Another unrelated tidbit, I didn’t find the pairing of the HP out of the uDac particular strong with my D2000. I felt the bass was sloppy and unnerving. I’d much prefer outputing the uDac to my LDI+ if I’m using my Denons. The Grados sound good either way and I don’t mind using the uDac as the primary wayto my Grados.
uDac (left) vs Keces 151 (right)
I had some free time and spent the better part of the last three days comparing two Digital-to-Analog (DAC) convertors. I’d like to note that I chose to compare a portable DAC to a desktop DAC only to see if the term “giant killer” can stick with the small wonder known as the uDac. I’d like to note that sound can be difficult thing to review because in the end it’s subjective. What may sound good to me, may not sound good to others. I tried to cover a variety of genres, but ultimately I don’t listen to everything. Some of my favorite songs (punk and rap) were recorded in lo-fi, so I can’t possibly review everything I want. I fed each DAC to my Little Dot I+ headphone amplifier. A nice little audio budget-file product.
The uDac (105 USD with shipping):
The Little Wonder from a promising company
The uDac comes from a startup company from California known as NuForce. They’ve only been around for a short while but have made a splash in portable audio with their pocket amps and headphones. They also have desktop headphone amps, hi-fi audio components, and desktop speakers, but we’ll be focusing on their newest creation the uDac, a USB-outboard sound card. It uses the newest state of the art state of the art ESS9022 Sabre DAC which are highly regarded in the audiophile community and also used in their top of the line audio components.
The Keces-151 (365 USD with shipping):
The Keces 151 (The Giant)
The Keces-151 is from a small company based out of Taiwan, run by a man named David Wei. The 151 is built around an old dependable DAC chip, the PCM2702. Unlike the Sabre chip, this chip has been around for quite some time and was also used in the Firestone Fubar II DAC I used to own. Use of the same chip in two different products does not mean you’ll have the same exact sound. It’s all about implementation and in this case, Keces did not disappoint. Before I continue on, I’d like to rest assure all doubts about the quality of Keces products, it’s above average in terms of build quality compared to a lot of products I’ve seen come out of companies based in China and Taiwan. David is serious about giving the consumer a good product and great service, so don’t hesitate to deal with him. He’s very professional.
Now on to the shootout!
I’ll be using the following headphones:
Grado SR-125i
Grado SR-225 (classics)
Denon D2000
Songs (in lossless unless otherwise noted):
Bobby Darin – More (2004 Remastered) [253 VBR]
Blondie – Heart of Glass
Pete Rock & CL Smooth – They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)
Average White Band – Pick Up the Pieces
Boston – More Than a Feeling
Common – Be (Intro) [320]
Beatles – I’m Looking Through You (remastered)
Beatles – Get Back (remastered)
Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child of Mine
Nas – Nas is Like (PREEEEEMO)
I spent the next few days listening that set of songs. I did full rounds with the same headphones, then I switched to the other ones to see if missed something. I came back with favorable impressions of the uDac, but first, I’d liket o note what the Keces does “better”. First off, the biggest difference between the two is the way the Keces accurately presents bass notes. A difference I heard using the two Grados, but I was more acutely aware of using my Denons. The Keces also has better separation. I felt the uDac put a little too much emphasis with putting the vocals ahead of everything else.
That being said, I still like the uDac. The forward presentation with silky mids and a slight tilt toward being bright is a nice change of pace. There were a few songs where I got lost in the music, namely “Pick up the Pieces” and “Looking Through You.” The highs are very pleasing and the detail is nearly on the same plane as the Keces. The only thing about it, is that when I switched between them rapidly, I’d notice that the Keces gave me a more balanced and fuller sound, I suppose that’s the trade off to focusing more on the mids and highs.
It may have sounded like I’ve been downplaying the uDac, but au contrare! The uDac is after all no bigger than a tin of altoids and performs remarkably well considering it doesn’t have a dedicated power supply like the Keces. People are always searching for “giant killers.” I know I am. I wanted to see how it stacked up and I think it did fairly well. It currently sits on my desk being used as my headphone DAC/amp for my Grados. I had to put away the Little Dot I+ until I move into a new place, while the Keces is being used to run to my NHT M-00 Active Monitors. The inbuilt headphone amp of the uDac works great with my Grados, and I’ll be using that pairing as my perfect travel partners.
I have a pair of Grado 325is… Was thinking of this uDac for the longest time, along with a LD 1+.
Have you ever used the two together (uDac and LD 1+)? I’m on a tight budget (sort of like i was 20 years ago when i was a teenager) due to …err… a few of life’s ‘glitches’ (perhaps replace the ‘gl’ with a ‘b’. hahah). I’m sick of reading about dacs and amps… Think i should just bite the bullet and get a udac, along w/ LD 1+ later on?
btw – any issues w/ unbalanced volume at low levels, as i’ve read a few times in headphone forums?
Thanks for this review. As you say, with so many people, tastes, opinions out there it is really hard to make a choice, especially when you can’t try the products. I am in NZ and the game of ordering something (and returning it if I don’t like it) would be too complicated.
I am looking for a USB DAC headphone amp (one box), ideally portable, USB powered and around US $100 (the giant killer, I know), to listen to flac files of a laptop on my Grado 225. The only products I could try were Fubar III (double the price) and Fireye II. Fireye disappointed me with its obvious lack of “finesse”. Fubar was OK, maybe a bit too “sharp” which probably is to say lacking some body or maybe warmth. Or maybe it was the combination with the Grados, very fast as they are. The warmth I am talking about is given to me by the built-in headphone amp in my NAD amp which I am sure you are not familiar with.
Could you perhaps elaborate a bit more in terms of sound quality? And is the volume enough? I listen to various genres of music and sometimes I need the loud slam of drums in say a Pink Floyd or A Perfect Circle album and other times the soothing voice of Sarah McLachlan.