Audio4Soul Xtreme 16

02. May 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Amplifiers, D to A Converters · Tags: , ,
Audio 4 Soul front

Audio4Soul is a small company based in Greece and they produce just two items, the Xtreme 16 (tested here) and the Xtreme 16 with USB streamer. The company has an interesting philosophy and one that will appeal to a good few people I suspect – they want to produce a straightforward product that simply allows people to enjoy theOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA very best sound quality at a price point that is achievable for most people. They also recognise that not all music lovers want to have boxes and boxes of hifi equipment strewn all over their living room. Of course, having a box of tricks that does it all means you have more to spend on great quality loudspeakers and this is another important aspect of the company’s philosophy.

It’s an attractive looking bit of kit and worth noting that is it is built by hand, though I’m sure it will have its detractors – the front panel is reminiscent of a piece of lab equipment. However, there is a lovely touch on the top of the unit where the ventilation grill is a cut out in the shape of a treble clef. On the front of the unit there is an SD card slot, a power switch, a small red LED screen, a switch to alternate between optical input and coaxial and a host of LEDs to let you know the status of the machine.

So what is it exactly? With the Xtreme 16 you get a16 watts per channel integrated digital amplifier that has a powered DAC onboard with a PCM/PWM converter. You can connect a CD transport (or laptop with appropriate converter) using Spdif or Toslink (the unit uses a Wolfson 8804 receiver) or you can use the front mounted SD card reader to play Ogg. Mp3 or Wav files. Aceptable files are up to 24/96 (16/44 for the SD card). OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA More »

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Resonessence Labs Concero DAC

26. February 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: ,
concero-front

Last year on Hi-Fi Pig Jake raved about Canadian manufacturer Resonessence Labs’ state-of-the-art Invicta DAC, with concero-frontbuilt-in -everything. At some £3000, the Invicta is for those with deep pockets. The Concero, still manufactured in Canada, is the the Invicta’s baby brother, with a price tag of £599, and three modes of operation – USB DAC, S/PDIF DAC and USB to S/PDIF Bridge. It’s a flexible little box of tricks.

The Concero’s main claim to fame is it shares the much-touted ESS Sabre DAC with the Invicta. Will its audio performance live up to standards set by the company’s other device? With the price difference, this is not the ‘scaled down, DAC only version’ without volume pot, SD card function and HDMI out that Jake looked forward to. It’s a much-simplified device.

I used the Concero with my customised MacBook, Tellurium Q Listen pre-amp, bi-amped Tellurium Q Atom power amps and Royd RR3s. I compared it to my M2Tech Young DAC with Super TeddyReg-based PSU.  More »

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Epiphany Acoustics E-DAC 24bit Miniature USB DAC

18. September 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: ,

The Epiphany Acoustics E-DAC 24bit miniature USB DAC is the UK based manufacturer’s take on the well received NwAvGuy ODEC digital to analogue converter.

The E-DAC is a very small, well made and solid, brushed aluminium boxed unit and is not at all unattractive – it’s a little black box and for all its minimal qualities I find it quite attractive in the utilitarian sense of the word. Input and power is supplied via a mini USB input on the rear of the unit and line level analogue output is via a 3.5mm jack.

The unit is based on the TE7022L UAC1 engine, ES9023 24 bit DAC chip and it supports 16 bit and 24 bit at sample rates of 44.1kHz, 48kHz and 96kHz. There is an on-board filtered power-supply which Epiphany claim should make noise practically non-existent. The DAC is not clocked by the USB port/computer but by an on board crystal controlled oscillator and is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

The diminutive little unit, for the purposes of this review, will be used with my desktop system: Windows PC, Sonic Impact T-amp Mark 2 and a pair of Linn Index Mk 1 loudspeakers.

First of all let me just emphasise how small this unit actually is – it’s tiny and measures just 6.5 cm x 5cm x 2 (wld). In the box you get the DAC, a short USB to mini-USB cable and four adhesive rubber feet.

Installation is a doddle as it’s plug and play pretty much with no drivers to load. Basically you wire the E DAC up and select it as the output device in the operating system’s audio set up and your away. I did have a small problem after a day or so when the loudspeakers started to make a static kind of noise. A quick e-mail message to Epiphany and a reset of my computers audio settings to “24 bit 96000hz Studio Quality” in the advanced tab of the speaker settings immediately sorted this problem. Oliver at Epiphany said that he had never had any issue that had not been solved by using these settings. Power for the E-DAC is via the USB so no need for batteries or an external power supply. More »

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DARED EF-99 Headphone Amplifer and USB DAC

14. September 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters, Headphones · Tags: , , , ,

When I was asked to review this little headphone amp I was a little hesitant as to what to expect, but I was assured by the UK distributor that it was a goodie.

Let’s get the technical spec out of the way first. This is headphone amplifier and USB DAC in one compact little unit with a power output rated at a healthy 1 Watt per channel in Class A. It has a switch on the back to switch between 32, 120 and 300 Ohm headphones, two stereo line inputs, a stereo minijack input, a USB input and a stereo line output. It can also be used as a preamplifier…more of which later.

In the packaging you get a small instruction manual, a pair of white gloves, the amp and its hefty separate power supply. Valves fitted are 1x6N2X1, 1 x 61X1 and 1x 12AX7X1 and the whole caboodle weighs in at 5Kg.

It’s an attractive little unit being matt black aluminium with the valves being kept from harm behind individual transparent ‘cages’. On the front of the DARED is a large input selector knob where you can switch between Line 1, Line 2, Aux and USB, a volume control dial, the headphone output socket and a round, illuminated VU meter which lends the amplifier a somewhat retro feel. It’s a nice looking bit of kit measuring 180 x 220 x 150mm (LWH).

You may not have heard of DARED but the Shenzhen Danyigao Audio Equipment Limited was founded in 1995 with the “sole purpose of designing and manufacturing vacuum tube audio equipment” and DARED is the company’s registered trading name. The name DARED derives from the Chinese pronunciation of ‘Dan yi gao’ which means “high-end tube amplifier and artistry” – In English the company use “Daring, Artistic, Reliable, Elegant and Definitive” as their mantra. DARED kit is designed and manufactured in Shenzen, China, the company say that all their products are thoroughly tested electronically and by ear before leaving the manufacturing plant and that every unit is properly “run in”. The units all bear the CE mark and letters of authentication can be found on the company’s website. There is a wide range of amplifiers in the company’s portfolio with the T300P monoblocs being their flagship product – a pair of these amplifiers boasts no less than 16 x 300B valves and weigh in at 95Kg for the two!

For the purposes of this review I’ll be using the DARED with a Wilson Benesch Circle turntable fitted with a modified Rega RB250 arm with an Audio Technica AT33EV moving coil cartridge, through an Electrocompaniet ECP 1 phono stage. For Redbook CD I’ll be using the Unison Research CD Primo and I’ll be using the Hi Sound Audio Studio digital audio player into the auxiliary input to test that out too. The USB DAC input will be fed by a netbook computer with FLAC files. Headphones will be primarily Grado 325i. More »

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Antelope Zodiac+ DAC/Pre-amp

17. July 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: , , , ,

A lot of interesting audio equipment is coming out of Eastern Europe at the moment.  Hifi Pig has been reviewing and featuring several items from Poland recently, and now it’s Bulgaria’s turn with Antelope Audio’s 2295€ Zodiac+ DAC / Pre-amp.

Driven by the tremendous interest in computer audio, DACs are now experiencing a very strong resurgence in popularity.  The market is swamped by them!   What separates Antelope Audio from the vast majority of its competitors is the company’s established expertise in digital clocking. Antelope Audio is a pro-audio company best known for its master clocks including an atomic Rubidium model.

All 3 of the Zodiac range are encased in a very attractive (read: seriously cute!) compact somewhat cubic chassis (165x112x190mm).

Two rotary volume controls are provided on the front panel.  One to control the outputs to a pre-amp, one to control the two 6.3mm headphone jack outputs.  Both are analog controls, not digital ones that can reduce the digital signal’s bit-rate.

Input selection is via a single button, which scrolls through the auto-detected inputs whose abbreviated names are shown in the LED display at top-centre of the faceplate. When the Zodiac locks onto the source it displays the sample rate on offer. This display also shows output level (dB reduction from maximum) while the control is being used and for a second or two afterwards.

The only obvious omission is of a remote control for volume and input. You get one of these in machined aluminium with the top Zodiac model, the Gold, so the functionality has been developed and it would have been good if remote control capability with, perhaps, a less costly handset had been included with the Zodiac+.

Interestingly – and occasionally usefully! – a mono button is part of the feature set.  Stereo sources are converted to a central monophonic image.  I don’t think I’ve seen this on a DAC before – I found it useful for the occasional solo piano recording where the image of the piano was engineered to be way too wide and filled up pretty much the whole of the space between the speakers.  Much better to hear it as a centrally focused sound, I think.  I’m sure that Antelope Audio included a mono option for other reasons, although I can’t think what they might be ….

The rear panel is a very busy place indeed, with a multitude of digital and analog inputs, and RCA single-ended and XLR balanced outputs.  Digital inputs encompass SPDI/F co-ax (RCA) and optical (TOSLINK) as well as USB.

The Zodiac+ is the middle model of three Zodiac DACs, the base model is due this spring and the Zodiac Gold sits at the top of the tree at £500 more than the Plus.

The Zodiac+ has its own onboard clock.  I was a bit baffled reading the instruction manual to see that the clock is “oven controlled”.  Apparently what this means is that it’s kept at a constant temperature, improving stability and, according to Antelope, bringing significant sonic benefits.

The USB will accept signals up to 192kHz, although the use of a mini B socket is slightly odd and limits the array of good-quality USB leads that can be used, although Antelope supply one with the Zodiac+. More »

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Resonessence Labs Invicta Dac/preamp

15. June 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags:

There’s been a good deal of fuss over the ESS Sabre Dac chip in recent years. Hype that’s certainly justified in my very limited experience, as I’ve been fortunate to own and listen to Eastern Electric’s Minimax Dac and Wyred4sound’s Dac2. Both were excellent products, punching well above their weight in terms of absolute sound quality. Obviously the successful implementation of any chip is dependant on circuit design, the output stage and the power supply but bad reviews of products utilizing ESS chipsets are pretty hard to come by, with glowing reports of Sabre equipped products from Calyx, Audio GD and Oppo easy to find online. So how about a high end digital to analogue converter based on and designed by a team that were involved in the design of this revolutionary chip? Say hello to Resonessence Labs, a Canadian company founded by Mark Mallinson, former Operations Director at ESS Technology. The Invicta is their first product and has reportedly been two years in the making. The products are both designed and hand assembled in Canada, giving the company complete control over the entire process. The unit actually uses two different ESS chips with the ES9108 used for the line output and an ES9016 Ultra chip dedicated to the headphone stage. More »

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Human Audio Tabla USB to SP/dif Interface

13. June 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: , ,

I’d really enjoyed my time with Human Audio’s Muto Dac and, as luck would have it, it wasn’t the only battery powered treat that I’d been sent for review. Time to spend some time with the Tabla, the Hungarian company’s take on USB to SP/dif conversion. Will it make as positive an impact as the compact hi res Dac I was so reluctant to re box for the collecting courier?

The two products are obviously designed to complement each other. The tabla shares the unconventional 100 x 55 x 30mm dimensions, black casework and stylish logo detail with the digital to analogue converter and the two look well sat together. The unit is solidly made – I doubt aesthetic design is the number one priority when designing a component  that might well sit towards the back of the average audiophile’s trophy cabinet of kit but a quick google of some competing products confirms that the Tabla is one of the more dapper converters on the market. It’s certainly better finished than the Audio GD digital interface I use on a daily basis which luckily is very much a triumph of substance over style.

The big sell here is bit perfect listening up to 24/192kHz and, as with the dac, battery power. Human Audio are convinced that getting off the grid is the key to great sound and the entire range is built around this philosophy. To this end the Tabla is specced with two, power supply independent batteries. More »

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Neko Audio D100 DAC

23. May 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: ,

Feline Felicitations

This DAC was off to a good start with me – a nice outline of a cat on the fascia.  Cats are always welcome in my home!  Apparently, neko means cat in Japanese and the proprietor and chief honcho of Neko Audio is a big fan of felines.  It also struck me that the aforementioned proprietor is Mr Miaw or Miaow, depending on the chosen Japanese to English transliteration, so perhaps there is a connection there as well?

DAC Differences

With their new-found home in computer audio, DACs are once again flooding the market at all price levels.  In all honesty, many of them seem remarkably similar to each other both in design and sound.  There are some innovatively designed DACs around, though, the recently reviewed Lampizator DAC with its novel valve circuitry being one of them.  The Neko D100 is another that deliberately bucks the “me-too” trend.  In the Neko D100 the output section is entirely passive, with Jensen output transformers providing isolation and gain, and this does appear to give a distinctive caste to the sound. Presumably as a result of the passive output stage, the output level of the D100 is significantly less than the 2V Red Book standard; so active gain from a pre-amp may be needed to achieve the volume levels you want in-room, depending on room size, speaker efficiency, power amp input sensitivity and musical taste.  Passive pre-amp owners are advised to check this out.

Another stand-out feature, although a rather baffling one in this computerised day & age, is that there are only 2 digital inputs – S/PDIF RCA and TOSLINK optical only – no USB!  This does not strike me as an approach that will endear itself to the digital-streaming fraternity.

On the review unit there was only a single pair of XLR output connections at the rear, although I understand that an RCA output version can be purchased for the same price.  Belden XLR to XLR cables, and XLR to RCA cables for systems where XLR inputs are not available, can be purchased from Neko Audio. A pair of XLR-RCA cables were supplied with the review unit.  To be honest, these are of “OK” sonic standard, nothing special, and I thought they held back the capabilities of the DAC, decreasing transparency a little and adding a subtle grainy sheen in the treble.  Better cables will allow the DAC to show its considerable sonic prowess to greater advantage. More »

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Human Audio Muto Dac

23. May 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: ,

I’d heard of Human Audio products before Stu asked to me review these pieces. I’d seen them too, which perhaps goes some way to explaining my excitement at the arrival of the courier. The high end Libretto HD CD player/Dac is one of my fantasy hi-fi league items, but sadly the two box, high resolution bamboo encased dream machine is somewhat out of my league, leaving me to flick longingly through images online.

The content of said delivery is a little more down to earth. The more affordable Human Audio Muto Dac has come to stay for a few weeks and it’s now unboxed, unwrapped and plugged in. Plugged in might be stretching it actually. The unit is purely battery powered as per Human Audio’s philosophy, so connected would perhaps be a more accurate comment, with just single ended interconnects running from the Dac to my trusty Audio Note Oto amplifier.

Spend some time reading through Hungary based Human Audio’s website and several things become obvious. They’ve got some clear ideas about what they want to make and, seemingly, both the technical savvy and the eye for product detail to produce it. The website mentions input from professional musicians when voicing the range and all of the products are battery powered, with even this entry level Muto Dac using two piece high-grade Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LiFePO4) cells. The Muto can accept a digital signal of up to 24 bit/192 Khz and has an RCA and BNC digital input on the back of the neat, understated housing that measures just 100 x 55 x 130mm. Fully discrete, which describes the unique analogue output stage that operates in class A. More »

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Lampizator DAC Level 4 Review

18. April 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: ,

You might not have heard of Lukasz Fikus but you’ll have probably of heard of Lampizator. They are one and the same – Lukasz, a Polish electrical engineer with a masters degree in high voltage physics is Lampizator and as such is responsible for one of the more interesting hi-fi pages on the web today. The site started as a blog, where his design musings and irreverent dissection of high end brands revealing what was actually going on behind the silver tongued marketing spiel and brushed aluminium fascias garnered him a cult following. These days Lampizator is more boutique manufacturer than modder, with several employees and rave forum reviews under his belt. His own valve output stage design, subsequent mods and kit DACs have been well received, selling well through the online store.

A clickable button on this online store links to a newer page and Fikus’ primary commercial venture, a digital to analogue converter. The Lampizator DAC is the fruit of years spent refining his home brew analogue circuit and comprehensive testing of pretty much every DAC chip commercially available. The resulting product is a purist’s dream – handpicked components, bespoke PCBs, opamp free design and massively over specified power supplies and capacitor banks ensure the best design possible for the five product levels available. These models are marketed as DACs one to five, with components becoming more exotic as the price increases. Shrewd marketing, and surely a nod to the Audionote up selling strategy that Fikus admits to admiring. More »

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Audio GD Digital Interface USB to S/Pdif converter

19. March 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: , ,

Price £159 (£204 with optional Class A PSU)

I’m pretty much on my own with this one. A quick poll at Hifi Pig HQ confirms what I already know – I’m the only one here who can get worked up about computer audio.

It makes sense to me. It works. I buy a CD, I rip it to a NAS hidden in a cupboard and then access the file through either my Sonos network or a ‘stealth’ spec laptop modded to run as quietly as possible. The CD goes onto a shelf (in alphabetical order of course) and the whole shooting match is controlled by my iPhone or iPad. I had some set up teething problems but the advantages far outweighed the odd technical hitch. All my tracks in one place, on one screen. I won’t miss collecting up all those silver discs with a hangover after an impromptu back to mine on a Friday night and PC audio was the key to the hallowed gates of high resolution audio, with files encoded at 24/192 as opposed to the Cd Redbook industry standard 16/44. Potentially a big deal. More »

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