Device Type: Digital to Analog Convertor
Input: (3) 24-bit/192kHz S/PDIF (1 TosLink, 2 Coax), (1) 24-bit/96kHz USB
Output: (1) pair RCA, (1) pair XLR Balanced
Dimensions: 220 x 190 x 65 (mm)
Weight: about 2.5kg
Availability: Online through Rein Audio website
Price: $780.00
Website: www.reinaudio.com

Confessions of a Happy Procrastinator
I’ll admit I dillied and dallied before writing this review. Part of the reason being the Rein Audio X-DAC doesn’t announce its presence in any overt way. Every time I went looking for it, I ended up just listening to and enjoying the music. And that’s all right by me.

Business First
Who is Rein Audio? I’ll give you the executive summary but feel free to head over to the Rein website for all of the information you’re likely to find on the company and its products that include a line of cables, an amplifier and the X-DAC. Rein Audio came into being in 2011 “selling fever wires”. Yes, that’s a quote from their website and let me say two things up front; 1) if you asked me to ask you what time is it in German, I’d fail miserably and 2) Rein Audio appears to have used an online translator or someone with a poetic sense of language for their English-language website. While this may raise some eyebrows and ring some bells, as someone who has been interested in hi-fi from Germany, France, Japan and other non-English-speaking locals, I’m used to broken English. I mean hey, I grew up in Joisey (btw – I’ve never heard anyone from NJ actually pronounce it that way).

Tomasz Wilczak is Rein Audio’s chief designer and he states on their website (or that translator interpreted what he said into), “…we are constantly striving for Unexpected Ultimate Pure Audio”. We also learn from their website that Mr. Wilczak worked for other hi-fi companies for 10 years before starting Rein Audio. When I asked my contact at Rein, the ever-helpful Jason S. Tornald if he could provide more specifics regarding Mr. Wilczak’s experience he answered, “Yes, we are really young company in audio industry. However, I cannot disclose his work in other audio company, otherwise it will influence other brand - the brand is still in German market. Hope you can understand, thanks!”. I can understand and I appreciate a positive attitude – Yes! But no.

One other troublesome note is the manual which is a photocopy (but that's not the problem) that includes misinformation as well as data in the "Features" section that belongs to the X-AMP not the X-DAC. Here's one example, "Important Note: Only connect one co-axial OR optical cable to each digital input. The unit will not operate if both connections are made (even if only one is active)." So I sent Jason an email inquiring as to the reasons behind this odd limitation and he assured me you can connect every input and the X-DAC will work just fine. So I connected my Oppo OPDV971H via Coax and my MacBook Pro via Toslink and sure enough, both worked. It appears as if the X-DAC outperforms its own manual.

You can buy Rein Audio products directly through their website and at present there is no official US distributor. All Rein products come with a one-year warranty so if you have a problem you’ll need to ship your X-DAC back to Rein in Germany for repair. From Jason, "...we provide 12-months warranty service. Within the period, customer can return the product if any problem for our repair. Customer shall bear the return shipping costs. We will bear the shipping costs back to customer." I also inquired about their return policy and the short is, there isn't one, "...we don't have refund policy. Instead, we will replace another new X-DAC if they find any problem in operation within 30-days."

The X-DAC
The Rein Audio X-DAC offers 3 digital inputs including 1 Toslink and 2 Coax that offer up to 24-bit/192kHz playback and a lone USB input capable of 24-bit/96kHz. There’s a pair of RCA outputs as well as balanced XLRs and that wraps up the ins and outs not counting power which is provided via IEC inlet. Up front there are two glittery silver knobs for power and source selection with adjacent green LEDs one showing power status and the other only illuminates when the USB input is active.

That USB input is of the isochronous adaptive mode, meaning this is not an asynchronous USB DAC which is what most people seem to want to know even if this fact does not necessarily relate in any way to how a DAC sounds. While we’re in this neighborhood, I’ll mention that the X-DAC employs the WM8740 DAC chip from Wolfson and I find the stealth-like black metal chassis understated if a tad uninspired but certainly not offensive in the least. Build quality strikes me as ruggedly solid.

The Sound of Clarity
I listened to the X-DAC with my MacBook Pro using Pure Music and BitPerfect and I listened through both USB and Toslink. For the record any perceived differences between inputs were subtle and I preferred things about both finding the USB input offered a slightly softer, warmer and bigger sound as compared to Toslink's tighter focus. Again, this was not an earth-shattering difference so I feel comfortable saying you may prefer both or either.

Listening to music through the X-DAC I was immediately struck by its apparent lack of sonic signature. And for lack of a more original way to put it, the X-DAC sounds largely transparent. No artificial colors or flavors added. Bass is tight and tuneful if not the ultimate in powerfully deep, vocals are shockingly clear and present when the recording calls for it, and higher registers retain a sweet tonal nature without a hint of bite. Overall, the X-DAC sounds well balanced leaning ever so slightly away from weighty towards nimble. The X-DAC keeps a tight fisted grip on your tunes no matter how wild and wooly. Even Björk sounded delightfully captured in her wildest states.

Similar in some ways to the Halide DAC HD I reviewed a while back, I mostly just enjoyed listening to the X-DAC. Regardless of music type, I was tempted to sing along, listen louder and listen longer. Where the X-DAC really struts its stuff, transparently mind you, is solo piano music. Morton Feldman’s Triadic Memories as performed by Jean Luc Fafchamps [Sub Rosa SUBCD012-35] is 73 minutes and 59 seconds of meditative meanderings for solo piano and if your hi-fi isn’t up to snuff or if you happen to find a crappy lossy copy online of this lovely recording you’ll more than likely wander after a few notes and wonder why anyone would be held in their chair for over an hour riveted to every note. As I was.

Reproducing the entire piano and all of its air-born structure can be a dicey proposition. Too much bottom end and things sound slow and muddled, too much edge and things get harsh and strident and any sense of thinness takes away the music’s emotive qualities accordingly. You really need a well-rounded presentation to deliver solo piano with all its guts and glory in tact. Morton Feldman courtesy of Jean Luc Fafchamps sang the praises of the X-DAC to me for over an hour one lovely evening.

Reservations Please
For US-buyers, some may hesitate to buy a product from a 1-year young hi-fi company with no representation in the US of A and no return policy. And the idea of shipping out your product overseas for repair may cause others to think more than twice. The funky website language aside, the mistakes in the manual are more disconcerting at least for me. I'd recommend Rein Audio take some time and put together an error-free manual. I'd also highly recommend that Rein Audio use a double-box for shipping the X-DAC. While the inner box is very nice, it comes wrapped in one layer of bubble wrap and then heavy paper which does not offer adequate protection for shipping, at least in my experience. Especially if it needs to make more than one trip.

Whether or not these issues are bumps in the road or barriers to entry is ultimately up to you. These are decisions I cannot really help you with other than to say that in all of my correspondences with Jason S. Tornald of Rein Audio he was helpful, courteous (he even said "yes" when the answer was "no"!) and he responded nearly immediately time zone anomalies aside.

From a purely sound perspective, the X-DAC strikes me as one of those rare-ish beasts that offers a well-balanced and engaging presentation coupled with a price tag that doesn’t break 4 digits. While I have heard DACs that offer more sonic bloom and an overall more robust full-bodied sound, which in some systems for some people may be a very welcome addition, the X-DAC offers a lot of crystal clearly voiced listening enjoyment.

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Associated Equipment

Also on hand and in use during the X-DAC review: Audioengine D1 and D2 DACs, Musical Fidelity V-DACII and M1 DAC, and the T+A MP 1260 R - DAC/Network Client