The DAC is quite remarkable sounding for $80. I fed the analog signal from the RCA out to the Balanced TPA6120 amp (which is quickly becoming my favorite amplifier, btw), with mostly the HD800 driven balanced, or sometimes, through the UM Mage in single ended (Yes, I know. An $80 DAC with a $1,400 cans. The Sennheiser is very revealing and I love using it for DAC evaluation.) When compared to the Ibasso D10, I was surprised, I find the DAC section of the UD-1 to better the DAC section of the D10 because the DAC chip in the D10 is far superior than the one in the UD-1. In what way? Overall, the sound of the UD-1 is smoother and more organic than the D10. The D10 sounded harsh at first, but after some burn in, the sound does smooth out, but still not as smooth as the UD-1. I’m not talking about a veiled-smooth either, cause what’s the use of a veiled DAC? The UD-1 is smooth and more pleasing to the ears, yet it’s just as detailed as the D10.
Styleaudio UD-1 top panel (sideways)
At times I felt that the Ibasso D10 is a little more detailed, but it really isn’t. The Ibasso D10 does present the treble a little “hot”, hence it may sound more detailed when it’s not. The difference is very obvious in the treble. The UD-1 is much smoother and less agressive than the D10. The soundstage is also slightly bigger with the UD-1, but what I really like is how the UD-1 has a more natural soundstage presentation, when compared to the D10’s soundstage. The bass gained better presence with the UD-1 as well.
You know, it’s weird that once I realize what a simplistic design the UD-1 is you feel much less confident on how it was able to match the Ibasso D10 that comes with the WM8740 chip. But apparently the circuitry of the Ibasso was just not refined enough, and at the end I find that the UD-1 makes for a better DAC than the D10.
The UD-1 does very well as a stand alone DAC, but when you start playing around with the built in headphone out, then the Ibasso D10 is far superior. The UD-1 headphone out simply doesn’t have any serious power, and despite the big 1/4″ jack that it comes with. It would be only usable with IEMs, and even then, the headphone out doesn’t let out all the details extracted from its DAC. I guess you can’t get everything right for $80.
I also compared the UD-1 with the Audinst HUD-MX1. The HUD-MX1, of course, is $100 more expensive at $180, and it blows the UD-1 away in just about everything. Way more powerful headphone out section (Even compared to the D10, the HUD MX-1 can drive a HD800 to ear-deafening volumes). Not only in power, but the DAC section of the HUD-MX1 is even better than both the D10 and the UD-1. Far bigger soundstage, yet an even more natural presentation, more weightier sound, and better decay.
So here’s the math: $80 gets you the UD-1 which is a superb entry level DAC, but only good as a DAC, and you may have to buy a separate amp if you haven’t got one. For $100 more, you get an even better DAC, and a fairly good headphone amp. Or for $245, you can get the Ibasso D10, which is a compromise on everything, but it does comes with batteries so you can pair your iPod with it.
System for Review:
Headphones: HD800, UM Mage
Amps: TPA6120 Balanced Portable Amp, Styleaudio UD-1, Ibasso D10, Audinst HUD-MX1.
Source: Styleaudio UD-1, Ibasso D10, Audinst HUD-MX1.
Cables: DIY Canare mini-to-RCA, DIY Canare RCA-to-RCA
Reference:
Benchclub.com
MFC
Great review. Thanks for taking your time to do this.
So do you consider/experience that the Audinst HUD-Mx1, only related to sound quality and ability to power both lower and higher impedance headphones/IEM's, to match up with the Ibasso-D10 or even perform/sound better. Just to help me do the right choice.
Mike
Hi. Yes, I find the sound quality of the Audinst HUD-MX1 to be better the Ibasso D10, either headphone out quality (not considering output power), or as standalone DAC. Keep in mind that the HUD-MX1 is a desktop unit though, as it requires an external power supply, while the Ibasso can be used for a portable system.
David
Mike, what you found with Carat UD-1 and iBasso D10 is confirming that electronic design is not just about putting high quality components together to get something good. WM8740 chip on iBasso is a much superior (at least technically) than the DAC section on PCM2704 on Carat. It is back to how they are implemented, how good the board layout is designed and the choice of components value and quality, play very important on the final sound of a DAC. The PCM2704, being a single chip, have the benefit that the data bits received by the USB receiver would be internally converted into meaningful input for its DAC, sans the I2S conversion whatsoever. The internal picture of UD-1 on http://www.benchclub.com/board/dir_img/vgaclub_re… showing that Styleaudio is seriously design their product. The value choice of bypass capacitors (1uF) seems following the recommended value on PCM2704 datasheet, but they use high quality WIMA caps there. The Carat board seems to be well thought with a large ground plane on the top of the board (basically permitting a star grounding flow) and added with the use of hole mounted components. On the other hand, looking at the picture of iBasso D10 board show that the DAC section must share the space with the usb receiver section, battery charger section and the headphone amplifier section, all squeezed in about the same space as Carat (http://img147.imageshack.us/i/d101.jpg/ and http://img294.imageshack.us/i/ibassod10014.jpg/)….. look at that messy groundplane?. WM8740 benefits of having differential output, turn out into a limitation in such a small space. iBasso D10 design is seems to optimistic…. which lead to unoptimal DAC implementation.
Mike
Hi David,
Thanks for the deep and insightful comment.
MFC
Mike,
Thank you. I am aware of that the HUD-MX1 is a dedicated desktop unit.
To me, $179 certainly looks like a very attractive and reasonable price and I will give it a shot. I look forward to read your forthcoming reviews.
Mike
Hi MFC,
I will be doing more comparison involving the Audinst HUD-MX1 with the Nuforce uDAC and the HeadAmp Pico DAC. Quite different in price, but interesting nonetheless.
theo
great review, im almost sold on the audinst, id love to read a carat topaz. vs audinst hud mx1.
thanks this is much appreciated
Mike
Hi Theo,
Still no news from Styleaudio about the rest of their line up. 🙁
wahyuwahyu
Hi, Mike.
thanks for your poisonous review.. 😀
I want to ask something, mike. Is the output on the back panel RCAs the same as the headphone amp output?
And I just wonder, what if you compare some DACs under $100 such as govibe, uca202, or anything else.
Just my wonder, mike.. 😀
best regards..
Mike
Hi wahyuwahyu,
It seems that the RCA out and the headphone out takes the same output pin from the PCM2704.
The Behringer UCA202 is fairly cheap at ~$50, but it looks more like a device that's designed to provide additional input/output functionality for a recording set up, rather than a dedicated audiophile DAC. Reviews? Perhaps, if I can get a hold of one. 🙂 The Govibe DAC would be more appropriate to compare to though.
theo
yea ive also been super curious to see how the go vibe magnum's compare too,, i think there is two different model thou
cheers
Mike
The Govibes huh? Let me talk to Jaben about that.
johnny
korea and china are producing a lot more audio gears lately, and the more important thing seem to be the fact that they produce those gears at relatively cheaper prices with matching or even higher quality. I am looking forward for more of such reviews
Mike
Even some high end audio brands, such as the Japanese CEC brand is actually made in China, according to their specs and designs. So, it's clear that the chinese have the capability of high quality production. The problem with the chinese brands is that they're still novices when it comes to product design, user interfaces, and such. It's only a matter of time before they'll mature though.
The korean, on the other hand, I find to be better than the chinese product in the sense that their build quality and overall product design is superior. Cowon, iriver, and styleaudio being very good examples.
FLACvest
Well Folks, I don't know about you, but I've been living with my iRiver H120 & H140 and iBasso D10 for years.
I just upgraded to HiFlight's v.3 Topkit for the iBasso D10 consisting of an adaptor for the LR amp socket, a custom, Class A Biased TLE2141 opamps in a dual mono module if i guess at the config right from the way it looks, and the nice EL8201 opamp buffers.
voicing, dnamism, and realism are enhanced with this… not that the D10 with its excellent Standard Topkit or choices for opamp rolling was a slouch for starters.
I used to prefer the elastic bass-to-stretchy-treble signature of the LMH6643 in the LR, with the AD8656 as BUFFERS, but now I'm in nirvana, as everything is sounding studio accurate and organic, and I primarily listen to Electronic Music.
HOWEVER,
I WOULD like to comment that competition is good, and I'm interested in Styleaudio's product line becoming more easily available.
Mike
Hi FLACvest,
I'm not familiar with the D10's internals, but from what you're saying, the mods really seem to take the D10 to a whole new level. Would love to hear it one day. 🙂
harsya
hey mike have you ever tried the dac section of corda 3move? how is it compared to ud1?
Anonymous
It’s hard to do a real A-B comparison cause you can’t isolate the DAC section of the Corda 3 separate from the amp. But the UD-1’s DAC is actually very good when compared to the built in DACs on most portable amps. It’s definitely superior to the Ibasso D10 and even D4 with dual Wolfsons.
harsya
this ud1 is really tempting lol. about the corda3, actually ive never tried the dac section of this particular amp from meier audio, can you give a short impression about the 3move in term of the overall sq of its dac section?
and where can i get carat ud1 here in Indonesia?
Anonymous
It’s not going to be easy. Your best bet is contact Styleaudio directly.
http://styleaudio.typepad.com/styleaudio_hifi_usb_mini_/international-dealers.html
DodgersKings323
This is where it gets confusing, would it better to go with say the Headstage Arrow + UD-1 or just the MX1 to do both jobs?
Anonymous
I would just go with the Audinst and keep the Arrow for portable duties.
CCE
How does it compared to E10? According to your description,the amp seems certainly inferior. But how about the DAC? Their price is pretty close..
Anonymous
I am pretty sure that the DAC section is better than the E10.
CCE
Just emailed the local distributor, too bad it’s discontinued.
It’s replaced by the HD-1V with almost 3x the price.
Anonymous
Aww that’s too bad because the UD-1 was a very nice entry level DAC unit.