The Reference DAC Digital Media Bridge connects nearly all forms of digital media to a centralized unit with “exceptional digital to-analogue processing”, the same vacuum tube analogue stage and power supply as the Reference 5 SE, and an intuitive, easy to use display interface.

The Reference DAC builds on the sonic performance of the DAC8, as well as technology from Audio Research preamplifiers such as the Reference Anniversary and the chassis has the same size and look as other Reference series preamplifiers. New is the 3.5” TFT display on the front panel, capable of displaying all unit functions as well as metadata from certain sources. The Reference DAC also incorporates the ability to upsample any 44.1 or 48 kHz source to 176.4 or 192 kHz playback.

The idea of the Digital Media Bridge is to unite all digital sources into a singular, high performance chassis to provide
an elegant, user-friendly digital audio solution. The Reference DAC has capacity for the following sources:
Wired Ethernet, Wireless Ethernet via IEEE802.11b/g/n, vTuner Internet Radio, AES/EBU input, S/PDIF optical input, S/PDIF coaxial input, USB 2.0 HS for computer, USB 2.0 for iPod, iPad, iTouch, and/or iPhone, USB input memory stick (thumb drive) front input.

The Audio Research Reference DAC Digital Media Bridge is available in the UK through Absolute Sounds’ network of high-end audio retailers, with an SRP of £13,998 inc. VAT.