Topic: Opinions on UA5 A/D Converter?

[lyle]

Just wondering about the quality of the UA5 A/D converter? Someone said it was the same as the Mini-Me but sounds differrent? I am using a UA5 after a V2 for A/D conversion only.  Any comments? Thank.

[jpschust]

maybe try searching the forums, this has been discussed ad nauseum

[lyle]

I already did that before posting. Couldn't find any specific info. Maybe I missed it.

[jpschust]

one thing to note with the ua-5, you cannot bypass the pre stage of it, even with rca ins, you are still passing through the preamp circuitry

[pnobles]

i've ran a MP-2 infront of it before , so was it going in the mp2 pre and then in the ua-5 pre again?   humm...double the pleasure double the fun...

[jpschust]

yep, same as though you were running a pre in front of the mme- still passes through the pre circuitry

[lyle]

I called the Oade Bros and asked one of their guys about this. Not sure who i talked to but he said using the rca inputs I would be bypassing the mic preamps.

[jpschust]

im curious about that, because last i heard it was similar to the minime setup...

[Craig T]

rca inputs bypass the mic pre.  it is a good sounding a/d.  IMO, you'd have to go up to an ad2k/2402-96, mme, v3 to do better, especially at 24bit.  I went from v2>mod-sbm1 to v2>ua5 and was happy with the results.

Craig.

[lyle]

Craig,
So do you like the sound of the UA5 over the MOD SBM-1?

I tried the UA5 after the V2 compared to the V2 directly into my D8 and I liked the sound into the D8 much better.  The UA5 gave possibly (hard to tell) a slightly crisper high end  but lost lots of bass character punch and roundness. Bass was muddy in comparison. Any thoughts?

[Nick's Picks]

I've run V2>UA-5 a numbe of times and it kicked ass

[drumminj]

im curious about that, because last i heard it was similar to the minime setup...

I'm pretty sure the RCA's bypass the preamp.  I remember from discussions about the w-mod and p-mod UA-5s, that you'd need to run mic-in to take advantage of this.  Thus, a sbd feed normally wouldn't (assuming you'd run that through the RCAs).

Lyle, all the talk about comparing the UA-5 to the mini-me or other boxes is with the warm or presence-modded units, not the stock UA-5.

J

[Brian Skalinder]

I'm pretty sure the RCA's bypass the preamp.  I remember from discussions about the w-mod and p-mod UA-5s, that you'd need to run mic-in to take advantage of this.  Thus, a sbd feed normally wouldn't (assuming you'd run that through the RCAs).

True, the RCA's bypass the preamp.  However, the RCAs still go through a gain stage utilizing different op amps which (per Doug Oade a ways back) aren't as good as the stock op amps (or, obviously, the warm or presence mod op amps).

[drumminj]

Brian, they go through a gain stage, or just an attenuator?  I never tested it, but I didn't think you could actually amplify the line-in signal.  Pretty cool, actually.

[lyle]

Thanks.  I know all about the Oade Mods and that info. The reason I bought your UA5 was to use the A/D after the V2 and didn't need the Mods but I think part of these mods actually improves the analog input and may actually improve the sound when bypassing the mic in and usind the rca inputs. I experimented with the V2>UA5>D8 and V2>D8 and found the sound to be better IMO with just the D8. So until I hear better or I start 24bit recording I might just keep the UA5 on the side. Peace out!