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ODAC - general and technical discussions

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I did find out more information on the proper way to install Odac board into O2. It looks like the above info is also wrong. As the odac is supposed to automatically disconnect when you plug in any other input, and it will not as installed above. I read this on another forum. (Bada Bing, from Head-Fi)
If you wire directly to P1 pads, the ODAC is hard wired to the input of the amp all the time.
If you wish to have the input switch built into the input jack socket function, i.e jack in an
external source disconnects the ODAC, jack removed connects the internal mounted ODAC,
then you must cut the traces and wire to pins 3 & 4 on the underside of the O2 pcb
for L & R out of the ODAC.

If you wire the ODAC directly to P1, a potential problem is if you connect an external source
and forget and also have the ODAC powered and playing as well. This wires the
outputs of the two sources directly together. The two sources
will "fight" and over draw current from one or the other with potential damage.
 
ODAC "crammed" inside B2-080 case with Objective 2 amp with batteries still in tact. The pics are of a test fit, I have not burnt any solder yet. The inductor and the micro usb port do make conntact with the case botttom(not sure if this is an issue)?, its a tight fit with some filing of the ODAC pcb it would fit slightly better.

They upside of this for me is retaining battery operation. I'm not clear on how to wire this to retain the input jack or what type/gauge of wire to use. Any advice is appreciated.
 

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Just got my new oDAC up and running. I mounted it on a small piece of plywood and fed it from an ancient laptop running Voyage mpd (also new).

The DAC feeds my Pass BA-3 and F4 via an old passive control unit.

Gain is a bit low, but it sounds great. It's the first time I've heard 24/96 music on my main system, and it's fantastic.

The main overall change I notice from other sources is the delicacy and smoothness of violins and other high frequency content.

Long term I hope to do an Alix / Voyage server with the oDAC in a box as my primary (non-vinyl) front end.

mpd is controlled with mpod on my iPhone - its great to be able to find all my music from my chair!

Tim
 
I received my custom back panel for the O2 + internal ODAC board from Front Panel Express today. Both the front and the back panel are of my own design, using FPE's software.

As mentioned by others, flipping the ODAC board upside down and mounted below the O2 PCB results in a tight fit, but retains uses of the batteries. I added two RCA jacks for a line level ODAC output in case I want to send the audio to another amplifier.

Here's the result:
 

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I received my custom back panel for the O2 + internal ODAC board from Front Panel Express today. Both the front and the back panel are of my own design, using FPE's software.

As mentioned by others, flipping the ODAC board upside down and mounted below the O2 PCB results in a tight fit, but retains uses of the batteries. I added two RCA jacks for a line level ODAC output in case I want to send the audio to another amplifier.

Here's the result:

That O2 with the RCAs coming out at the back plus ODAC is looking sweet.
What type of RCA are those?
 
The full O2 kit from Stefan contains nice brain puzzle.

The power connector does fit well if the front panel is not mounted, but the connecter is too short when the panel is mounted.

I've thought that I would need to drill bigger hole into panel, or buy a new connector ... but ... the problem has much easier solution... ;-)
 
The full O2 kit from Stefan contains nice brain puzzle.

The power connector does fit well if the front panel is not mounted, but the connecter is too short when the panel is mounted.

I've thought that I would need to drill bigger hole into panel, or buy a new connector ... but ... the problem has much easier solution... ;-)

Hi miero,

am I allowed to solve it?

Solution is a sharp carpet knife and a steady hand :) I take about 1.5mm of the insulation on the barrel of and the plug fits snug.
The barrel on the power supply has standard length, all power supplies will have the same "issue".

Stefan
 
All,

Recently got the ODAC. Want to hook it up to two Hypex UcD180HG modules.

Have two main questions:
1. how to connect the unbalanced output of the ODAC to the balanced inputs of the Hypex modules
2. how to do proper earthing, the ODAC can be powered by the computer or from my Hypes SMPS400, how do I ensure they share a common ground or should I let them float?

Hope you can share your experiences/advice on this.

Regards,

Mario
 

thanks for comparsion !

I have perfect diy headphone amp (Dispre by PMA)
and i was searching some good OP FREE dac for making combo with this amp.

My backup solution was Audio GD NFB-5 which has same (or worst) DAC module than standalone DAC NFB-3 but from your comparison i can see, that ODAC is better than NFB-3.
Im sure that my Dispre headamp is much better than headamp in NFB-5 so i think my combo (ODAC+Dispre) will be perfect.

Especialy if i will use this perfect super regulator as power supply for ODAC

SSR01 Sjöström Super Regulator

So...

ODAC is ordered and on the way :D

i will post impressions later
 
Greetings to all (my first post).

Problems/Complaints with the quality sound of the ODAC?

Head-Fi Brief Odac impressions – Page 16. post #234

Head-Fi Brief Odac impressions – Page 18

diyAudio NwAvGuy odac 24/96 DAC review rjm, June 23, 2012
I compared it with my Onkyo SE-200PCI sound card. This 24/192 (115dB S/N A-weighted, 0.003% THD 0dB 1kHz) PCI card sells for about $15,000 yen and is based on the VIA Envy HT and Wolfson WM8740.
I’m listening to 16bit 44.1kHz .wav (CD rips), though VLC [sample rate converter set to sinc, best quality, resampling quality 8]. Windows 8 release preview [default format 24/192 (onkyo), 24/96 (odac)]. Line out though Oyaide PA-02TR interconnects to the Sapphire headphone amp, and Sennheiser HD-600s.
**
So, I was planning on writing up a big ‘ol review with my impressions, but, well… there’s not really a lot of point. I can’t very well sugar coat this: the odac is not very pleasant to listen to. It’s thin and hard-edged, with a headache-inducing digital sheen that frankly I haven’t experienced since the early gen CD players of the 1980′s.
About the only positive spin I can manage is to point out that it sounds better than the NuForce udac, which was simply distorted and noisy. The odac is at least clean and clear sounding.
Unfortunately it’s also sterile and cold where it should be musical and involving.
**
I did a re-test, playing with the sample rates and bit depths, 16/44, 24/96 on both Onkyo and odac. Although I generally prefer the upsampled output, the difference is relatively small. I stand by what I wrote above.
While the odac has an admirably low noise floor, good stereo reproduction, and clean, accurate (to a point) sound, there is a slight “shouty” quality, a tendency to harden up on intense passages, that suggests insufficient power reserves. I also can’t shake the feeling that something is not right in the ultrasonic band. High frequency transients are brittle to the point of being physically unpleasant. It’s not something you can easily spot unless you have a good reference to compare to - you might be tempted otherwise to think the track was recorded that way - but I suspect the long term effect, listener fatigue, will become obvious to most people sooner rather than later
 
Odac Big compliment

Hi there,

My Odac arrived last friday.
After 2 days listening there is only one compliment to make abount this tiny little dac: it's the most natural dac I've herad so far!
It's just there doing nothing with the stuff it has to take. It produces music without anything added. It plays instruments like they are, pure and natural. Bass well controlled, nothing blurred. Stereo very image very wide, real stage!
Most dacs, like mine € 1500,- ......dac are also ok, but it ads something to the music that really doesn't belong to it.
In mine opion this little dac does nothing wrong! It just plays music, perfectly. No stress, and you don't get tired of listening to this dac. Not at all!
I wonder what it will do against the 'big' names in the industry! But then again I don't care, I have a great sound now with this little box!

greetings from Holland:)
 
Head-Fi Brief Odac impressions – Page 22. post #234 jseaber (JDSLabs)
…It’s not a bad batch. We’ve tested every unit and only identified 1 bad ODAC board (defective R channel). So far, all other issues have been caused by operating system glitches or cable/power problems. One customer in Norway reported that his ODAC produces odd distortion when another digital audio device is connected to the same USB hub. If you’re having trouble:


- Try a different USB cable, with ferrite
- Try a powered USB hub
- Switch to a different USB port on the computer
- Unplug other DACs from the computer…
 
Greetings to all (my first post).

Problems/Complaints with the quality sound of the ODAC?

Head-Fi Brief Odac impressions – Page 16. post #234

Head-Fi Brief Odac impressions – Page 18

diyAudio NwAvGuy odac 24/96 DAC review rjm, June 23, 2012
I compared it with my Onkyo SE-200PCI sound card. This 24/192 (115dB S/N A-weighted, 0.003% THD 0dB 1kHz) PCI card sells for about $15,000 yen and is based on the VIA Envy HT and Wolfson WM8740.
I’m listening to 16bit 44.1kHz .wav (CD rips), though VLC [sample rate converter set to sinc, best quality, resampling quality 8]. Windows 8 release preview [default format 24/192 (onkyo), 24/96 (odac)]. Line out though Oyaide PA-02TR interconnects to the Sapphire headphone amp, and Sennheiser HD-600s.
**
So, I was planning on writing up a big ‘ol review with my impressions, but, well… there’s not really a lot of point. I can’t very well sugar coat this: the odac is not very pleasant to listen to. It’s thin and hard-edged, with a headache-inducing digital sheen that frankly I haven’t experienced since the early gen CD players of the 1980′s.
About the only positive spin I can manage is to point out that it sounds better than the NuForce udac, which was simply distorted and noisy. The odac is at least clean and clear sounding.
Unfortunately it’s also sterile and cold where it should be musical and involving.
.......



Hello,
have you tried independent power supply ?
I think this can solve your problem with insufficient power and USB isolator should solve ultrasonic problems.

I will use this USB isolator
ADuM4160 USB Isolator board, populated « Circuits@Home
and this super regulator as poer supply
SSR01 Sjöström Super Regulator - Technical data
you can see the unbelievably low noise ...

I don' t agree with NwAvGuy, that power from USB is sufficient and can be cleaned.
But all other points of NwAvGuy's "philosophy" and work looks O.K. for me, so i decided order one DAC and try how good realy is.
 
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