JDS Labs ODAC

[ptempel]

I recently took delivery on one of these:

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=39

I bought the one in the standalone case.  Its even smaller than the Muse TDA1543x4 DAC I currently have.  It sounds really good.    Will have to try to make comparisons against the Teralink X2 and Muse TDA1543x4 when I get the chance.  Sounds like a good value for $150 so far.  The only minor complaint would be that it does not have a separate 5V power connector.  You have to get it from the USB cable.

[earwaxxer]

The stuff looks well made for the price. Its amazing how many little companies there are out there!

[Noskipallwd]

I believe this is designed by NwAvGuy, I find it curious, when he was all over the net trashing a number of manufacturers products he swore he had no commercial interests. He is also of the opinion that lovers of the SET sound are delusional. Sorry couldn't help myself.

Cheers,
Shawn

[ptempel]

Yeah, there are a lot of DAC vendors out there.  Found the original page on the ODAC here:

http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2012/04/odac-released.html

Its the same dude that designed the O2 headphone amp.  Its based on ESS Sabre ES9023.

[ptempel]

I believe this is designed by NwAvGuy, I find it curious, when he was all over the net trashing a number of manufacturers products he swore he had no commercial interests. He is also of the opinion that lovers of the SET sound are delusional. Sorry couldn't help myself.

Yeah that's the guy.  JDS Labs is not his company, AFAIK.  NwAvGuy (or whatever his name is) doesn't sell anything.  His designs look good, but he's probably more firmly in the solid state camp than we are.  I think there's a place for both since I'm currently using a Quickie with a Classdaudio amp.

[Noskipallwd]

Thats a pretty good value, they are offering a good sounding unit based on the Sabre Dac in a small package for $150.00. I thought the O2 sounded good, as well, but a little too SS for me. I was just venting, he's one of those people that rub me the wrong way. Has nothing to do with his engineering skills though.

Cheers,
Shawn

[earwaxxer]

yep, lots of prickly personalities out there! Some sites seem to attract them. Those that like to argue. Computer Audiophile comes to mind....

[Wormwood]

From what I understand NwAvGuy doesn't make a cent out of these. It's a pure open design though he(?) was working with JDS Labs in a very indirect way.

Talking JDS Labs I have the Bass Boost cMoy v2.01 Headphone Amplifier and it's a pure corker. I am looking at modding it (or having it modded) for my in earbuds as the pot is very touchy on them. I am looking at the C421 or the O2 to replace my Fii0 E17... which I find boring. Of course I am eyeing up the ODAC too for the same replacement. The reasoning is that I am a computer gamer, not as much anymore but I do like a good virtual romp and as I am yet to order my S.E.X I do feel that it will not mesh with the sound of a Black Hawk down. I could be wrong.



Wormwood

[Paul Birkeland]

I believe this is designed by NwAvGuy, I find it curious, when he was all over the net trashing a number of manufacturers products he swore he had no commercial interests. He is also of the opinion that lovers of the SET sound are delusional.

Yeah, I have read over this guy's design philosphy, and there is almost no overlap with what we are up to at Bottlehead.

The driving principle behind these designs is that making a design change that results in less distortion always results in better sound.  One example of this is the O2 headphone amplifier, where two opamps are used per channel with gobs of feedback to push the THD way, way down.  This is not an invalid approach to audio design, it's just one that we don't really agree with.  We could add feedback to nearly all of our products for very little cost (just a few resistors in most cases) and reduce the total harmonic distortion, but the sonic consequences of doing so are significant.

-PB

[Jim R.]

I'll say up front that I've never heard the ODAC, but If I were considering it for myself, I'd fine the inability to play 24/88.2 khz material a pretty serious handicap.  Of course one can use SRC and such, but I tend to like to leave files alone using no EQ, replay gain, or SRC, but that's me, but this may not be an issue at all for others.

-- Jim

[Armaegis]

Yeah, I have read over this guy's design philosphy, and there is almost no overlap with what we are up to at Bottlehead.

I followed his saga early on. Maybe he's right (he certainly believes so), and has thoroughly fanned the flames of the subjective vs objective debate. So much so that he blatantly named his amplifier in that manner. He doesn't need to promote himself anymore, as he's developed enough acolytes that will do it for him.

What turned me off though was his incessant trashing of other companies. He basically came across as a self-righteous bully. Perhaps some things were issues that indeed needed to be pointed out. Others were sorely pedantic. In all cases, they were all disrespectful and tactless.

If he were just some guy who tried to make a name for himself with all his fancy published graphs and objectivist views, he wouldn't be nearly as popular as he is now. But no, he made his name by stepping on other people/companies' backs and playing the objectivist crowd like a well honed politician.

[Paul Birkeland]

What turned me off though was his incessant trashing of other companies. He basically came across as a self-righteous bully. Perhaps some things were issues that indeed needed to be pointed out. Others were sorely pedantic. In all cases, they were all disrespectful and tactless.

Well said.  I certainly struggle with diplomacy at times, but that's what the edit button is for I suppose.

[RayP]

I bought one of these ODACs about 6 months ago. It is just the $99 board which I installed in a small plastic case that used to hold a reel of computer tape. I tried it out a little but then there was a long hiatus while I was away travelling.

Now that I am back for six months or so I have set up my netbook with JRiver Music Center along with my collection. You might remember this thread about putting all of my classical CDs on a 1tb hard drive.
http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,2811.0.html

I wasn't sure if I would prefer the mechanics of listening to music via a computer or just loading the CDs as I have done in the past. Sound quality was in some ways a secondary issue. Since my first priority is the music, I wanted to see if the way I choose which music to play would improve. Since I am now retired, I can play a lot of music each day and I wanted to make sure I was digging out music that I had forgotten I had.

I decided to try the ODAC since I needed something better than the convertor in the netbook but I didn't want to spend too much until I was sure this way of listening would work for me. The ODAC was cheap enough and I could at least get out the soldering iron to connect it to a couple of RCA jacks. If I like listening to music this way then I can upgrade to something better.

The ODAC has had a couple of weeks action now replacing a Lampucera with the capacitor and opamp upgrades. It's difficult to do a valid comparison because one is fed by a computer and the other by a CD player. The biggest difference I notice is the improved sound stage of the ODAC. It's wider and more layered to my ears. The tonal balance is a bit different but whether one is better than the other I can't say too much except initially I get the impression that the ODAC is not as good in the bass. Perhaps this will change as the ODAC gets more hours on it. I would not say it is the best digital I have ever heard but at $100 it is quite acceptable. I'll bring it to the next B'neck meeting if we work out when to hold our cable testing.

http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,3273.0.html

ray

[Paul Birkeland]

What difference does it make if a DAC is fed by a computer or a CD player?

CD's themselves have limited resolution.

[galyons]

Eliminating the electro-mechanical effect of the physical drive is always a good thing for the sound.  "Pure" data off of a hard drive minimizes jitter, error correction, etc.  No transport mechanism is best.
Cheers,
Geary