DAC Reviews
Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date
Asus Xonar Essence One or Why Actually Listening to Gear is Important
Solid State Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
Dinny FitzPatrick • Apr 25, 2013 • 17 comments

In many ways, the Essence One confounded my sonic expectations. It was disappointing with the phones with which I thought it would mate perfectly and soared with the phones I thought would break its back. This, folks, is why we actually need to listen to this stuff.

Continue Reading »
Parasound Zdac
Solid State Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
John Grandberg • Mar 15, 2013 • 12 comments

Parasound hasn't released a DAC in nearly 2 decades. That streak is now broken thanks to their new Zdac. Was it worth the wait?

Continue Reading »
Musical Paradise MP-301 Mk 3 Vacuum Tube Integrated/Headphone Amplifier and MP-D1 Vacuum Tube USB DAC
Vacuum Tube Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
Skylab • Dec 10, 2012 • 8 comments

The MP-301 Mk 3 is a very good sounding amplifier for the money. It wears its tube topology on its sleeve, both physically and sonically. Love it for that, or pass. But if you think it's a good thing, then you get a LOT of product for your $300 here.

Continue Reading »
The Izmo M1 DDC, DAC, and Headphone Amp
Solid State Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, Portable Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
John Grandberg • Dec 07, 2012 • 4 comments

I just love checking out previously unknown (to me) gear from Japan. They have quite a few high quality headphone-oriented brands that don't get much exposure anywhere else. Case in point - the Izmo M1. Check out the picture above: looks like a nice portable amp right? That was my first thought as well but it turns out I was wrong. Sort of. It's far more than just a portable amp but can impersonate one with the right accessories.

Confused yet? Allow me to explain...

Continue Reading »
Focusright VRM Box Virtual Reference Monitoring
DAC Reviews
John Grandberg • Aug 27, 2012 • 12 comments

Focusrite, a pro-audio firm, calls this a "high-quality headphone interface with a difference"--the difference being their Virtual Reference Monitoring feature. They say it "emulates the experience of mixing in real rooms, with real speakers, using headphones." That's a big claim for a small device.

Let's see if it actually delivers.

Continue Reading »
Schiit Bifrost Digital-to-Analog Converter
DAC Reviews
Steve Guttenberg • Feb 27, 2012 • 23 comments

I’ve been a Schiit head since day one. The Asgard, the company’s very first Class A headphone amp lit up my old Sennheiser HD 580s, big time, and I’ve never looked back. The Asgard was followed by the all-tube Valhalla, and the Lyr high-output headphone amplifiers. Every one a winner as far as I’m concerned, so I just had to get my hands on Schiit’s Bifrost DAC.

Continue Reading »
NuForce Icon iDo USB DAC Headphone Amplifier
Solid State Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
Steve Guttenberg • Oct 13, 2011 • 9 comments
I have to admit I didn't quite understand the logic of making an AC powered device for iPods, iPhones or iPads, so I asked NuForce's Jason Lim about the iDo's raison d'être. He explained it was designed for people who bring their Apple devices to work and want the best possible sound, but don't have access to music on their computers.

That sounds cool ...

Continue Reading »
HRT Music Streamer Pro USB D/A converter
DAC Reviews
Jon Iverson • Feb 23, 2011 • 0 comments
Art Dudley and others have covered the first products released by HRT, and now the company has added to its product line a Pro version of its Music Streamer, which sports balanced circuit design from tip to tail.

Housed in the same simple, functional, six-sided case of extruded aluminum as HRT's other products, the Pro is painted a bright blue to distinguish it from the Music Streamer II (red) and Music Streamer II+ (gray). At 5.6" it is also a tad longer than the others, and includes a single B-type USB 1.1 jack centered on one end, and two small, fully balanced TiniQ output jacks on the other. More about these special mini sockets later.

Continue Reading »
YBA Design WD202 D/A headphone amplifier
Solid State Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
Jon Iverson • Jun 21, 2010 • 0 comments
YBA Design's new WD202 D/A processor and headphone amplifier showed up while I was turning the pages of Don and Jeff Breithaupt's Precious and Few: Pop Music of the Early '70s, recommended by John Marks in his October 2009 "Fifth Element" column. Each page drips with great examples of why the 1970s often wind up on the wrong end of the culture stick (the Osmonds, anyone? Terry Jacks?).
Continue Reading »
Music Hall dac25.2 D/A processor
DAC Reviews
Sam Tellig • Aug 05, 2009 • 0 comments
Roy Hall has been Creek Audio's US importer for more than 20 years. Did you know that all Creek gear is now made in China? Just like Cambridge Audio, Quad, and many B&W models. Just like some US speaker brands, for which virtually all parts are made in China but are assembled, it's claimed, in the US. Three cheers for brands like LFD, Rega, Sugden, and Harbeth—all still made in the UK. For French marques made in France. For Italian products produced in Italy. Etc.
Continue Reading »
Benchmark DAC1 Pre USB D/A headphone amplifier
Solid State Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
Sam Tellig • Oct 09, 2008 • 0 comments
Most of this column is dedicated to two hi-fi products for the masses—not from Lvov, via Vladimir Lamm, of Lamm Industries; or from Leningrad, via Victor Khomenko, of Balanced Audio Technologies; nor from any other Soviet-born audio hero. (Neither Vladimir nor Victor is on the list of "Name of Russia" contenders for greatest Russian of all time.) Nor from any consumer audio company, but from the world of professional audio. An Iron Curtain almost separates the two.
Continue Reading »
Benchmark DAC1 USB D/A processor & headphone amplifier
Solid State Home Headphone Amplifier Reviews, DAC Reviews
John Atkinson • Jan 18, 2008 • 0 comments
In his July 2005 "The Fifth Element" column, John Marks enthusiastically wrote about the Benchmark Media Systems DAC1 D/A processor and headphone amplifier. Comparing its sound playing CDs with that of a three-times-more-expensive Marantz SA-14 SACD player, he concluded that the DAC 1's "Red Book" performance was at least as good as that of the Marantz, being "slightly more articulate in the musical line, and slightly more detailed in spatial nuances, particularly the localization of individual images in space, and in soundstage depth."
Continue Reading »