Optoma NuForce uDAC5 High-Resolution Mobile DAC

This is a tiny and extremely well built and solid device. It handles my Beyerdynamic DT 880 600 Ohm headphones with ease (the volume knob for comfortably loud music is between 2-3 o'clock). it runs off computer USB power and has variable power output to amplification sources (including active speakers) allowing it to be used as a pre-amplifier. The sound compares very well with larger DAC/amps that i have used from Schitt, Topping, Musical Fidelity and Audiolab. It will (just) work with smartphones however is really best for laptops and desktops. Now if Optoma had a power amplifier with similar proportions to this DAC one would likely have the world's smallest audiophile HifI setup. I recommend unreservedly!

First off, the uDAC5 is TINY! It fits in the palm of your hand -- easily. The pictures make it look bigger than it really is. Plus, it's USB powered, so there's no separate power brick. Five stars for portability.Second, the volume knob is plastic. It looks like metal in the pictures, but it's not. And mine wasn't well centered on its spindle. This detracted from the otherwise excellent build quality, although the case itself is very rugged. Four stars for build quality.Third, the sound quality was good, but not as good as more expensive DACs that I've used. Just 3.5 stars for that.Bottom line - if you want a portable DAC/headphone amp for your phone or laptop, then the uDAC5 might be the perfect choice for you. Four stars overall.

So this DAC sounds very good hence 2 stars, but only at certain volume settings.After maybe a month or so of owning this DAC, I noticed significant high frequency noise at certain voltage ranges. Notably at 100% and maybe 60-70% turned. I submitted an RMA twice with no answer. Finally, I called Optoma to set up an RMA, paid to ship the unit to them for repair, and I'm pretty sure they sent back the same unit without doing any repair or informing me they did anything. So I figured I was just stuck with a faulty DAC.Recently, I ordered a replacement because I ran out of warranty, mostly to see if this was an engineering problem or a one-off. The new DAC presents the same noise as my old one.Don't waste your time and money.

I'm using my first uDAC5 mainly as a headphone amplifier for my laptop. My second uDAC5 acts an amplifier to play music from (another) laptop or my mobile to my sound system. The uDAC5 is compact, and simple to use. It gets power via the USB so no need for external power supply, so no extra power cable. It feels solid well designed. Well, I'm happy with it.

Now if you need a solid dac that works well without a lot of features to confuse you this is it. Works well and sounds amazing.

Total piece of crap. I had a NuForce uDAC3 that was great for about a year until the micro USB port broke off on the inside. This model appears better in that is uses the older, more solid USB B type port. Unfortunately it is not as good of quality as the uDAC3 in spite of being almost 3x the cost. This DAC has buzzing/hum that will only go away if I turn on/off the device by unplugging it, which my uDAC3 would do every once in a while if it was plugged in for over a day. This new one commonly produces humming/buzz immediately upon plugging it in. The most annoying problem with this new DAC is it randomly "disconnects" and has to be unplugged/re-plugged in and then I have to manually tell Windows to use another speaker source, then switch back to the uDAC. This is extremely annoying and never happened with my uDAC3.

I have 4 DACs in this price range and two upper end models. I kept reading great reviews of this NuForce uDAC5 but I was using it's RCA outs on the back and not getting very good results. Something just wasn't right but it sounded amazing on open ear headphones so I finally used a 1/8" to double RCA cable and it sounds much better. I've used headphone jack outs on several systems and it works for me. Using a tube headphone amp as a pre-amp on a type T power amplifier and WOW.I'm using a quality USB cable with the uDAC5, but I think it might benefit from some iDefender USB ground loop gizmo and a good power supply. I'm using these iFi USB cleanup gizmos on most of my USB DACs. They seem to help clean up the USB signal a little. If you don't need a volume control, the Schiit Modi 3 is my favorite in this price range. This is second best and has volume. It might be just as good as Schitt with $100 worth of USB power clean up from iFi.I have no affiliation with any of these companies! I do take pictures for McGary Audio who makes tube amps.

I did not compare between DACs, but comparing the sound through this DAC against the standard audio output on my Dell E7270 laptop, the DAC is remarkably better. The all-metal case looks and feels solid, and I love the fact that it is USB powered, so I don't have to deal with another power supply.

Optoma NuForce μDac5La marca Optoma despego en buenas criticas gracias a su lineal HEM y por ende quise probar los HEM8 con su DAC recomendado que aunque no es el mejor de la marca es de buen nivel.posee un chip de sonido ESS Sabre 9010 K2M lo cual aunque es de bajo consumo eléctrico arroja resultados excepcionales.el uDac fue probado con una buena cantidad de auriculares, y tras hacer comparativas con mi aun funcional FiiO Q1 de primer generación puedo acertar a que el sonido mejora considerablemente.la construcción del equipo es totalmente echa en aluminio, resistente, robusto y con muy buen acabado, el cable usb es grande y el equipo soporta la mayoría de formatos que hay, incluyendo DSDSonido:lo primero que note fue mas naturalidad y realismo en el sonido, cada canción cobraba vida misma al ser reproducidas con varios auriculares, la esencia de la música, es de sonido mas lineal, a diferencia del Q1 que pude percibir su perfil en V gracias a escuchar el uDac5.Diferenciado del Q1, el sonido es mas lineal pero percibiendo una sutil calidez, en lo personal me gusta el sonido mas fresco pero no le pongo quejas al resultado que arroja este equipo,un efecto que a algunos podría sonarles conocido es la porosidad del sonido,este equipo la quita comparando con el Q1, esos micromini espacios entre canciones segundo a segundo se elimina hasta donde mi oído es capaz de percibir, creando un sonido completamente estable y continuo.lo eh usado con Jriver tanto en salida DSD como PCM a 24 bitslos medios resaltan bastante, pero esto debe ser un efecto de lo que el Q1 me dejo ya que al ser sonido en V siempre escuche los Medios un poco por detrás.el sonido es sumamente suave, puedes escuchar mucho tiempo y no querer despegarte de las canciones debido a su magnifico sonido, algo a recalcar también es que el uDac no cuenta con un amplificador de alto rendimiento, pero así como esta no se inmuta con auriculares de impedancias medianas de hasta de 80 Ω sin problemas, como los Sony Z7, manejo bien los HD598 de Sennheiser, Mee Audio Pinneacle P1 de 50 Ω, adicional a ello le eh conectado en apoyo un FiiO K5 para auriculares de mayor impedancia como los Sennheiser HD700 y los RHA CL1 de 150 Ω cada uno.es un equipo que me gusto mucho. sin embargo se alimenta por USB. esto lo hace muy portable pero no es mi estilo llevarlo a diferentes lugares. para eso sigo ocupando el FiiO Q1 que tiene bateria y puede usarse en conjunto a un SmartPhone o como auxiliar amplicador de un DAP.

My first dac/amp, sounds great with my Sennheiser hd598 CS. Also have the digital out running to my stereo. Did my research and this unit lives up to it's great reviews.

PCM でしか聞いていません。uDAC3 までと比べ、すっきり、あっさりした音だと思いました。上品になった反面、パンチ力に欠けます。つまみの回転に対する音量の変化が、おかしいです。かなり回さないと音量が上がらず、その後急に上昇。扱いにくいです。USB が普通の B タイプになったのは、強度の面で安心感あります。よく机から落としそうになるのです。造りが良くなったのは特筆ものです。合わせの精度が、uDAC3 より格段に向上。音量つまみのところも彫り込んであり、良い色合いのアルミ筐体とあいまって高級感を出しています。値段は倍になりましたが、造りのよさと、DSD 対応など機能向上で納得です。でも音は uDAC3 のほうが好みかな。Aug.4,2016 追記使うのをやめました。速い音の再生に難があると気づいたのです。具体的には、「ハイハットに付けたタンバリン」のような、鈴の音がうもれてしまって聞こえなくなります。星の数も変えさせていただきました。

Pro: Es un producto que cumple con lo que ofrece, reproduce formatos de alta resolución y tiene buena amplificación de audífonos.Contra: Mete mucha distorsión a volúmenes altos, si tomando como referencia las manecillas del reloj, a partir de las 3 todo es distorsión (medido con osciloscopio).Opinión: El producto me llegó sin la etiqueta de HiRes, estaba algo sucio y la caja estaba un poco maltratada, me da la sensación de que me enviaron un producto usado. Pensé en regresarlo pero lo conservé para no perder los gastos de importación.

Worse than onboard audio. Basically an over priced 3.5mm extension cord. Volume control is crap.