The Objective DAC is Here!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Time to go for own android phone*?

Seriously though, I have no idea about AVR so have nothing to offer on that. Popped in to this thread to ask another question...

Anyone have any experience of Leckerton USA65S Mk II, particularly as compared to ODAC+headphone amp? Not sure what to set my sights on.



*I love that I can control my Squeezebox from my android phone: works better than its own controller. Works as a player too.

 

[haisaikat]

Weeks after connecting the ODAC I was able to finally get it to work properly this weekend. The interconnect that I had purchased and the USB cable that came with the DAC were just enough to connect the HTPC with the AVR but in the process I could not place the DAC in front of the system, rather I had to compromise on hiding it behind the center speaker. I was skeptical on purchasing longer interconnects since the DAC being entirely USB powered I preferred to keep interconnects as short as possible.

For days I faced problems on how to make the AVR show the XBMC screen on TV (HTPC connected to AVR via HDMI) but at the same time play the sound from DAC input (connected to Analogue DVD input) but was unable to (even after studying Zone settings). Moreover I was facing problem is controlling Foobar via media center remote. This weekend after much hassle, I was finally able to successfully go around this problem. I created a separate user profile in HTPC where Foobar starts as the Custom Shell (followed the same funda from Sam / Baiju-s HTPC thread) and then took some hours to setup the http control of foobar (foobar2000controller with ajquery plugin template). Now this allowed me to control foobar from another laptop in same home network and also do almost all functionalities like even browsing files over network and adding them in the playlist. Although there was one issue while launching foobar as shell before explorer, network mapped drives were failing to connect, for which I had to write a batch file to first map the drive using NET USE command and then call foobar. I also configured basis start , stop, pause, exit type of commands with MCE Remote and Foobar Keyboard shortcut menu.

All till now, to get the things to work at ease . Finally setup was ready and I started. Dont know why but may be due to some of the burning discussions in other threads, I kept my AVR in Pure Direct Mode, this cuts off the subwoofer and utilizes fronts as full range. I started with Hindi songs since I am not much fond of International. All Mp3 files though, the first few songs were like discovering phase I was trying to judge actively what is the improvement, but then gave up and concentrated only on adding songs to playlist. Slowly I started realizing that the voice was coming much much clearer and I even ended up pointing improper voice level of singers while singing prolonged notes like (Naaaaaaaaaaaaaa, etc). Moreover the soundstage building was happening excellent like as if the voice was coming from the center channel and the musics from the left and right channel. Moreover individual tones which contributed to stereophonic effect but playing on say single channel at a time sounded much distinct and not getting lost in the overall song playback. After one hour I realized even the Bass without the subwoofer had significantly improved in certain tracks which otherwise before I had always thought cannot happen without dedicated stereo amp (with no sub of course). In some of the songs I tried to test by turning on the subwoofer and switching to stereo mode (follows all LFE crossover rules, etc) but it felt horribly bad as compared to the performance in DIRECT mode which was surprising since I had always admired listening with my sub on and now when I turned it on it appeared as if the sub was overpowering the other frequencies coming from speakers. I also listened to couple of FLACS but their default volume was coming lower than the mp3 so had to crank up the volume, here I did not get much improvement from existing stereo mode apart from the fact that turning off the sub continued to be better, although Pink Floyds, Beethoven, ABBA and some others are yet to be tested which I have on FLACs. This area I will explore more in the coming weekends. For 3 consecutive hours I was listening to songs something that I had never done before in the last 1.5 years and was feeling like listening to more. Overall I felt that the investment has been fruitful and ended the day on a happy tone in mind

 

[Audiodoc]

I second haisaikat views about the bass, soundstage and presentation and that is how high end audio should sound. Discrete instead of muddled.

Happy listening!

 

[doors666]

got mine five minutes back!!! i want to quickly assemble into some cabinet. any suggestions? need 3 standoffs, screws and pair of rcas is all i need right. oh and good quality wire to rcas.

 

[kaushik]

got mine five minutes back!!! i want to quickly assemble into some cabinet. any suggestions? need 3 standoffs, screws and pair of rcas is all i need right. oh and good quality wire to rcas.

congrates doors666 !
plastic casings are easy :

1 . Cut to size switch board case
2. floppy holder from forum mall koremangala .
3. 3.5 inch HDD enclosure

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Anyone have any experience of Leckerton UHA65S Mk II, particularly as compared to ODAC+headphone amp? Not sure what to set my sights on.

Apparently not. Fair enough. Anyone got any hunches or opinions to share?


.

 

[kaushik]

Apparently not. Fair enough. Anyone got any hunches or opinions to share?


.

USB signals are received by a TI PCM2706, it is just a very poor performer

 

[haisaikat]

got mine five minutes back!!! i want to quickly assemble into some cabinet. any suggestions? need 3 standoffs, screws and pair of rcas is all i need right. oh and good quality wire to rcas.

Congrats, from where did you purchase it? US / UK ? How much was the total cost? Since ODAC is not externally powered I would recommend minimum length cables on either end.

 

[haisaikat]

Apparently not. Fair enough. Anyone got any hunches or opinions to share?


.

Thad, I think you will get more eyes at this if you post it as a separate thread

 

[Audiodoc]

Just ordered one for FM Captain Rajesh from JDS labs. It usually takes 7-10 days to ship from US and comes in a small envelope so skips the customs easily.

You can use the wires from a spare LAN cable the biggest issue is cutting for the usb port. A round hole will let dust enter the enclosure easily. I punched a hole then used a flat file.

You can also make a round hole then cut a thick sticker / dull mica sheet in the shape of the port to cover the surrounding area. This is be neat.

Kaushik is correct with the USB chip USB2706 is old stuff, even my Burr brown 1798 DAC has a 2707. They are not compatible with 24 bit audio.

These days I am sending SPDIF optical signals from my laptop to my DIY Wolfson DAC and enjoying the music however ODAC will remain great quality in a small package.

 

[doors666]

Got it working. Pics are below. I used a box type audio casette cover. cut the rca holes with a heated file and the usb port hole with a swiss knife. standoffs holes with a small screw driver.

I didnt use the supplied usb cable, its too small and thin. this one is a longer but much thicker, came with some camera or harmony remote, cant remember.

By doors666 at 2012-09-14

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

doors, that is brilliant!

Thad, I think you will get more eyes at this if you post it as a separate thread

Good thinking

USB signals are received by a TI PCM2706, it is just a very poor performer

That's a shame. But could use it with SPDIF

Just ordered one for FM Captain Rajesh from JDS labs. It usually takes 7-10 days to ship from US and comes in a small envelope so skips the customs easily.

Was planning a visit to my not-so-far-away neighbour. Looks like it shuold be in a coupleof weeks then

 

[grubyhalo]

Nice choice for a case, looks good!

 

[haisaikat]

congrats doors, please post your feedback once you use it. Which player are you using?

 

[cmsajith]

I got it 1 month back and had given enough breakin period. Compared to Caiman, I didnt like the sparkling highs and the digital sound. But this is for a CarPC and sounds pretty good and far better than some of the highly recommended HUs, will be paired with Hertz HE4 poweramp and HAT Unity speakers, hope it should be fine.

From the reviews, this unit is sensitive to USB cables (shielding is very important and hence included the cable with the pack), the supplied cable is having pretty good shielding. Unless the custom cable is having better shielding, its better use the supplied one itself.

 

[captrajesh]

Was planning a visit to my not-so-far-away neighbour. Looks like it shuold be in a couple of weeks then

Thad it would be a pleasure to have you over. Now that the AP Pre and power are sold and would move out this weekend, I better get my B1 and Class D ready before you come in. Our FM Mathew Syriac was fully occupied repairing a dozen odd PCs from a far away charity school for under privileged children so I could not do much on that account till now.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks, speak soon. I see they have resurfaced your road at long, long last

 

[captrajesh]

Thanks, speak soon. I see they have resurfaced your road at long, long last

Will keep you posted Thad. Yes, that happened all of a sudden when we all reconciled to our fate. Far less dust ingression now.

 

[captrajesh]

Just ordered one for FM Captain Rajesh from JDS labs.

Eagerly awaiting it's arrival to compare firstly with my own NOS DAC and then passing it on to my friend.

 

[haisaikat]

This weekend, I continued the research for other files with the ODAC. Before starting up, made some modifications with the foobar. Firstly I installed the DarkOne theme, made it look awesome and most importantly installed WASAPI (for bitperfect playback) and SOX Resampler plugins. In the SOX Resampler I set the sampling to 96000 Hz and quality to Best and all other set to default. With this all set to start.

I started with the usual FLACS which I typically left unexplorered last weekend. I think it has somethiong to do with some of the FLAC files which I am sure have lower reference volume levels as compared to the others, nothing with my settings. Started with the Hindi FLACS of Bombay, Rangeela, Roja and found that there is not marked difference with the corresponding MP3s that I have when played via same setup but as like last week there is remarkable improvment in Bass management but I did expect more mileage from these Hindi FLACS but was disappointed (on the Bollywood FLACS downloaded from internet).

Then I switched to International Tracks. Started with Pink Floyd, there was of course a wide improvement in the overall clarity with sharpness increase. I can specifically recommend the track Money by Pink Floyed where I could literally distinguish every coiny sound from individual channels.

Then went on to ABBA FLACS, Super Trouper being one of my childhood days favourite, sounded very sweet, noticeable difference in voice and Low Freq. Then after a couple of other FLACS I moved back to MP3s. Started with a Darude - Before the Storm and all tracks of this album, the drums were sounding fantastic. Same continued over Dreamland by Robert Miles, I was very impressed.

But the real magic happended when I played a couple of tracks by Gustavo, especially the track PAJAROS from OST of My Blueberry Nights where I could literally find that there were sound notes arising out of pulling or rubbing the strings that I never heard earlier. I highly recommend this track to everyone for testing although the one I had is just a 170kbps , 44.1 KHz track.

I am still in the same seat from morning, currently trying out Rammstein, Made in Germany, recommended by a friend but overall the last weeks impressions did carry on for whatever tracks I played so far, I will see if I find any more significant differences in any other track.