This is a review and detailed measurements of the ENCORE mDAC battery operated portable DAC and headphone amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member. As far as I can tell, the mDAC came out in 2014/2015. It cost USD $129 when released.
It is chunky metal box with sharp edges which bother me a bit:
The on/off button is quite hidden on the side. The volume controls are on top but controlling the down button is a challenge with headphone jack plugged in.
The mDAC runs a bit warm so good thing it has battery or it would suck up the phone one down.
PC connectivity is a bit strange in that the data USB jack does not charge it so I had to connect two cables to charge and use it.
I won't bore you with more and will post the Z reviews on the functionality.
Audio Measurements
Testing the mDAC as a DAC was not that functional as at full amplitude, it clips even into a very high impedance load (i.e. not stressed at all). So I had to dial down the output to get decent THD+N:
So despite what the name says, it is not a good "DAC."
Dynamic range was good:
So pretty quiet for IEM use.
Most important for any headphone amplifier is power. Here is how mDAC does with 300 ohm load:
You can see the clipping that I talked about in the dashboard. As such, power output is quite low at just 6 milliwatts before distortion sets in.
This is the results with 33 ohm load:
Putting them in context of other portable DAC+Amps we get:
So mDAC is more suitable for low impedance loads than high. Then strangely we find that the impedance is a bit high:
So be careful with headphones with impedance of less than 60 ohm that varies a lot with frequency.
Listening Tests
My ears are at a spa getting cleaned up. That, and my cold are stopping me from performing listening tests at this point.
Conclusions
Given the size of the mDAC I expected better performance. With use of lithium battery it should have been able to pump out fair bit of power and not clip at 300 ohm. It should do OK though with low impedance planar type headphones though. And the battery may provide dynamic power that is not visible in my measurements.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Garden season is here. Got a coupon for the DIY store that if I spend $50 on gardening stuff, I get $5 back. Problem is, I don't have $50. So would you please donate that amount using either:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/audiosciencereview), or
upgrading your membership here though Paypal (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eview-and-measurements.2164/page-3#post-59054).
It is chunky metal box with sharp edges which bother me a bit:
The on/off button is quite hidden on the side. The volume controls are on top but controlling the down button is a challenge with headphone jack plugged in.
The mDAC runs a bit warm so good thing it has battery or it would suck up the phone one down.
PC connectivity is a bit strange in that the data USB jack does not charge it so I had to connect two cables to charge and use it.
I won't bore you with more and will post the Z reviews on the functionality.
Audio Measurements
Testing the mDAC as a DAC was not that functional as at full amplitude, it clips even into a very high impedance load (i.e. not stressed at all). So I had to dial down the output to get decent THD+N:
So despite what the name says, it is not a good "DAC."
Dynamic range was good:
So pretty quiet for IEM use.
Most important for any headphone amplifier is power. Here is how mDAC does with 300 ohm load:
You can see the clipping that I talked about in the dashboard. As such, power output is quite low at just 6 milliwatts before distortion sets in.
This is the results with 33 ohm load:
Putting them in context of other portable DAC+Amps we get:
So mDAC is more suitable for low impedance loads than high. Then strangely we find that the impedance is a bit high:
So be careful with headphones with impedance of less than 60 ohm that varies a lot with frequency.
Listening Tests
My ears are at a spa getting cleaned up. That, and my cold are stopping me from performing listening tests at this point.
Conclusions
Given the size of the mDAC I expected better performance. With use of lithium battery it should have been able to pump out fair bit of power and not clip at 300 ohm. It should do OK though with low impedance planar type headphones though. And the battery may provide dynamic power that is not visible in my measurements.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Garden season is here. Got a coupon for the DIY store that if I spend $50 on gardening stuff, I get $5 back. Problem is, I don't have $50. So would you please donate that amount using either:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/audiosciencereview), or
upgrading your membership here though Paypal (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eview-and-measurements.2164/page-3#post-59054).