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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: Tactile on Sun, 06 August 2017, 10:49:25

Title: OL DAC from JDS Labs
Post by: Tactile on Sun, 06 August 2017, 10:49:25
I got my OL DAC (https://www.jdslabs.com/products/176/ol-dac/) from JDS labs the other day. Has anyone else tried one of these? Has anyone installed the filter switch (http://blog.jdslabs.com/?p=1381)?

Here's an astonishingly lousy photo.
[attach=1]
Title: Re: OL DAC from JDS Labs
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 06 August 2017, 11:37:42
Optical ftw,  great choice.
Title: Re: OL DAC from JDS Labs
Post by: ika on Sun, 06 August 2017, 11:39:03
Looks nice. I need a dac upgrade for my M^3. How different is this from the ODAC besides the addition of optical? It seems to be better due to addition of power via wallwart but it's cheaper for some reason.


Found the answer to this vs ODAC: http://blog.jdslabs.com/?p=1391 (http://blog.jdslabs.com/?p=1391)


Quote
ODAC was interesting five years ago for its claim of transparency at only $149. DAC performance and features improve every year; OL DAC is the logical successor. While there’s no need for “greater transparency”, few can argue with getting more for less. There remains one potential advantage to choose a Standalone ODAC–running from USB power can be useful in certain scenarios. Thus, we decided to maintain ODAC and OL DAC concurrently. Confusing? Yes, sorry about that.
Title: Re: OL DAC from JDS Labs
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 06 August 2017, 12:32:23
I think Noise isolation is extremely important.   as is crosstalk


But as for THD,  Dynamic Range,  Noise,     This stuff kind of goes out the window because subwoofers are only 50-70% accurate


And they don't really hand out tools to tune the system you buy.  making the whole endeavor  Without Reference..



Title: Re: OL DAC from JDS Labs
Post by: Tactile on Mon, 07 August 2017, 14:57:22
Looks nice. I need a dac upgrade for my M^3. How different is this from the ODAC besides the addition of optical? It seems to be better due to addition of power via wallwart but it's cheaper for some reason.


Found the answer to this vs ODAC: http://blog.jdslabs.com/?p=1391 (http://blog.jdslabs.com/?p=1391)


Quote
ODAC was interesting five years ago for its claim of transparency at only $149. DAC performance and features improve every year; OL DAC is the logical successor. While there’s no need for “greater transparency”, few can argue with getting more for less. There remains one potential advantage to choose a Standalone ODAC–running from USB power can be useful in certain scenarios. Thus, we decided to maintain ODAC and OL DAC concurrently. Confusing? Yes, sorry about that.
There's all that and also the AK4490EQ DAC chip. Teac chose this DAC chip for this baby (http://www.teac.com/product/ud-503/) ...and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to hear a difference between the two.
Title: Re: OL DAC from JDS Labs
Post by: Tactile on Mon, 14 August 2017, 18:11:30
I Installed the filter switch and any difference in sound in the different switch positions is so subtle I can't hear it. If anyone is considering doing this mod my advice would be not to bother.