Preamp/DAC Reviews
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MSB Technology The Analog DAC
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Steven Plaskin • Apr 25, 2013 • 24 comments
General Description of The Analog DAC
The Analog DAC is MSB Technology’s newest DAC model that was designed to offer audiophiles a DAC that is analog-like in sound quality, but without the limitations of dynamics and distortion. As it just so happens, The Analog DAC is the least expensive of the DACs offered by MSB Technology, but offers a number of features found in their more expensive models.
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Fostex HP-A8C 32-Bit DAC Headphone Amp
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Apr 18, 2013 • 3 comments
DSD via DoP and SDHC
Before going to press with this review, I figured I'd give it one last lap around the 'net to see if I could locate some information regarding when (or if) the Fostex HP-A8C would be able to play back DSD over PCM/USB. I stumbled on a post by 'AnakChan' on HeadFi that pointed to the Fostex Japan website and lo and behold there was firmware version 2.01B with DoP (you can get it here). Once I downloaded and updated, all I had to do was navigate to the USB over PCM menu option, enable it, and I was streaming DSD over USB in no time. Lovely. Why this firmware revision from November 2012 is not yet available on the Fostex International (English) website is anyone's guess. The latest version to be found there is 1.31 which does not include the DSD over USB option so you are stuck playing back only DSF formatted DSD files through the HP-A8C's SD (or SDHC) card reader. And that's kind of a drag.
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Emotiva XDA-2 USB DAC/Digital Preamp/Headphone Amp
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Mar 09, 2013 • 12 comments
Value
One look at the Emotiva XDA-2 DAC/Digital Preamp/Headphone Amp and you may ask yourself—I wonder how much that costs? And when you learn that the answer is a dollar shy of $400, you may think "Wow" or you may think, "Wait, what does it do?". Price perception is similar to depth perception in that's its all about ones' point of view. While anyone that's been shopping for a DAC lately will more than likely be impressed by the XDA-2s package, what it does is play music and how well it does this one job will tell you most everything you need to know about its value.
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Asus Xonar Essence One MUSES Edition
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Nov 21, 2012 • 8 comments

Throwing Muses
The Asus Xonar Essence One comes in three versions; the standard ($599), the One Plus Edition with Op-Amp Swap Kit ($699), and the unit under review the MUSES Edition (footnote 1) so named for its use of the MUSES 01 Op-Amps from New Japan Radio Co. Ltd. While I wouldn't call the Xonar Essence One MUSES Edition inexpensive at $899, I would say it leans toward the budget side of things, all things considered. With very solid build quality, a 24/192-capable Asynchronous USB input, two S/PDIF inputs, a preamp, a headphone amp, and optional "Symmetrical 8X upsampling", Asus has thrown a lot into the Essence One including the muses.

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Wadia Digital 121Decoding Computer Follow Up
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Oct 09, 2012 • 0 comments
Pre-amplification
A number of readers asked a very relevant question after reading my initial review of the Wadia Digital 121Decoding Computer—how abouti its preamp? And as with the Mytek review, my answer was, good question. Armed with the Pass Labs INT-30A which allows you to bypass its passive preamp stage, I put the Wadia 121 to the preamp test.
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Mytek Digital Stereo192-DSD DAC Follow Up
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Oct 03, 2012 • 1 comments
Pre-amplification
A number of readers asked a very relevant question after reading my initial review of the Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC—how about its preamplifier? And my response was—excellent question I will report back. In the mean time I received the Pass Labs INT-30A integrated amplifier on loan for just this purpose. The INT-30A allows you to essentially remove its buffered volume control from the circuit by simply turning the volume up to its maximum level (step 63). As Nelson Pass explained in Erick Lichte's excellent review of the INT-150A (which employs the same volume control as the INT-30A) in Stereophile, "First there is a selector switch, which is just relays, and then there's a buffer that drives the volume control. The output of that goes to the amp, and then you're done. There's not a lot there." While one needs to be careful A/B/C'ing (in this case) when dealing with a maximum level setting, this made for a very simple and effective means of comparing the Mytek's three preamplifier settings—Bypass, Analog, and Digital—with the Pass Labs INT-30A's. So on with the A,B,Cs of preamplification!
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Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Aug 07, 2012 • 45 comments
Catching the DSD Buzz
The Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC was unveiled at last year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest right around the time of AudioStream's public launch. As we both approach our first birthday, it seems somehow appropriate that I'm finally taking a closer look and listen. Direct Stream Digital (DSD). There I said it. Most of the buzz at RMAF 2011 was the Mytek's ability to play back DSD natively and while this is truly buzz-worthy for a number of reasons, I'd say that's only about half the story.
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Wadia Digital 121Decoding Computer
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Jun 22, 2012 • 22 comments
A Decoding Computer
Wadia is the father of the decoding computer. Their first, the 2000 Decoding Computer, hit the market in 1988 and the company has continued to innovate introducing the digital music listener to the notion of the separate D/A converter (decoding computer), glass fiber-optic links, algorithm-based filters, and the concept of jitter to name but a few. The subject of today's review, the 121Decoding Computer, is Wadia's newest assault on the state of computer-based music playback and I like the way it thinks. Even better, I like the way it plays.
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Resonessence Labs Invicta DAC
DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • May 03, 2012 • 16 comments
Megahertz Tickles
The Invicta DAC is the first product from Resonessence Labs. The main man behind Resonnessence is Mark Mallinson, former Operations Director for ESS Technology and if you know about ESS Technology you'll know they make, among other things, the line of ESS Sabre DACs that you find inside a number of DACs from companies including Peachtree Audio, Weiss, Wavelength Audio, Wyred 4 Sound, Mytek Digital and many more. And now you can also find them inside the Resonessence Labs Invicta.
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47 Laboratory Model 4733 Pre Amplifier/USB & Coax DAC
DAC Reviews, Integrated Amp/DAC Reviews, Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Oct 21, 2011 • 2 comments
I'll start by saying I've been a fan of 47 Labs designs from the first time I saw and heard the 4706 Gaincard and 4713 Flatfish. It helped that Herb Reichert wrote about the 47 Labs Gaincard (Listener, volume 5, number 2 Spring 1999) since he was a favorite writer on Hi-Fi and someone I felt I could relate to in ways that included non-Hi-Fi stuff (now that I've had an opportunity to meet Herb on a few occasions, I discovered I was righter than I knew). If a minimal design aesthetic appeals to you in a general sense, i.e. you enjoy the work of Ray and Charles Eames, Donald Judd, Ad Reinhardt, the Bauhaus, etc., then the design approach of Juni Kimura should tickle a similar fancy. Juni Kimura's quote, "Only the simplest can accomodate the most complex" adorns the 47 Labs US Distributor's home page.
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Audio Alternative
Preamp/DAC Reviews
Michael Lavorgna • Oct 19, 2011 • 0 comments
The Fort Collins, CO-based brick and mortar store Alternative Audio room featured the Bryston BDA-1 DAC/BDP-1 digital player combo ($2,195/each). The rest of the system I listened to included the Audio Research VSi60 integrated amp ($4,495) and the new Vandersteen Treo loudspeakers ($5,990/pair) all wired with AudioQuest cable. Stevie Ray Vaughan was playing here too and the sound was "hefty yet nimble" and I remember thinking—nice, real nice.