V-Cap ODAM: What the Future Sounds Like


The evolution of the capacitor has led manufactures to utilize copper foil in the finest of capacitors. There’s a new kid on the block that might turn the capacitor world on it’s head but it’s too small and too affordable to be a copper foil cap. At first sight, one can brush off this new cap as just another insignificant option to the plethora of capacitors that are already on the market. The ODAM is much more than just another capacitor, it’s revolutionary.

The VCap ODAM capacitor is quite possibly the most transparent capacitor on the market. It will allow your system to perform in a way that you’d never expect from a capacitor upgrade because we’ve become accustomed to the limitations of conventional capacitors. It unlocks the potential of your system and you can experience your music collection in a new way. The ODAM will show you that there’s so much more information in your music. You have no idea what you’ve been missing.

My first experience with the ODAM was when I tested it in my backup DAC, the MHDT Pagoda. This DAC is known for having a wide soundstage but I had no idea how much wider it can get when the restraints were removed by the ODAM. It was quite a revelation. There are so many adjectives to describe what improved and how much they improved. I’m going to fast forward that part to tell you that the key takeaway here is that I’m able to hear and experience the recording more than ever before.

The second revelation that the ODAM provided came from a power conditioner tweak. Use your favorite search engine and search for "Audience conditioner". You can find several images of the internal circuitry of these power conditioners and notice that there are capacitors installed in parallel to the receptacles. You may also notice that each capacitor is slightly larger than the next within the same series of receptacles. This is a simple trick to filter noise at different frequencies. I’ve used this technique in my conditioner for several years now and I’ve concluded that Teflon caps were the best cap type in this position but then the ODAM came along. I installed a 0.47uf and a 0.1uf ODAM @ 600V (one cap on two of the three receptacles of my conditioner) then I had a listen. This was an "OH SH*T" moment. I did not expect this much of a leap in sound quality. The noise floor vanished. My system was already very dimensional but now it’s like wearing 3D goggles for my ears. It was shocking to learn how awful my system’s A/C was all these years.

I was a teenager the first time that I experienced a soundstage through a stereo system although I must admit that I was under the influence of cannabis. I really enjoyed how the high accentuated my hearing ability but I quickly grew out of this smoking phase in my life. I eventually got a job, I bought a car, and had a sound system installed in it.

I followed what members of an online mobile audio forum were doing by installing SEAS or Scanspeak/Vifa drivers into the vehicle. That’s how I was introduced to high end audio and that’s when I realized that this hobby is the gateway into experiencing an audio high without being high. I chased that high ever since.

Most of us in this hobby can relate to the chase for better sound but the chase recently came to a conclusion for me. I’ve finally reached that sonic high that I’ve been chasing and the ODAM helped get me there.

The ODAM couldn’t achieve so much alone. It allows my Pass XA25 and the JCAT FEMTO USB card to shine. The ODAM is the closest thing to no capacitor. It imparts no tonal coloration whatsoever. There is no limitation to sound stage width and depth other than what your system is capable of.

So much has already been said about the ODAM and it’s posted on the VCap website. I encourage you to have a look. Those comments are spot-on.

c_avila1
Quick Update

Nearly 400 hours in and the ODAMs have stabilized. Huge open soundstage consistently

Now the kicker - Vcap CuTF bypass that I thought was over the top first is simply magical now. In short - doesn't matter what your bulk caps are (mine are Sonicap Gen 1) - when bypassed with ODAM and CuTF - the combo is speakers is to die for! CuTF simply makes the ODAM sound better. It does not alter the strengths of ODAM but makes every aspect of it shine

I have not yet changed the Jupiter in my interstage but I am scared to. I don't know why but I cannot imagine anything more than this. I ll get to it but right now I am enjoying this. Every song is new

Lesson learned. 

1. Burn in baby - burn in. Do not judge before that. 350+ hours. Minimum! Otherwise it depends on the day. Don't forget to give the caps a rest during the burn in. 12 hours in - 12 hours out

2. Any harmonics over 3HD now can be easily heard. 4HD in any quantity causes the crispness to show. Higher the 4th - crisper the sound. 5th + causes the soundstage to get congested and diffused. All this wasn't so apparent with the earlier caps - with these caps - you can quite easily hear effect of any harmonics over -100db. 

Yes.. these caps are that good!  


Thank you Q for your insights to the fantastic caps, I really appreciate your co parisons to the other products we Are familiar and can relate to.
Another update

Right after my last post - I created an alternate signal path in my preamp to couple using ODAM bypassed with CuTF. While that path powered the sub and burned in - I continued to listen via the Jupiter Copper (not bypassed). I wanted to get a good feel for the sound over a period of time before I switched over to ODAM  to compare

About a month ago - I started to switch back between Jupiter and ODAM (bypassed with CuTF) and although initially I preferred Jupiter on every switch - I felt it was because CuTF was not burnt in. 

Fast forward to now. CuTF burnt in. And OMG - 450+ hours. Very - I mean very painful burn in. But it was so worth the wait. This combo has clearly exceeded the Jupiters. The stage is literally holographic. It make is so easy to discern the stage. Music reaches out to you - you do not have to lean in. Instruments had a realism before but now - one doesn't need to put an effort to discern them. Singular phrase to describe it would be "effortless" - for the listener. Long periods of mediation are possible without falling asleep. Even levels as low as -65db are loud enough to focus and drown ambient noise and conversations in the house

One things to note however. Not sure if this is mood dependent, temperature/humidity dependent - but on certain days - the music is ethereal and is quadraphonic  ! Not everyday and seems like the number of days when it is this is true is on the rise. CuTF still burning in? Possibly but I am not quite sure. It is not something that everyone will like but it is very interesting. 

My audiophile tinkering as come to a dead halt for now.

Oh.. lastly - for those using iTunes, Audnirvana, Room, BitPerfect, Tidal etc - Amazon Music HD streaming through Airport Express Gen II is plenty to blow your brains. Even Ultra HD (192/24) downsampled to 44/16 by the iPhone over airplay is amazing. No more Mac Mini with lossless audio etc. Try it


Atma-Sphere, Ralph Karsten has installed Vcaps in much of my systems. I had a UV-1 serial number 002 I regret selling that had ODAM in. Today I picked up my PAS 2 that he modified and used ODAM in. And I will say I do love the ODAM caps.  My MP3 has Vcaps, MA-1 vcaps.... I love vcaps.... Most are not the ODAM line. But I am seeing that they are a very special capacitor in every way. For the price I don’t think you can come close to the transparency and details they deliver. Thanks again to Ralph and the. Atma-Sphere team. 
@qauntumpot Thanks for posting such a detailed review with follow-ups. I have not applied CuTF decoupling caps to the ODAM in my system, but I plan to sooner or later.

@gunhold and I spoke on the phone earlier in the year to discuss how I approached the conditioner mod. A couple of weeks later, he called me back and said that he upgraded the receptacles and caps at the same time. The mods made a vast improvement to his system, and I knew they would. He sent me a photo of the project and a short clip of the completed conditioner. His DIY skills are fantastic and looked as though Audience themselves performed the work.

I experimented with the orientation of the capacitors in the conditioner. Caps perform their best when AC enters the capacitor from the inner foil and exits the outer foil. The opposite is true when used as coupling caps in the signal path. The soundstage shrinks and everything condenses to the center when the caps are incorrectly installed in the conditioner, so mind the outer foil.

I’m going to digress a bit here: if you think that the ODAM and receptacle upgrades are terrific, wait until you install an Akiko Audio Harmonizer Unit into the conditioner. It’s a grounding component that you connect directly to the IEC ground. It’s that simple to take your system to the next level and beyond.