that at barely audible volume levels there is some noticeable balance issues, but turn it up a smidge and the issue goes away. At low "listening" levels, I have experienced no balance issues at all.
Now I'm running my NuForce2 into my Bottlehead Crack OTL amp and holy smoke Batman!! I thought the Crack sounded good before... now with the uDAC-2 between my laptop and my Crack, I'm simply blown away.
I did listen to the uDAC-2 as a stand alone headphone amp while doing homework this week and it isn't lacking anything either. My Sennheiser ear buds have never sounded so good. I pulled them out and stuck them back into my MP3 player, and then back to the uDAC-2... mmmmnnn musical goodness. Improved bass response, fuller mid range, nothing lacking from the top end either. Vocals are excellent, I have no real complaints, I could probably spend some time looking for one but I'd rather just listen to some more music.
Well done, I'm very pleased with this little amp/dac I might even be forced to buy a second one to take to work, but as small as this little guy is, I might just have to toss it into my bag and carry it back and forth for a while.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The Most Substantial Upgrade In A Long TimeFeb 09, 2011
By Faizal Arabi
Why does one need an external DAC? Simple answer is to reduce jitter and noise which is ever present in computer audio. I'll admit that I made the purchase based solely upon the great reviews from head-fi, and it was a sound purchase indeed, no pun intended.
The biggest difference I noticed when I plugged in the u-DAC 2 is that the audio is so much cleaner and the bass tighter through my pretty decent hi-fi system. I'm only using it as a USB DAC but I did try plugging in my Grado SR60i headphones directly into the u-DAC 2 and I have to say it sounded cleaner and the highs/sibilance were tamed compared to being plugged directly into the headphone jack on the PC.
If like me, you download most of your music in 24bit/96kHz from the likes of HDtracks and linnrecords, then I would highly recommend the u-DAC 2 because it really does make a substantial difference in the sound quality of computer audio and the price is relatively cheap compared to most audiophile components. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Almost PerfectJan 09, 2011
By J. Clarkson
"jaffle: graphics monkey"
I am using the NuForce uDAC-2 with my MacBook Pro i7 and a pair of Grado 325is headphones.
First and foremost, there is a noticeable improvement over the sound quality from the earphone jack out of the MacBook. The sound is fuller bodied and much smoother. This is not a small improvement: it is a fairly remarkable difference. The unit passes sound through clear and precise, with no coloring that I can detect. Perhaps it imparts a slight warmth, but that is not exactly unwelcome. Even so, it is subtle.
The build quality of the NuForce uDAC-2 is top notch: the unit has a chunky metal casing that feels bullet-proof, and the matte finish on the metal feels like it will last for some time. The ports all feel solid and well seated; I am not worried about a RCA terminal coming loose. The Grado 1/8" adaptor fits tightly into the headphone jack with a satisfying click.
I do have a complaint though and I almost gave this unit a three star review because of this. At low volumes, the device slews towards the left channel. If I go below the nine o'clock position, the sound starts dropping in the right channel faster than the left, in essence panning the signal towards the left ear. I know it is not my ears: I reversed the cans and noticed the sound would then drop off to the right.
I am worried that this slewing is happening beyond just the lower sound range, but at higher volumes it is not as noticeable, (if it is present at all). If I could detect this fault at my normal listening position 10-11 o'clock, the unit would be unusable, but fortunately I cannot. That doesn't mean it is not there, but just that it might be subtle enough to be undetectable to my ears. Regardless, IMO this is a fairly serious design flaw.
I'd still recommend the unit, as long as you listen past the nine o'clock position. And I am willing to admit perhaps I got a bum unit? Not sure. Regardless, even with the flaw, I would recommend the NuForce uDAC-2.
See all 17 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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