Well the new toy arrived today......
I ordered a Nuforce Icon uDAC2 to initially have a foray into the arena of adding a DAC between my Laptop and Sennheiser IE6's for use in the office. I initially wanted to see if I could hear a difference, rather than using the laptop on board soundcard and headphone out, before deciding if it is worthwhile buyng a more expensive DAC such as the Firestone Fubar IV Plus and Bravo.
I really didnt realise how small these DACs are......not much bigger than a box of matches......but complete with a DAC that can take up to 96kHz - 24 bit files, RCA, optical coaxial out plugs and a headphone out.
Initial impressions (after realising I had to set the NuForce as the Default out in the sound setting) are impressive. I am currently listening to Ani DiFranco's Reprieve album, a 88.2kHz - 24bit FLAC file in Media Monkey and the sound seems to be more open and defined with good tonal balance across the low, mid and high's. Instruments are defined (especially the acoustic guitar) and vocals sound as though they have a lot more body attached to them.
The NuForce definately seems to have tightened up and tamed what can be overpowering bass when I have used the IE6's through the laptop Headphone out in the past.
Dont get me wrong, I dont expect this £100 DAC to be any competition against a more expensive DAC with either the Laptop or in my Home System......but it does make you wonder what results / improvement you could get with a £300 or £500 DAC in the setup.
It's also really handy being able to control the volume via the NuForce, rather than having to keep opening the laptop volume control......I just set the volume to 60% on the Laptop and then control the volume to headphones via the NuForce.
All in All, very impressive......and I am going to throw some low resolution downloads at it to see how it handles them.
I ordered a Nuforce Icon uDAC2 to initially have a foray into the arena of adding a DAC between my Laptop and Sennheiser IE6's for use in the office. I initially wanted to see if I could hear a difference, rather than using the laptop on board soundcard and headphone out, before deciding if it is worthwhile buyng a more expensive DAC such as the Firestone Fubar IV Plus and Bravo.
I really didnt realise how small these DACs are......not much bigger than a box of matches......but complete with a DAC that can take up to 96kHz - 24 bit files, RCA, optical coaxial out plugs and a headphone out.
Initial impressions (after realising I had to set the NuForce as the Default out in the sound setting) are impressive. I am currently listening to Ani DiFranco's Reprieve album, a 88.2kHz - 24bit FLAC file in Media Monkey and the sound seems to be more open and defined with good tonal balance across the low, mid and high's. Instruments are defined (especially the acoustic guitar) and vocals sound as though they have a lot more body attached to them.
The NuForce definately seems to have tightened up and tamed what can be overpowering bass when I have used the IE6's through the laptop Headphone out in the past.
Dont get me wrong, I dont expect this £100 DAC to be any competition against a more expensive DAC with either the Laptop or in my Home System......but it does make you wonder what results / improvement you could get with a £300 or £500 DAC in the setup.
It's also really handy being able to control the volume via the NuForce, rather than having to keep opening the laptop volume control......I just set the volume to 60% on the Laptop and then control the volume to headphones via the NuForce.
All in All, very impressive......and I am going to throw some low resolution downloads at it to see how it handles them.
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