If not a Beresford, how about a HLLY or uDac2?

[bryan76]

Hello everyone,

First post so please be gentle :rolleyes:

I have been reading up and around the subject for months now, and really must take the plunge and get my first DAC. I am using a Sony Vaio, so usb connection is my only option I think? The Bersford DAC has a huge following on here (it seems to be in everyones signature!) but try as I have, I can't see many going around second hand....another sign of how much people like them.

I have to stick to a tight budget of £100, and had pretty much decided on a udac2 from nuforce. It looks good. I should add that I want to feed my Audioengine A2 and have a headphone connection, which the udac does fine. My only niggling issue with this choice is that 30% of the £90 it will cost, is on shipping from the states...and something just feels wrong about shelling out for postage rather than electronics....but if its good then so be it.

As is always the case another option crops up...whilst on another fruitless search on ebay for a used Beresford, I came accross a Hlly mini DAC, which also looks really promising, though I cannot seem to find a write up/report on it anywhere.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HLLY-Mini-USB-DAC-Headphone-Amplifier-MK2-SPECIAL-/330375138157?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cebe48b6d

Have any of you good folks had any experience/heard anything about this DAC?

There seems to be some great feedback on the Hlly amp, so maybe I should just bite the bullet and go for it :rolleyes:

Hope I have included all the relevant info and many thanks for any advice or suggestions!

Bryan

[Ali Tait]

No experience of the dac,but I did have one of their amps and it sounded very good and was well made. Perhaps Stan may have something he would sell off cheap.You could try mailing him?

[Reid Malenfant]

The HLLY looks good :) I'm no expert on these DACs but the inclusion of a push pull output stage that could very easily be biased into class A (& probably is) for headphones (wouldn't need a lot of current at all & the TIP transistors will handle it better than standard TO92 plastic cased jobs) makes it look quite well thought out. No idea why the heck they chose TIP41/2C though as in this case the C version is just a higher voltage rather than a gain group. 12-18V wouldn't stress the standard versions.

It looks well made from the pics, very nice in fact imo :)

Note sure if this helps at all, all the best in coming to a conclusion ;)

[Ali Tait]

Yes agreed,their stuff is well made with decent components.

[Techno Commander]

Actually, it isnt a Hlly product.

"Aune" is a spin off from the Chinese DIY Hi Fi forum and retailer of kits HiFi Diy.Net (http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.hifidiy.net/&ei=mgW-TKCVKcGR4gbP7NW5AQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCQQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhifidiy%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D13 05%26bih%3D955%26prmd%3Dv).

Some of their kit designs are exceptionally well thought out and are renown for using high end components. If you look around, there are some interesting articles on DIY plasma speakers (http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.hifidiy.net/&ei=mgW-TKCVKcGR4gbP7NW5AQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCQQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhifidiy%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D13 05%26bih%3D955%26prmd%3Dv) or pimping a squeezebox (http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.hifidiy.net/&ei=mgW-TKCVKcGR4gbP7NW5AQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCQQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhifidiy%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D13 05%26bih%3D955%26prmd%3Dv). :)

The "Aune" (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.auneaudio.com%2F&anno=2) brand was established approx 18 months ago, when they decided to offer some of their products "ready built" and wished to distinguish these from the kit items.

Here (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.auneaudio.com%2F&anno=2) is the DAC in question

[technobear]

I have to stick to a tight budget of £100, and had pretty much decided on a udac2 from nuforce. It looks good. I should add that I want to feed my Audioengine A2 and have a headphone connection, which the udac does fine. My only niggling issue with this choice is that 30% of the £90 it will cost, is on shipping from the states...and something just feels wrong about shelling out for postage rather than electronics....but if its good then so be it.

Hi Bryan,

The NuForce uDAC-2 costs $129 which is about £85 to which must be added postage, customs, and VAT.

Please tell us where we can get a uDAC-2 for £90 :scratch:

You may have seen the headphone-only version, the uDAC-2-HP, which sells for $99 but does not have any outputs other than the headphone socket.

As to alternatives, I was going to say the HRT Streamer II but the price of that seems to have risen to £145. It also doesn't have a headphone amp.


Edit: there is also the Fubar DAC II from Russ Andrews at £117.50 but that also doesn't have a headphone amp.

[bryan76]

Hello and thanks for the comments.

Chris you're absolutely right on the uDac pricing, I think I must have converted the product cost to £, added the postage in $ as per nuforce shipping quote, and then converted the whole lot into £ again :brickwall: Sorry! It's a shame nobody is bringing these over in quantity yet as I think it could do quite well.

Thanks for the link over to the hifidiy site....this has answered some other queries I had over the unit, such as whether it would act as a preamp. Humble as they are, I think the Audioengine A2s could sound quite a bit better than they are at present...will be quite interesting.

Sadly my electronics understanding is very much lacking at present...I'm sure I'll learn a great deal more here on the forum:)

Nearly ready to order this....then there's just the waiting for it to arrive!


Bryan

[Paul]

Hi Bryan
I see you live in Hertford, I take it in Herts?
If so I'm in Hoddesdon and have a Beresford 7520 , although modified , and would be happy to bring it over for you to try before you take the plunge, if thats the way you are going ?
Let me know
Paul

[bryan76]

Hi Paul

That's a really kind offer and many thanks! I'll drop you a PM and might suggest I make the 'trip' to Hoddesdon if that suits you ok.... I've now stored my Arcam and speakers and shall be on a laptop/headphone setup for a while. Not great but I should be getting to listen to much more music than I do currently, so I'm not complaining...too much!!

I have a uDAC-2 on its way for a demo so it would be interesting to do a comparison between the two. Should be with me later this week.

Bryan

[Paul]

Ok Bryan,I'd give it a good ' run in ' of about a week before we meet up .
My DAC has a good few hundred hours under it's belt now and sounds sweeter than ever , especialy smooth since I got a mains power conditioner.:eyebrows:
Let me know
Paul.

[Rare Bird]

Whats the headphone output sound like on the NuForce uDAC-2?

[bryan76]

Hi Andre,

Hopefully I should be able to answer your question soon. I am still awaiting a unit to have a play with..the UK dealer I am buying from is still awaiting stock, already delayed now by about 3 weeks as I understand. Which headphones are you using just out of interest as this is one of my main buying criteria? I am interested to know how well the uDac-2 copes with 250 ohm Beyers.


Hi Paul, mains conditioner sounds like a good investment...the want list is ever growing:( hopefully should be starting to burn something in soon...will drop you a line.

Cheers, Bryan.

[bryan76]

Well, like so many times before, I had a pop on ebay, and not that I thought I had the least bit chance of winning it, I have, and since an hour ago now own a......Beresford Caiman :wow:

Absolutely chuffed, and at £151 think thats pretty darn good-and apparently only 12 months old!!

Waiting for the post is going to be like torture:doh:

[Paul]

Ok so now we realy do need to meet up , I'm interested to hear the difference between mine and its big brother!
Hoefully it wont be too big a gap in sound or you may be staying for some time;)
Paul

[goraman]

Bryan,Take a look at the little dot DAC1 I have one and it sounds fantastic.
I have to mention that after 60 hours the PSU failed in a cloud of smoke but out of so menny sold mine is the only one (figures) but I'm sure it's a fluke and Little Dot has been wonderful in it's customer service.

It uses the same Wolfson chip as the DAC Majic and uses a tyroidal tranny insted of a switching psu with a wall wart.

[bryan76]

Well my Caiman arrived in excellent time on Tuesday, and despite the fact it's connected to my laptop, I have been too 'busy' to update the thread!! What can I say, other than I am really delighted with the sounds the Caiman is producing. It has exceeded my expectations :)

I am confined to a headphone experience these days, and having worried that this might not be as fullfilling as my main rig, I would say this is very musical indeed. Currently listening to Nitin Sawhney and its singing baby :eyebrows:

The one thing which may or may not help someone is the difference Asio made in my particular setup. Initially using Foobar and WASAPI was ok, but on reading further into the subject, and then installing ASIO4All the difference was substantial. The sound opened up and became much more rewarding. Well worth playing around with and wont cost you a penny! The Asio website has a good installation guide which really helped!

Thanks to all for the suggestions and advice and to Stan for answering some queries. Great product sir.

Paul looking forward to catching up in the next few weeks and talking all things DAC:lol:

Cheers Bryan.

[StanleyB]

I am confined to a headphone experience these days, and having worried that this might not be as fullfilling as my main rig, I would say this is very musical indeed.

Some people have mentioned that the Caiman headphone output can stand its own ground even amongst far more expensive dedicated headamps. That hole in the front of the Caiman case is not there for just conveneinece ;).


The one thing which may or may not help someone is the difference Asio made in my particular setup. Initially using Foobar and WASAPI was ok, but on reading further into the subject, and then installing ASIO4All the difference was substantial. The sound opened up and became much more rewarding. Well worth playing around with and wont cost you a penny! The Asio website has a good installation guide which really helped!

I should add a link to their website once I have found where it is..



Thanks to all for the suggestions and advice and to Stan for answering some queries. Great product sir.
The pleasure was all mine :).

[technobear]

http://www.asio4all.com/ :)

[StanleyB]

Cheers Chris:). I'll put it up as soon as I can recover my homehifi site. The hosting company appears to have messed up the pages and access to it :steam:.