level 13

IntroductionEvery audiophile should have heard of the brand Nuforce in the past, which was recently acquired by Optoma. Nuforce has been well known as the designer for lifestyle and efficient amplification / DAC in the hifi community. The founder, Jason Lim, did not stop his passion to pursue his audio innovation after the acquisition, NuPrime was formed. Lead by himself and his trusted team of engineers, NuPrime had created a humble collection of products ranging from integrated and stereo amplifiers, home and portable DACs. In today’s review, we shall be looking at the NuPrime uDSD portable DAC, with courtesy from SLT Technologies, whom are now the proud distributor of NuPrime In Singapore.
Build
The NuPrime uDSD is what I imagine to be NuPrime’s answer to ALO Audio’s “The Island”. Connectivity is somewhat similar, with USB input and analog headphone out, as well as having a similar portable size. Next to The Island, the NuPrime is more compact, and easier to pack due to it being flatter. It also has more connectivity options, such as line out via RCA as well as coaxial digital output, making it capable to be function as a USB to coaxial converter. The NuPrime is entirely USB powered, which means it is less suitable for using with a mobile phone via USB OTG due to its immense power drain. But for headphones (and earphones) you would want to use on the go with a laptop, it definitely has enough power to drive the uDSD to support your headgears.
What I really like about its design is the USB input being on the side. Given that the NuPrime is very portable, yet is entirely USB powered, I imagine the target audience are people who use their laptops on the go and want to bring some quality tunes with them. Since USB ports on laptops tend to be on the side, the NuPrime’s USB input strategically located well in parallel.
The overall build is superb, with the ever popular solid aluminium chassis and confidence inspiring heft considering its diminutive size. It is really surprisingly small, being shorter than a credit card and a little wider, and so definitely meant for portable usage. The uDSD design with balance circuitry was perfect all the way to the lowest levels, which is wonderful at any price point. It is getting popular nowadays in portable audio industry but to fit them in such small compact case, NuPrime is outdoing many others in this league.
On its DAC feature, NuPrime uDSD is able to support the current market high resolution music source.It can decodes sampling rate from 44.1Khz to 384Khz in PCM format and native DSD decoding from DSD64 to DSD256. With such DAC capability in its sheer size, it sure put certain DAC to shame for not being able to perform in par.