level 12
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.
SoundThis NuPrime uDSD has a very strong emphasis on creating a sense of clarity and transparency. In this aspect, it is extremely successful and sounds more transparent than most options at its (very affordable) price point. However, with full sized headphones such as the HE-500, it does sound thin. It powers the HE-500 to listenable volumes at just 12 o’clock on the volume knob, but doesn’t realise its potential. While I doubt that such power hungry headphones were what NuPrime had in mind when designing the uDSD, it does bring some limitations to using it as an all-in-one audio solution. On the other hand, this could be due to the fact that it was designed as a USB powered devices and thus it will have limitation driving high current headgears regardless of the source supply.
The NuPrime uDSD has an overall laid back soundstage with highs seem a little recessed, but maintain pretty good levels of detail. Cymbals sounded realistic, just a little back in the sound stage than I am used to compared with my Audiogd DAC. Based on “Stank” from “Explorations in Space and Time”, both attack and decay on cymbals sounded great and lively.
The NuPrime uDSD mids follow the lead of the highs in terms of presentation. This alone is not a bad thing, as it allows the soundstage to blossom, and enable listener to have more focus to be placed on technicalities. This does complement the transparent presentation as a whole, enabling listener to enjoy the musically. On its bass, it is precise and fast; you definitely know when a kick drum is hit, but presentation of body and depth are a little lacking in comparison with the RSA Intruder, which is admittedly known for its bass impact. Again, listening to “Stank” from “Explorations in Space and Time”, decay and echo from Lenny White’s kick drum was more subdue comparatively with RSA Intruder.
On the upside, detail retrieval is far above the rest. Especially at this price point, a source with the level of detail retrieval and transparency the NuPrime uDSD has is uncommon. In this aspect, it reminds me of the Audio Technica MSR7: a huge focus on detail retrieval and transparency at the expense of other elements.At this point, it is important to note that I am comparing the uDSD to alternative source options many times the price and/or size of the uDSD. These are not particularly fair comparisons, but help give a much better picture of where the uDSD can improve upon, and what elements are already of excellent quality.
Conclusion
The NuPrime uDSD is great for people who wish to listen to music from their laptops, and manages an amazing degree of articulation. With its compactness in size and affordable price, NuPrime has done it right for their humble penetration to the portable audiophile community. I would be expecting to see more from NuPrime in the coming days, perhaps a bigger portable uDSD that comes with battery built in. That will definitely bring it to another level up in the competition.
