Roksan Audio announce the latest addition to their Kandy K3 series of hi-fi electronics – the K3 CD Di joins the range as a combination CD Player and Digital-Analogue Converter (DAC), opening up a K3 system to more music sources than ever before.

The idea behind the CD Di is to provide audio enthusiasts with a high-quality digital source that will not only play an existing CD library, but will also host an array of other digital sources as one audiophile ‘hub’. By incorporating both the CD player and the DAC into one box, users can both save space by avoiding the need for extra boxes and guarantee consistent audio performance across all digital platforms.

The CD section of the CD Di is based on the established K3 CD (which will remain in the range as a stand-alone CD player).

The DAC section of the CD Di features both optical and coaxial digital inputs that are capable of handling data streams up to 24-bit/192kHz, so a variety of alternative digital players can also be connected to it. The digital inputs are selectable via the use of a three position rocker switch underneath the unit.

Aesthetically the CD Di perfectly matches the rest of the K3 series, except for the inclusion of a bi- coloured LED that sits underneath the front plate. The LED illuminates to highlight which digital source the unit is currently set to (Coaxial = White LED, Optical = Blue LED).

The K3 CD Di brings all your digital music into one place, delivering one consistent, highly-regarded sound performance to your hi-fi system. With a variety of input and output options to utilise, it expands the capabilities of K3 further than ever before. 

Technical Information

Operating System:   CD Digital Audio System (CD, CD‐R, CD-RW)

Frequency Response:   20Hz – 20kHz (± 0.2dB)

Harmonic Distortion:   <0.002% @ 0dB, 1kHz

<0.006% @ -30dB, 1kHz

<0.002% @ 0dB, 20Hz

<0.008% @ 0dB, 20kHz

Intermodulation Distortion:   <0.0015% @ 0dB S/N Ratio (IHF-A Wtd.):   <96dB L&R

Wow & Flutter:   Quartz Precision

Channel Separation:   100dB @ 1kHz 80dB @ 20kHz

Output Voltage:   2.2V rms

Digital Inputs:   1 x 75Ω Coaxial (RCA) 1 x Optical (Toslink)

Digital Outputs:   1 x 75Ω Coaxial (RCA), 1 x 110Ω Balanced AES/EBU (XLR), 1 x Optical (Toslink)

D/A Conversion:   PCM1730E Advance Segment, Audio‐Stereo DAC

Resolution / Sampling:   24 bit / 192kHz

Oscillation:   3rd Overtone Oscillation

Crystal:   Super Precision, Custom Made

Jitter:   <150psec

Idle Pattern:   <‐107dB

L&R Stop‐Band Rejection:   <‐98dB

Power Supply:   High Performance Toroidal Transformer 7 Fully Regulated Power Rails

Power Consumption:   <15W

Dimensions (W x H x D): 432 x 380 x 105mm (Incl. Feet)

SRP £1,300.00

Leema Acoustics is now shipping its DAC/preamp, Libra. A featured-packed high-resolution ‘digital hub’, the new Libra DAC/preamp (£5,995) allows users to get the latest sound quality from their digitally connected devices.

Designed and built by Lee Taylor and Mallory Nicholls (Leema), Libra’s simple-yet-elegant looks conceal a vast array of technologies. The new Libra crystallises Leema’s decades of experience in digital audio for professional studios worldwide.

Music lovers can now apply the very latest audio technology to their digitally stored music, connecting via USB and Bluetooth to phones, tablets, laptops and more. Plus, serious audiophiles can plug-in via a class-leading array of high-end connectivity options (including some ‘pro’ options. 

The high-resolution Libra DAC has been designed for today’s (and tomorrow’s) HD audio world and is fully future-proofed say Leema. In addition to standard audio playback from common devices, the Libra also offers extreme high-resolution playback  when used with the increasing number of high-res music downloads available today – Libra will playback: DSD 64; DSD 128, DXD and 384kHz PCM via USB – playing music at recording studio quality.

The new high-resolution DAC/preamp contains Leema Acoustics ’ new f ul ly balanced Quattro Infinity dual-mono DAC modules which are field-  replaceable; should conversion technology improve in the future, the modules can be  upgraded, giving long-lasting flexibility throughout the product’s lifespan. The advanced Quattro Infinity modules also feature user-selectable output filters, so you can tailor the sound to your own preference.

The Libra boasts a range of connectivity options for the digital age, bringing the latest digital audio engineering to a wide range of connected devices. The Libra offers three coaxial and three optical inputs, capable of accepting high-resolution 24-bit/192kHz audio. For super-high-end partnering equipment, the Libra also offers some more esoteric options, including two I2S inputs via RJ45 connectors. With fully programmable pin-allocation on one of these inputs in software, any high-end source with an I2S interface can easily be accommodated. Source components with professional standard AES/EBU outputs can also be connected: the Libra offers two input connections available via industry standard XLR connectors. 

Leema’s M1 USB module provides a connection for computer audio replay from both Windows (driver software included), Macintosh and Linux machines. This interface is fully asynchronous, allowing the Libra to precisely regulate the data rate coming from the computer and deliver incredibly low jitter levels. This feature, together with full galvanic isolation using cutting-edge spinning-electron technology, ensures that music delivered over USB is as good as current technology will allow  says the company’s press release.

Libra can be used as a preamp – simply connect it to a power amp or active loudspeaker and your all set to play music. Libra offers three separate analogue inputs, each of which can be individually configured as unbalanced, via RCA Cinch connectors, or fully balanced via XLR connectors. The entire signal path, both digital and analogue, is fully balanced from the digital data stream, to the balanced analogue outputs.

The Libra is able to operate either as a conventional audio component with fixed output level, or as a pre-amplifier with full analogue volume control on-board. Outputs are provided via unbalanced RCA/Cinch connectors and balanced XLR connectors. Libra is also a full LIPS* controller and can control Leema Acoustics’ range of power amplifiers directly.

Libra also has an optional Bluetooth interface, allowing high-quality music replay from suitably equipped tablets, smartphones and other compatible devices, quickly, easily and wirelessly. For personal listening, a headphone amplifier is also included, further enabling the Libra as the ideal single-box D/A conversion solution. 

*LIPS is an acronym of Leema Intelligent Protocol System. It is a communication bus that enables Leema Acoustics components to communicate with other units in the range. The communication enables simple control of power on/off from one unit, right up to the control of all functions in a Leema Acoustics system, comprising up to 15 individual components.

The Libra DAC/preamp is priced at £5,995 and is available now.

Merging Technologies has announced that On a Higher Note, LLC has been appointed as the exclusive distributor for USA and Canada for its new NADAC products. This agreement covers the consumer market and the high-end audio industry, tapping On A Higher Note’s network of retailers and custom installers.

Considerable interest in NADAC has come from the professional community that has been Merging’s main market for 25 years. In recognition of the need to service that market with continuity, Independent Audio of Portland, Maine will add NADAC to its existing portfolio of Horus, Hapi, Pyramix and Ovation.

“Getting master quality audio into the home is the holy grail.” commented Merging’s President, Claude Cellier. “Our professional customers including artists, sound engineers, singers and producers have won hundreds of Grammys® over the years. NADAC makes their great sounding music accessible anywhere and allows these amazing recordings to be presented as the artists and producers intended.”
On a Higher Note’s Founder and President, Philip O’Hanlon, is excited about the first-to-market advantage Merging Technologies’ new integrated network DACs possess. “There is no doubt that the NADAC performs exceptionally well, offering high fidelity multi-channel analog to digital music conversion with the highest sampling rates and formats. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this smart DXD and DSD compatible whole-home audio streaming solution to our dealer base. For the first time, music lovers can enjoy superb sonic transparency along with the convenience of being able to expand into a multi-zone, multi-source networked environment.”

The RAVENNA/AES67 network technology was specifically designed for audio use and removes traditional clocking and jitter problems between the host and the DAC. It also removes any cable length limitation allowing complete multi-room and multi-zone control with multiple hosts and multiple DACS being simply connected. Merging realised the potential of this technology and worked with the RAVENNA developers to ensure that DSD and DXD sampling rates could be easily handled with sufficient channels for the new immersive sound formats as well as the existing catalog of surround files.

Following on from the recent news of their appointment of distribution for their new NADAC (Network Attached DAC) in the USA earlier this week,  Merging Technologies of Switzerland have announced their European and Australasian distributors.  Digital Audio Service are handling Germany and Austria, eMerging the UK, Merging Denmark takes Scandinavia, the Benelux region is taken care of by Edison, Italy by VDM and France by Synergie-Esoteric.  In Asia, new company Merging Fidelity will appoint local representatives in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Syncfish handle South Korea, Modi Digital will distribute in India and Electori of Japan will be distributing there and launching NADAC at the Tokyo International Audio Show running from 25th to 27th September.  Australia and New Zealand will be handled by ATT Audio Controls in Melbourne.

Merging Technologies Sales and Marketing Manager, Chris Hollebone remarked; “We believe we have an exceptional team in the Asia/Pac Rim region.  There are still important countries where we need to find the right partners so we are taking out time to research companies that share our values.  This is a proven formula for success and we know that NADAC deserves the best possible support in this vital market.”

Lampizator have announced a new DSD Only DAC called Eufonia. It will cost 1800 Euros plus taxes.

The company’s website claims that this signals the death of CD and there will be no more AES/EBU inputs and no more Toslink. The DAC will play normal normal red book CDs as DSD via the computer which they say will have a better sound quality than is achievable from PCM files directly.

The DSD engine in the Lamizator Eufonia is the same as in the Level 4, Big 5, Lite 7 and Big 7 DACs and the fully analogue tube stage is from their Amber project but with an improved circuit and tube section…

The Eufonia will auto detect DSD 64 and 128 and uses Amanero USB input 2 which is future proofed to 512x DSD. There will be auto muting of DSD artifacts and the Eufonia will use exclusively Jupiter Tin paper caps.

Tubes can be ECC81, ECC88, ECC82 or any equivalents and there’s a 6X5 tube rectifier diode in the tube power supply.

Outputs will be single ended with no option for XLR and it will be available with black or silver front panels.

Dan Worth takes a listen to this well specified integrated amplifier (£2000) complete with its MM30 Media board (£1250)

The I32 is an upgradable 2 x 120wpc integrated amplifier from Primare which with its modular design allows for users to upgrade with a Media Board to allow for network streaming, USB computer input and iPod USB inputs… along with coaxial and optical DAC inputs allowing for a truly flexible jack of all trades amplifier. Along with the optional Media Board the I32 supports MM/MC inputs, two balanced XLR analogue inputs and three RCA unbalanced inputs.

Two UFPD amplifiers are housed in the heavy gauge screened metal chassis. The preamplifier is a completely separate implementation which has is own isolated power supplies in order to reduce distortion levels and to allow for a cleaner feed to the power efficient Class D modules, which in standby only consume a meagre 0.2W of energy.

Primare have ensured their signal path design is as short as possible and all signal treatment (volume, source selection and balance trims) are processed purely in the analogue domain.

Unbalanced inputs are converted to balanced and buffered by the Burr Brown OPA2134 op-amps and routed to volume and balance controls employing closely matched LM1972 balanced stepped attenuators. Source switching is made via high quality relays.

ULTRA FAST POWER DEVICE CLASS-D AMPLIFIER

The use of switch mode power electronics is gaining in popularity as the result of its lower energy consumption and as a way to squeeze more amplifier channels into smaller spaces. Unfortunately Class D amplifiers and their switch mode power supplies have traditionally deserved a reputation for poor audio quality, characterised by rising THD with frequency. Primare’s UFPD (Ultra Fast Power Device) technology provides for the possibilities of a full-range ‘audiophile’ Class D design. It is a Class D technology which has a consistent 26dB feedback loop gain across the entire audio bandwidth and is stable way beyond the audible frequencies. This is quite easy to achieve in conventional linear ‘continuous signal’ amplifiers, but much more difficult in ‘non-continuous’ high speed switching amplifiers.

Rather than have the amplifier and then the filter as discrete stages, the UFPD design integrates the two, making control with feedback much more immediate and accurate. The UFPD amplifier actively adapts the loop gain to keep the total loop stable during start up, clipping and current limit. It senses the changes to the filter output and compensates by applying the precise amount of feedback. This adaptive pole control allows for several more dBs of constant loop gain across the audio band and maintains performance irrespective of load (impedance) variations.

Primare’s UFPD treats all signals equally regardless of frequency or slew rate and has the ability to suppress the filter resonance entirely. Consequently THD is kept very low at all frequencies. With a very wide ‘load independent’ frequency response UFPD is able to drive any speaker while maintaining control and accuracy.

Build quality is really nice with the thick front panel, heavy gauge chassis, powder coated and nice shiny, smart looking knobs and buttons on the fairly sparse (the way I like it) front panel.  There’s a centrally aligned screen for display of source and volume, along with clear indication of muted playback. Although the rear of the unit is busy with many connecting sockets the layout is nicely grouped and organised.

The included remote control is packed full of buttons being a system remote for other linked Primare components – functional it is, but it’s nothing to write home about and is plasticky and lightweight, but hey-ho, it’s only a remote and I personally tend to never use them anyway – it screws up my daily exercise routine of having to get up and turn the volume knob by hand!

SOUND

After a good 40 minutes of warm up time the I32 really begins to kick into gear, producing fast, clean beats and a massive open and truly transparent midrange with an airy top-end which demands the listener’s attention. Up until the 40 minute mark point music sounds a little flat and noticeably slow.

Soundstage width is absolute magic with every nuance and micro detail being fully formed in all its robustness and clarity. Class D often leaves a lot to be desired when fleshing out notes with textural timbres and characterises itself all too often with leanness, limp bodied, sterile or cold taints, but the I32 is rich and full bodied in-between and beyond of the speakers. Tonal information is displayed in its full entirety regardless of image placement. For me, when I hear an amplifier which can reproduce full natural tones throughout the entire listening area, rather than suggestions of detail spread out, makes me instantly want to investigate the product further and adds a real first time excitement to the sound.

Although the richness of the sound signature replicates instruments and vocals incredibly well, the very lowest bass-line of the I32 takes a little getting used to. I’m used to having a slightly looser and gentler roll-off to the bottom end whereas the I32’s bass is full and tight, presenting more detail than say my Jeff Rowland integrated and has a tightness that is coupled with weight that defines the lowest notes further and more accurately. With the Rowland it colours the bottom end with a little bloom and allows for the lowest of registers to gently fade into the abyss – the I32 doesn’t suddenly stop or roll short in anyway, it has a point where the note ends, which after a little while of listening made me believe that it had a certain truthfulness about it. When playing upbeat music the I32 is so bouncy and musical it made me sad to revert to the Rowland, especially with the lively and energetic music I play during the daytime.

Listening in the later parts of the day to some Norah Jones allowed me to appreciate how transparent the sound is from this amplifier. Looking right through her vocal, each tender subtlety of her voice had as much prominence in the soundstage as the lightly rubbed strings to one side of the stage, imaging just outside of the left speaker and allowing it to disappear. I was offered up a timbre and naturalness that Class D in my experience simply doesn’t normally achieve. I have had the Rowland Class D pre and power for a while now and although tremendously good and better than the Primare in certain ways, just couldn’t expose details in such an uncoloured and effortless manner.

Top end again has such a completeness to it that when analysing it closely it’s very difficult to single it out completely and the overall cohesiveness of the amplifier draws you straight back into the full sound (and away from writing the review process!). Clarity, air and sparkle must be the key ‘buzz’ words for the I32’s treble performance, though I’d suggest that there is a very marginal and discrete decibel drop to finely align it with the rest of the frequency response. Notes are very concise and the response of the upper mid-range gives the treble body and thickness especially to strings and cymbals.

Listening to electronica with the I32 shows such pace in the treble as well as the entirety of the sound. Speed and timing seem to be really very accurate and bass notes dig really deep into what is a terrifically dark background.

Listening to Fink’s live album ‘The Wheels That Turn Beneath Me’ allowed for really insight again into the performance. The crowd’s applause was vast and wide and I’ve heard this album with a few pieces of equipment sounding a little nasal and congested or strangled, but the dynamic impact of the ultra fast transients which the I32 produces really gave some wallop and slam to the brisk, heavy, singular drum beats on ‘Perfect Darkness’.

CONCLUSION

I really could go on and on exploring and explaining my findings for track after track and I could have quite easily written this conclusion to say ‘If the Primare I32 is in your purchase budget and you require a new amp look no further’.

I would have loved to have some ATC’s here with this amp and after the review I will be experimenting and playing with other complementary kit as I just enjoyed the amp so much.

The I32 will take all your musical tastes and run wild with them. It’s not coloured or warm, it’s rich and vibrant, it’s not sterile or analytical, it’s clean and accurate. The I32 is fast, controlled and utterly poised, it won’t bite you if you give it some volume or listen to Spotify Premium with the High Quality button turned on and it won’t feel limp or lifeless when you want t listen to something more beautiful.

With dynamics that match the music and an effortlessness that is just so noticeably true, the I32 will remain a favourite for some time to come!

Build Quality – 8.8/10

Sound Quality – 9.2/10

Value For Money – 8.8/10

Overall – 8.93/10

Dan Worth

Designer’s Comments 

The I32 /MM30 combination marries the latest model in the line of 30 series integrated amps from Primare with digital-to-analogue conversion and streaming technologies. As a result of the modular design approach in the I32, the DAC and streaming capabilities, along with Bluetooth connectivity, can be easily added to the integrated amp by way of the MM30’s slide in board. This modular approach further allows for future upgrades to be taken advantage of as they arise.

The good stuff in the I32 includes our proprietary UFPD (Ultra-Fast Power Device) Class D amp modules. The term “Class D” is sometimes misunderstood as meaning a “Digital” amplifier.

While some Class D amps may indeed be controlled by digital circuits or include digital signal processing devices, Primare’s UFPD modules operate entirely in the analogue domain. Basically, the UFPD amplifier module takes an analogue input sine wave and converts it into a high frequency pulse width modulated square wave for amplification. This square wave is then filtered, resulting in an amplified analogue sine wave at the output.

In conjunction with UFPD, Primare uses an isolated PFC (Power Factor Control) technology in the power supply, which controls the current from the mains voltage so that it is a pure sine wave with the same frequency and phase as the mains voltage. This means that even if 1000W is taken from the mains, other equipment in the room will not be affected. Its presence becomes virtually invisible to the mains voltage! The isolating stage of the converter works in a ZVS mode and as a result, the switch flanks contain a lower quantity of harmonics, providing lower EMI and a clean environment for the amplifiers to work in.

The dual UFPD modules in the I32 are supported by an audiophile circuit topology involving an isolating heavy gauge alloy steel chassis and an isolated pre-amp section fed by a dedicated power supply.

The MM30 upgrade uses a SRC4392 sample rate converter in conjunction with a Burr Brown PCM1792 24/192 DAC, running continually at 24/192. Incoming data at rates other than 24/192 are up-sampled to 24/192 to ensure the optimal operation of the DAC. For reliable 24/192 operation, we’ve chosen XMOS because it offers an integrated communication hub hosting the MCU. Please note: 176.4kHz is not supported by XMOS on MM30 (176.4 is supported over network). Essentially the streaming/DAC topology is identical to that used by our £2K NP30 network player, so in the I32/MM30 you’re getting a great amp and player in one, for a great price.

Terry Medalen

French company Devialet have taken the audio world by storm since they launched and Stuart Smith now takes a listen to their £5590 Ensemble package.

Let’s get one thing out of the way from the outset shall we – the guys at Devialet certainly know their marketing and the hype behind the brand has been at fever pitch pretty much since the French company launched. However, aggressive marketing has ensured that when talking about Devialet you tend to get two very distinct responses; the “It’s all style over substance marketing hoo-hah” on one side and “It’s the best thing sliced baguette” on the other. Given some of the rooms using Devialet amplifiers at this years Munich High-End it certainly seems to be the case that many of the high-end speaker brands have fully embraced Devialet’s amplifiers, one case in point being the Leedh room.

Here for review we have the Devialet Ensemble which is a package deal of the Devialet 120 (we actually had the 200 sent) and a pair of Atohm GT 1 Devialet Special Edition loudspeakers.

Devialet use something they call Analogue Digital Hybrid technology at the heart of their system which they say gives users the best of both digital and analogue worlds. ADH works by connecting a class A analogue amplifier which drives the output voltage to the speakers and then several class D amplifiers are added in parallel and act as slaves to the class A amp to give the speakers the current they need to sustain the output voltage.

Before the ADH section Devialet use a “Magic Wire” DAC which “implements the DAC at the core of the class A amplifier, in order to reduce the parasitic, musical-impeding phenomena such as noise and distortion”. Again inn simple terms the Texas Instrument PCM1792’s output is converted directly to a high-voltage without any processing in-between.

Power supply is onboard and provided by a switched-mode psu with “Power Factor Correction” which Devialet say is able to provide huge peak power delivery and an efficiency of 85%.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The packaging of the Ensemble is absolutely fantastic and you certainly get that Christmas morning feeling that we bang on about all the time – that feeling of having spent a good deal of money on yourself and the expectation you get when the item finally arrives and you start to unpack it. Certainly very high marks here for Devialet and something many could learn from.

The amp itself is a thing of great beauty depending on your viewpoint, with its low profile form and silver, chromed, mirrored finish. The quality of the chassis cannot be questioned and is certainly of a high quality being milled from a single billet of Aluminium. There are no knobs or controls on the amp save a single power button which also indicates the state of the amp and the function selected.

The remote is the most gorgeous remote I’ve ever had the pleasure of using with its large rotary knob for volume. It’s just so tactile and screams touch me!!! Yes there’s a good deal of Le Bling on offer here, but I don’t think it’s necessarily over the top and because of its size and low profile the whole thing is pretty unobtrusive should you want it to be…if you like to show off you can even hang it on the wall.

The speakers that come with the Ensemble package are Atohm GT1 Special Editions that have been designed by Devialet, have an impedence of 6 Ohms and are 89dB sensitive. It’s a two way bass reflex system measuring 330 x 200 x 265 (mm) and it all looks pretty conventional and quite nice in the gloss white finish. The tweeter is a 1 inch soft dome affair and there’s a 6” main speaker. I did have the protecting baffle for one of the woofers drop off soon after unpacking but these are simple to slot back in.  Of course the speakers have been treated to Devialet’s SAM process and when SAM is activated on the “amp” bass response is quoted as being as low as 23Hz as opposed to 39Hz when SAM is not engaged. For the purposes of this review the speakers were placed on stands that brought the tweeter pretty much to ear height.

SET UP

Set up of the Ensemble system is a little different to the usual plug and play scenario most of us are used to but once you read the manual and instructions it’s all pretty much plain sailing. Round the back of the “amp” there’s a little slot for an SD card and you go online to your personal “Configurator” where you can decide what inputs do what, what processing you have running, as well as loads of other things you can tweak and play with, more of which later.

All this sounds a bit complicated if you are used to more conventional set ups but it isn’t really and it means that when Devialet come up with a new firmware update or a new feature you can download and install it quickly, easily and for free.

The procedure for set up goes – Go to your computer, log in to your Devialet account and go to the Configurator, add the stuff you want to add and get the inputs doing the function you want them to, download the file you are presented with, copy it to the SD card, pop the SD card back in the back of the “amp” and everything automatically installs when you turn the amp back on.

I liked this feature a lot and it effectively means you get free upgrades and new features for life and I can see that when it comes to awarding a value for money score for this package it’s going to be quite interesting.

SAM

SAM stands for Speaker Active Matching and it’s a DSP built into the Devialet system with the idea that “enables the precise adaption of the sound signal to the specifications of your speaker model”.

PHONOSTAGE

I’m getting a little ahead of myself here but wanted to talk a little about the Devialet’s phonostage before we got any further down the line. This feature was introduced at this year’s Munich High-end and is basically a phonostage you download from the Configurator and add to your Devialet set up. They say it’s the most advanced phonostage ever and the specs are pretty impressive, with a whole host of equalization curves being available at the touch of a button on Configurator.

You get to set the loading for your cartridge, and should you fancy a change of cartridge it’s a simple matter of going to your account and changing it, download the new file, pop it on the SD card, insert this into the Devialet and off you go.
I was very keen to try the phonostage feature and I have to say I was a little sceptical about the whole thing. You have to keep in mind that all this equalization and loading etc is done in the digital domain, but to be fair the results are pretty impressive with me getting very good results from vinyl using the AT09 cartridge I have at the moment. Bass was a tad bloomy when compared to my much loved Graham Slee Elevator/Reflex combo but it’s very hard to knock a product that Devialet are essentially giving away for free to their customers. I’d certainly be happy to listen to vinyl on this set up for all but the most critical of listening sessions. For folk with a turntable and a decent collection of records they want to dip into from time to time it will prove to be more than acceptable. I tried the phonostage with a good range of genres and it responded very well. It is not “the best phonostage in the world” though and there was to my thinking a shortfall in dynamism with our current test track “Contact” by Daft Punk lacking a little oomph. The stereo image is good and stable and instruments sit properly in the mix with there being a good analogue feel despite the fact that this is all digital. It’s clever stuff as is the whole system.

TONE CONTROLS

Does anyone remember tone controls on amplifiers? Back in the dim and distant past all amps came with a bass, treble and balance control so that you could tune the sound for your taste and for your room conditions. They went out of favour in the mid-eighties when there was a movement towards the preservation of purity of signal path. Yes I used them a bit but still found myself preferring a flat setting. However, I do see these as being useful and given this is all digital the argument about short signal paths etc is pretty moot.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I lived with the Ensemble and used it as a package, as the vast majority of people will, and for most of the time I chose to stream from my laptop using the Airplay set up… download the software to the computer, activate it, get it running and you’re off.

Overall you get a very good sound indeed and this package will appeal to many. The SAM settings do help a good deal to my ears and I felt that there was a tightening of the bass which in turn offered up a more coherent sound and so I used Ensemble with SAM engaged pretty much constantly.

There is a good soundstage thrown by the combo and the mix is presented accurately enough before you, with instruments appearing to have their own space in the mix. This I feel is one of the benefits of smaller standmounts and gives you a sense of being in front of the mixing desk and though the image felt accurate here it wasn’t as deep as I’ve heard and you undoubtedly don’t have the speakers “disappear”.

As regular readers of my reviews will know one of my pet peeves is wooly and flabby bass that hangs around after the note is finished and here the Ensemble does very well indeed – on one of our torture tracks for bass (Todd Terry’s Blackout) the low frequency, electronic “whoomph” felt like I was listening to a bigger pair of speakers and they do go low, though not in the same way a bigger speaker can. This whoomph I mentioned on this track is actually a pretty complex synthesized noise and there is good detail in the sound here.  The amp really did seem to grip the speakers really well in these lower frequencies, but as a system bass never feels like it is taking over and there is coherence across the spectrum. On more percussive techno there was attack and bite to the music which was dynamically exciting to listen to.

On more gentle music with the mid-frequencies being the highlight (Fleetwood Mac’s Songbird) there is a clarity and flow to the vocal with a good feeling of the recording space, with an absolutely silent background allowing the quiet guitar on the track to be easy to follow and hear. You do get a good deal of detail, but that is not at the cost of being fatiguing, and so you can listen for long periods and at high volume without feeling the need to take a break. The Ensemble isn’t a force it down your throat combo either and whilst the detail in a recording is easy to hear, you don’t become fixated on it to the point of distraction…this is a good thing and will appeal to those wanting an untaxing listen.

One issue I did have with the sound at times was a slight sensing of pixilation at the very upper frequencies and this had me thinking “I’m listening to digital” here. Please note I have used the phrase “at times” here as this pixilation or digitizing seemed to appear at certain times of the day and I am assuming that this is some kind of interaction between the power from our mains having some effect. At the time I didn’t have a mains conditioner to hand and so couldn’t say this is fact or not. For the vast majority of the time the top end was clear and crystal like with lots of air around the instruments with David Crosby’s Croz album in hi-res sounding fab.

CONCLUSION

I really didn’t want to like the Devialet Ensemble but ended up having a blast with it. For your money (available for £5590) you get a very good looking, very versatile hifi that is pretty much future proof. This is a real one box system solution given there is connectivity for pretty much anything you can throw at it. New innovations, system updates and all the free stuff Devialet keep coming up with actually make this pretty good value for money.

The Ensemble isn’t the last word in fidelity in absolute terms but for the money there is certainly very little that I found I could criticize and remain honest.

Devialet will shift huge numbers of this combo I guess and as the technology advances so will your system…at no extra cost.

The “could I live with this” question has to be asked and for me it’s a hands down yes. Yes, our reference system (also using class D amps incidentally, but with a valve pre in place) gives me more of everything, but then for the cost of my speakers alone you could have the whole kit and caboodle from Devialet gracing your living room and not wanting to take over your space completely. Most definitely if I was looking for a one stop solution that allowed me to listen to my tunes effortlessly this ensemble would definitely be on my shortlist…though it has to be said it’s a swine to keep looking shiny and dust free!

Build Quality 9.0/10

Sound Quality 8.75/10

Value For Money 9.0/10

Overall 8.92/10 

Stuart Smith

Romanian manufacturer Rockna Audio say they are proud to announce their new Wavedream DAC series.

There are 2 main models in the Wavedream series omprising of:

• Edition (featuring Rockna RD-1 discrete DAC modules)
• Signature (featuring Rockna RD-0 discrete dac modules).

Each version can be ordered in single ended or balanced configuration and In addition to the Femtovox clock system, both Edition and Signature benefit from a new discrete output stage and improved power supply section.
RD-1 module has a 26-bit ladder structure, while RD-0 is a 27 bit ladder structure. Both are FPGA-based, meaning they have their own (upgradable) firmware.

New Wavedream firmware will feature a new powerful upsampler (custom made using DSP blocks) to 768k (apodizing response) and will add DSD256 support.

The name of this French DAC/PRE derives from the word étalon, meaning standard, or measuring device. Dominic Marsh gets to grips with the 7530 unit and spills some blood for his art.

I wasn’t expecting to be given this component to review and wasn’t quite sure exactly what was inside a mystery wooden crate that was given to me a while back, for reasons I cannot explain here.  It took me a healthy twenty minutes to remove a good fistful of screws that secures the lid and when the lid was pulled back all I could see was a large area of stainless steel that forms the majority of the Solo’s casework.  Grabbing it by opposing corners, I gently lifted it out of the foam inserts that hold it in place during transit, whereupon it turned turtle and promptly stabbed me in the right thigh with one of the longest and sharpest spikes I had ever seen underneath any component. The Etalon Solo gave Dominic a very warm welcome I must say. There was nothing else in the crate save a universal remote control handset. 

After a few gentle dabs with a tissue to mop the blood off my trousers, I then had to go to the computer to type the word “Etalon” into the search engine and see what it came up with. Every website returned in the search was in French and given that I only speak two languages (English and Gibberish) it took a while to decipher what I was dealing with from this stainless steel cased beast with a taste for blood Group AB.

Having established that it was a DAC and pre-amplifier I then took it to the listening room and there was a very long pause before even contemplating introducing the Etalon into my rack, as long sharp stainless steel spikes and racks, be they glass, wood or whatever material are not a marriage made in heaven. Yes I probably could have unscrewed the spikes, but it is my policy to evaluate equipment as I find it and I assumed the spikes are an integral part of the Etalon’s design… which they are Etalon tell me.  Looking underneath I found some large headed screws which were less lethal than the spikes it’s true, but those round headed screws resting on toughened glass would have meant the unit would have moved around the shelf like a sluggish air hockey puck and would still have scratched my rack. It was fortunate then that Dan Worth had given me a couple of thick heavy solid Oak plinths a while back, so one of those slipped under the Etalon Solo gave my rack the protection it needed, although quite how I would deal with 3 conical pits in the plinth afterwards remains a mystery.  Do racks have a blood group too I wonder?  (A joke, people.).  I took this up with Etalon who were adamant that the spikes are an essential design element, but I made them aware that if I got impaled by a spike then their consumers may also be similarly injured, plus they like me would be none too happy about having their prized rack scored severely by the aforesaid sharp pointed spikes.  Several emails later I got them to agree that consumers need a choice between spikes or feet, or in the absence of feet, some spike shoes at least to protect racks from damage. If they are true to their word, then a printed copy of the manual and feet/spike shoes should be included in the crate with every new unit shipped.

CONSTRUCTION 

It would be wise to point out that the Etalon Solo DAC comes in two variants, one with a built in pre-amplifier (supplied for this review) and one version without the pre-amplifier section.

As hitherto mentioned, the casework is made from a non-magnetic metal – stainless steel to be precise. The front panel is made from a slab of real wood which the Etalon website describes as a “Walnut stained dregs of wine brilliant” which I perceive to be a solid piece of Walnut stained to a gloriously deep rich red colour and beautifully varnished too I might add. Inset into that is a stainless steel panel which occupies around two thirds of the front panel and a central LED display which shows a number for the input selected, plus an incremented LED readout of volume setting. I have just described the entire fascia to you as there are no switches, buttons, knobs, sliders, or anything else for that matter to press, fiddle, or twiddle with. All functions are activated via the remote control including power up/down, so a lonely single red LED in the display panel greets you when you switch it on. If the remote decides to play hide and seek behind the sofa cushions as they are wont to do, junior of the house tests to see if the remote will float in the WC, or if Fido decides to bury the remote handset somewhere in the garden, then dear reader the Etalon becomes rather ornamental until a replacement handset is obtained.  I think I have managed to persuade Etalon to include the programming code into the manual so people don’t have to play Sherlock Holmes hunting down the code like I had to a few years ago with a very similar remote controlled device that had no external controls.

Around the back of the unit we find a very simple uncluttered rear panel, with an IEC mains input socket, an ON/OFF mains switch and fuse holder, 3 x RCA SPDIF digital inputs numbered 1, 2 and 3, a LAN connector to RJ standard and 2 x HDMI sockets, one of which is an I2S connection. We then come to the RCA analogue outputs which are labelled LEFT and RIGHT as you might expect, but a pair for each channel labelled plus and minus which rather confused me and there was no instruction manual to consult about the matter either. The word “balanced” is mentioned on the Etalon website and I have never known a balanced output being fed via two RCA sockets, 3 pin XLR connections being the norm and accepted industry standard. I emailed Etalon (There have been lots of emails with Etalon) about this and Laszlo Sallay informed me that it isn’t a balanced connection as such, but a phase inversion connection using the two pairs of RCA sockets. This too baffled me as the average person wouldn’t know when the sound they are hearing is inverted phase or not, so his explanation does not make sense I’m afraid. Etalon consider XLR connections to be inferior, although I wouldn’t say that RCA connectors are the last word in connector integrity either. If it is indeed a true balanced output Etalon, then fit some XLR connectors and take away any ambiguity on the subject.

Internally, there is a pair of toroidal mains transformers, one for each channel. There is a set of PCB’s mounted in a mirror image layout, with a central board used for input and output connections. There are some sizeable heatsinks mounted on two of the boards which are required for cooling as the pre-amplifier circuits run in pure Class A mode. Even in standby mode the case gets very warm to the touch.

Price for the DAC is 6,960 Euros for the standard version and 7,530 Euros for the pre-amplifier version as tested here.

SOUND 

In the absence of an instruction manual, I connected to the left and right “+” RCA output terminals to a power amplifier’s inputs and a digital co-axial interconnect from the SPDIF out from my CD player into Input 1 on the Etalon, then powered it up. With a “1” in the front panel display and the volume level set at “35” I could hear sound but not enough volume level. A few stabs on the remote control’s volume up button increased the volume, but only slightly, so I held the button down hoping for more rapid progress. Yes indeed the LED display showed the setting numbers increasing, but no actual volume increase. Took my finger off the remote’s button and suddenly up popped the volume. Most disconcerting the first time it was encountered, but soon got used to it. Even so, at maximum volume setting it wasn’t driving the power amplifier to decent listening levels, so obviously an impedance and level mismatch there and the solution was to connect the Etalon direct to an integrated amplifier’s line inputs treating the Etalon as a DAC only, setting the output level to “50”  and ignoring the pre-amp stage altogether during the evaluation. Etalon say the power amplifier isn’t keeping up with the Solo in terms of quality, but I’m not so sure about that statement either.

Having it now configured ready for a listening session, the Solo was busy with a serious of clicks coming presumably from an internal relay during the warm up period. While clicking away the sound was being briefly muted and it was rather distracting to say the least. Within a few minutes though the clicking ceased and from then on it behaved itself impeccably. 

First impression of the sound was that it was “big” – not in volume terms of course, but just larger than life in the frequency extremes. I was rather impressed at how much detail it was bringing out in the music that I was playing at the time and the bass too was both weighty and insightful, having real gravitas and power to it. As we all know too well, first impressions are not a good way to make any  judgments and it does take time to really get a handle on what any component’s real strengths and weaknesses are.  And so it was with the Etalon Solo.

While the precision and clarity of the treble registers was impressive at first hearing, I began to notice that there is a downside to high definition sound quality. The Solo was managing to find errors and defects in the recordings that I wasn’t aware existed before. A couple of instances of microphone overloading in live recordings, a join in the recording stream pretty much like a magnetic tape splicing of old, guitar string and fret squeals that used to endear themselves in the recording now would set my teeth on edge. If nothing else, it shows that those noises are well embedded in the recording and it takes something exceptional to uncover them. Some audiophiles may jump for joy at being given a passport to that level of high fidelity, but it annoyed the heck out of me because that’s where most of my listening attention was being diverted to, not chilling and enjoying the music as a whole entity – warts or no warts. I cannot recall any problems down in the bass registers, so we can regard that as more than acceptable.

Top and bottom end covered, I will now expand on the mid-range registers as I perceived them.  It took a while mind, but I detected some fogging in the midrange. The best way to describe it to you is for you to imagine a summer’s day where the sun is visible behind very high altitude cloud, unbroken from horizon to horizon, yet still hot, deep shadows are being cast and you can still get burned from the power of the sun’s rays, even though it is being masked by that high altitude cloud. It seemed to sit above the music, not actually in it and it manifested itself by male vocals having what appeared to be the last vestiges of a head cold, even though the infection itself has since passed on, with the voice just having a tiny hint of rasp to it.  Female vocals were similarly affected. It was very subtle and ordinarily I wouldn’t even be mentioning it, but with the price tag the Etalon Solo has, I could not pass by on this comment. To confirm my findings, I connected up two other DACs to the system which did not demonstrate this trait.

Of course, I had to play my favorite “torture tracks” in the shape of Porcupine Tree’s “Deadwing” CD.  The better the system is, the worse this CD sounds I reckon and the Etalon just about trumped any other component I have installed into my system. It is a raw hard edged recording and with the Etalon it really was stripped out to the bare bones with nowhere to hide away from it. Some smoothing out is always beneficial with this CD to make it just about bearable without wincing and this playing of it was like sucking a Lime for the 90 minutes or so it plays for. Total faithfulness to the recording with high resolution playback can have it’s drawbacks it seems.

Where the Etalon Solo did excel was imaging and sound staging. Just for once, there wasn’t a clear demarcation of a defined sweet spot;  you could sit or stand way off beam and you could still get depth of imaging and instrument placement which was virtually walk around. Great height too and extended well out beyond the speaker boundaries.

I didn’t have the time or indeed the correct length of cables to put the Solo through all its’ paces with a LAN or HDMI connection. I would imagine that sound quality would be very similar to that found with the RCA co-axial input that I used during this review, although Etalon state the best sound comes from the LAN connection.

CONCLUSION 

All in all then, some fine points and some not so fine points in this review. Our first encounter wasn’t exactly on the best of terms and the flesh wound has healed nicely thank you. I have made a strong case to Etalon to make some changes like including feet and/or spike shoes so people and racks suffer no harm from those lethally sharp spikes, then also including the remote control programming code and for a hard printed copy of the instruction manual to be included in the shipping crate with each new unit, rather than being downloadable from the website.

Whether the Solo is balanced or not balanced needs to be determined and appropriate connections fitted if it is balanced, failing that explain to consumers why there are two pairs of RCA analogue outputs marked plus and minus. While having a cheap universal remote control included at this price level grates somewhat, having a specially made Etalon badged remote control would do nothing more or better than the one that is included in the box to be truthful.  I am not playing God here, I am only expressing what the average consumer needs to know about this product before considering a purchase.

In terms of sound quality, my findings over the mid range and detail resolution issues was mentioned in the review because being priced at close on seven thousand Euros (in the configuration I was using it) I felt entitled to be that critical. Sometimes it might not be best to have super high-fidelity resolution playback and I met at first hand what that means and it quickly became fatiguing, although some consumers may be in seventh heaven with hearing that amount of inner detail from recordings.

Build quality: 7.8/10

Sound quality: 8.0/10

Value for money: 7.2/10

Overall: 7.6/10 

Dominic Marsh

sDP-1000EX from sOTM Audio is a high-end D/A converter and pre-amplifier with a USB audio function which supports DSD playback and has a battery power supply. 

USB audio uses an asynchronous mode to connect the digital audio source device such as a PC. It can playback a 32 bit/192KHz PCM signal (maximum) and DSD signal. In addition, the sound quality from the input source can be improved by the specially designed high performance clock and 32 bit up-sampler circuit.

All audio circuit parts including the DAC and preamplifier volume control are fully balanced circuits.  Not a single coupling capacitor is used in the audio signal path.

It has two battery packs installed, with one battery providing power whilst the other charges and switches between these functions automatically, so there is no additional work needed once it’s connected to a power supply for charging the battery. The sDP-1000EX will work continuously via battery power only.

Features

SB input

USB specification 2.0 or higher

USB audio class 2.0

32bit/192KHz PCM & DSD playback

Native ASIO support

Optical, Coaxial, AES/EBU input

Max bit-depth : 24bit

Sampling rate : 32KHz, 44.1KHz, 48KHz, 88.2KHz, 96KHz, 176.4KHz, 192KHz

Impedance

Coaxial, BNC : 75Ω

AES/EBU : 110Ω

Balanced input

Max input voltage : 4 Vrms

Input impedance : > 10kΩ

Frequency range : 20~20KHz @ ±0.1dB

Unbalanced input

Max input voltage : 4 Vrms

Input impedance : > 10kΩ

Frequency range : 20~20KHz @ ±0.1dB

Balanced output

Output voltage at 0dB : 3.8 Vrms ±5%

Output impedance : 47Ω ±5%

Frequency range : 20~20KHz @ ±0.1dB

THD : < 0.003% @ 1KHz, 0dB

Unbalanced output

Output voltage at 0dB : 3.8 Vrms ±5%

Output impedance : 47Ω ±5%

Frequency range : 20~20KHz @ ±0.1dB

THD : < 0.003% @ 1KHz, 0dB

Volume control

Setting range : -75 ~ +10dB, 0.5dB step

Aurender introduces the N10 Caching Music Server/Player. Designed to be used with high performance digital-to-analogue converters, the Aurender N10 is the only Music Player to support on-the-fly precision DSD to PCM on SPDIF and AES/EBU outputs with user-selectable choice of 88.2 or 176.4 output sampling rate says the company’s press release so you can enjoy DSD files even if your DAC isn’t capable of native DSD playback.

There’s 4TB of (2TB x 2) internal hard disk space and a 240GB solid-state drive cache for playback.

The Aurender N10 is equipped with various SPDIF outputs (BNC, AES/EBU, coaxial, optical) and one dedicated USB Audio Class 2.0 output. For network connectivity and file transfers, the N10 comes with one a Gigabit Ethernet port and two USB 2.0 data ports.

More advanced Oven-Controlled Crystal Oscillator (OCXO) for the greatest jitter reduction. OCXOs are among the most accurate and stable clocks in use today, and are orders of magnitude more accurate and stable than commonly used ordinary crystal oscillators usually found in computers the company say. Temperature changes cause crystal oscillations to fluctuate, which can lead to jitter in the digital audio signal. Moreover, ordinary crystals are much less stable and lose accuracy over time. In OCXO clocks, a very stable, high-grade crystal oscillator is enclosed in a compartment and kept at a constant temperature to prevent jitter from temperature fluctuations. In conjunction with the OCXO is a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based All-Digital Phase-Locked Loop system precisely times the digital data transmission reducing jitter to near immeasurable levels.

Aurender’s Conductor App turns an iPad or Android (Lite Version) into a versatile user interface for Aurender Music Server/Players. All settings and functions of the Aurender Server/Music Player can be accessed through the Settings menu, and the Aurender App comes with extensive features to make managing, viewing and playing high-resolution music collections — including TIDAL.

Sending a Remote Support Request through the Aurender App allows the company’s engineers to quickly diagnose and fix problems over the Internet.

Available in silver or black finishes, the N10 measures 16.93” W x 3.27” H x 13.9” D. Available now, the N10’s Suggest Retail Price is $7,999.

Aurender introduces the new UC100 as an accessory for Aurender Music Server models that only provide a USB digital output.

It is a USB Asynchronous Audio 2.0 to SPDIF converter developed to allow for the interface of current (and earlier) Aurender servers N100 / N100H / X100L to DACs that do not provide a USB input.

Additionally, the UC100 can allow Aurender Music Servers to interface with active loudspeaker systems that incorporate built-in amplifiers, DSP and DACs. In this application running a Coaxial cable to the loudspeakers from the UC100 is required.

The UC100’s input is High-Speed USB 2.0; output is SPDIF (Coaxial RCA 75 Ohms). Supported word lengths: Up to 24-bit; Supported sampling rates: Up to 192 Khz. Supported DSD: DSD64 supported with DoP.

The machined aluminium case measures 5.7” L x 1.18” H x 2.12 W. Suggested Retail Price is $499.00. Availability: November.

Bryston has announced today the introduction of the BDA-3 digital to analogue converter (DAC), the company’s highest resolution DAC to date. Target MSRP for the BDA-3 is $3495 USD with a delivery date to authorised dealers of November 1^st, 2015. 

The Bryston BDA-3 is different from prior Bryston DAC’s in that it adds DSD playback. The BDA-3 can decode up to DSD-256 through the asynchronous USB inputs and has the capability to accept SACD input via HDMI. For maximum flexibility, the BDA-3 has ten discreet inputs including four 2-channel HDMI, asynchronous USB, AES/EBU, TOSLINK, and digital coax. It also includes Bryston’s network module, which facilitates control via TCP/IP and RS-232.

The Bryston BDA-3 utilizes a brand new decoding chipset that can decode up to 384 kHz/32-bit PCM music and up to DSDx4 natively. Each format is processed in its native resolution. Additionally, Bryston’s re-clocking circuit reduces jitter to “nearly immeasurable levels”. Bryston’s proprietary analogue section is completely free of integrated circuits (ICs).

“High performance and versatility were the benchmarks that we established for the BDA-3 when we began working on the design,” commented Bryston CEO Chris Russell. “We wanted to create the ultimate DAC for traditional audiophiles as well as those enthusiasts using a computer-based system. The USB and HDMI interfaces deliver the extremely high bit rate that consumers demand while ensuring compatibility with high-performance computer-based music playback systems and combination stereo and multi-channel theater systems. With our vast array of available inputs, the BDA-3 is compatible with just about any digital source, enabling enthusiasts with older SACD or universal players to benefit from the performance of this advanced new DAC,” Russell concluded.

Quad continues to mark its 79th year with the arrival of Artera, their new range of high-performance audio electronics. First to arrive are the Artera Play and Artera Stereo; the Play is a CD player, DAC and preamplifier combined in a single chassis, while the Stereo is a power amplifier sporting Quad’s famous Current Dumping technology.

Quad gave its team of designers and engineers a specific brief for Artera: “combine the qualities that have made Quad one of Britain’s most revered hifi marques for many decades with fresh industrial design and the very latest high-performance audio technologies”. To this end, Quad enlisted the help of Rodney Mead, the man responsible for the styling of many classic Quad products in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, to brainstorm design concepts that would lead to Artera.

Artera have a textured aluminium front panel, thick glass top and CNC-routed heat sinks on either side. The housing provides a rugged structure that resists interference from external vibrations, and the Artera Play’s fascia incorporates a touch-sensitive control.

Quad Artera Play 

At the heart of the Artera Play nestles the ESS Sabre32 9018; a 32-bit, eight-channel hybrid multi-bit Delta-Sigma DAC. This is Quad’s first component to utilise the ESS Sabre DAC, and external digital sources can benefit from it via a range of digital inputs. These include USB, with support for PCM data up to 32-bit/384kHz and also DSD64/128/256.

For CD replay, a new slot-loading mechanism buffers data from the disc before feeding it asynchronously (in order to minimise ‘jitter’) to the DAC section. Four digital filter options enable users to tailor the Artera Play’s sound, with both CDs and external digital sources, to suit personal taste and the nature of the source material.

The Artera Play’s preamp section boasts a balanced Class A output stage. Two coaxial and two optical inputs cater for external digital sources alongside the USB input, with a pair of RCA phono inputs handling analogue sources. Analogue outputs are supplied in both single-ended RCA and balanced XLR varieties; a pair of digital outputs (optical and coaxial) and a 12V trigger output complete a comprehensive array of connectivity options.

Quad Artera Stereo 

This compact yet potent power amp sports the latest iteration of Quad’s famous Current Dumping topology, first introduced in the Quad 405 – one of the most lauded British audio components of all time and still the only amp design to have earned a Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement.

Current Dumping is essentially a method of marrying Class A amplification with the greater efficiency of Class AB. A high-quality, low-power Class A amplifier provides the signal quality, while a high-power current dumping section delivers the muscle to keep the speakers under control. These two amp circuits are combined via a network to impose the finesse of the Class A output onto the power of the current dumper.

The Artera Stereo’s power output is conservatively rated at 140W per channel into eight ohms and 250W into four ohms, ensuring any speakers – including Quad’s classic ESL electrostatic designs – can be driven with ease. Connectivity options comprise single-ended RCA and balanced XLR inputs, a 12V trigger input and high-quality speaker binding posts.

Speaking about the inspiration behind Quad’s new Artera range, Peter Comeau, Director of Acoustic Design at Quad’s parent company IAG, commented:

“The traditional spirit of Quad has always been to cater for the latest developments in music storage and playback, whilst continually striving to meet the standards inherent in the company’s motto, ‘the closest approach to the original sound’. Thus, the Artera series of components includes full digital and analogue playback capabilities with the resolution and accuracy to replay all current and future high-resolution audio sources with the most musical presentation.

“However, today’s consumers are often bewildered and confused by the multiplicity of inputs and controls on modern hi-fi equipment. At Quad, we have never believed that you have to be a ‘hi-fi geek’ to be able to play music at the highest performance level. Artera therefore simplifies the user interface, leaving an uncluttered appearance that is welcoming to all users as well as looking beautiful in the home.”

The Artera Play and Artera Stereo are available now, with a choice of black or silver front panels and RRPs of £1,399.95 and £1,499.95 respectively.

Janine Elliot takes a listen to the NuForce DAC80 Digital to Analogue Converter and the company’s HA200 Headphone amplifier. Linette Smith then takes the HA200 for a second opinion.

With DACs and Headphone amplifiers becoming the must-haves of today’s audiophile bread and butter, it is no surprise that NuForce, taken over in 2012 by Optoma – famous for projectors – would have a few new products up their sleeves. Their DAC80 and HA200 are available at £695 and $349 respectively and therefore fit in at the lower to mid-price points, already occupied by brands such as Cambridge Audio, Creek, Schiit, Chord, etc. Forgive me for reviewing these two together, but hopefully the reasoning for this will become clear as you read on.

DAC 80 Front

DAC 80 Back

Both well suited together; identical shape, looks and both with a potentiometer on right hand side and use same unit for IEC at rear. Where the HA200 has a single miniature pin-point “on” red light emanating from a hole, which looks lovely, the DAC80 has a series of miniature holes indicating drilled with precision which read U, C, O, C, depending on which of the 2 coaxial, USB or optical inputs you select. A further 6 LEDs on the right hand side inform you of the sample rate. If multiple of 48kHz then it lights blue or if multiple of 44.1kHz lights white. Lovely so far. But there’s a problem; when you turn on the device at the back, the four inputs flash once and then all goes quiet for 6 seconds whilst it wakes itself up and makes breakfast tea. Perhaps a cyclical display of the U, C, O, C indicators would make the unit look even ‘more flashy’ (sic). Otherwise the minute “on” indicator as on the HA200 would have been an alternative. Small point, but I did worry if one of my mains leads was faulty when I first tried the unit. Once the unit is awake you push the volume knob or use the remote (very cute little silver unit, though could get lost, and looks cheaper quality to that of the main unit) to select your input. Unlike the instruction manual which tells you to press one of the four buttons labelled 1-4 to select source (which you have to do for the older DAC100, which is what this is based on), you actually press the volume control repeatedly to select the desired input. Now registering the correct input, I could start to listen, though did feel that unless you look head on, it could be hard to see which input it is reading if the room was bright. Looking straight on this is a beautifully looking unit. Enough complaints, as this DAC80 is vastly better looking than the DAC100 before it, in my opinion.

Both units come in either silver or black at 8.5″ x 9 x 2″ the DAC weighs1.2Kg, whereas the Class A headphone amp a more substantial 2.26kg. As mentioned earlier, the DAC 80 is similar to the DAC100 which came before it in that it could act as a digital input preamplifier thanks to its 32-bit digital volume control implementation. Like its predecessor it has inputs for asynchronous USB, Toslink, and transformer isolated coaxial SPDIF (x2), all operating to 24/192 maximum input. However, unlike the DAC100, it doesn’t have a headphone output though it is half the cost. Adding the HA200 obviously increases the outlay but does give you freedom to choose if you need it or not. The headphone stage on the DAC100 was excellent, though not as substantial as the HA200. The DAC80 provides inputs for a max of 24 bit/192kHz digital inputs for any of the sources. Via laptop Using Foobar 2000 once the WASAPI plug-in had been loaded I could select input.  For most of my listening I used my aged Kenwood DVD-A player, and the S/PDIF output from the excellent Fiio X5 digital player, though I did find the NuForce PC and Mac drivers to be sensibly laid out and easy to use, unlike many I have tried before.

The DAC80 is a simple to operate unit and looks worth the price tag. I first listened to Wagner Rienzi Overture (Netherlands Philharmonic orchestra)through my Krell, Music First Audio, Wilson Benesch set up. All was there, but I felt there was a slight peak in the mid band. This mid-band warmth was also particularly noticeable in “Isn’t This a Lovely Day”, Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong “Ella and Louis” remix. Ella’s voice is beautifully clear, but Louis’s voice with its distinctive upper-midband sibilance was for me a tad too annoying, let alone that the recording itself is in mono (I actually hate mono recordings!)  In other recordings I found the sound a little more confined and mid-band emphasised than, for example the aged Cambridge Audio DAC that I partnered it with for the review. Everything was there, just a little too nasally for my liking. I felt tops weren’t as crisp as I would expect a top-notch DAC. The analogue specification quotes 20-25,000 Hz +/- 0.25dB, but no mention of +/-3dB, which I expect to see as my “rule of thumb” reference. “Rise up in the Morning” (Modern Jazz Quartet ‘Blues on Bach’), with the triangles, Santa Claus sleigh bells and harpsichord should wake up all the bats and cats in the town. This DAC didn’t do it as much justice as I had hoped, though the main tune made famous by Kenny Everett’s miming clown sketches in the 80’s was clear enough. Time limits prevented me getting a chance to measure pink noise upward of 30,000Hz. Listening with the Townshend Audio £40,000 combination of the Glastonbury speakers with an array of six ribbon tweeters and a super-tweeter all on the front, and their soon-to-be-released Class D/Valve bi-amp system, I soon became tired. I don’t like doing A-B comparisons but I did find it a tad disappointing. The similarity with components used in the DAC100 makes me feel that a completely new design would have been a better option.

Once I listened via the HA200 headphone amp suddenly the sound opened up and the detail and musicality was on par with the best such combinations I have listened to and I could understand why the DAC100 had been so good. This made me wonder why the sound was so much better; the two just worked so well in tandem with the extremely wide frequency band of the headphone amp allowing the DAC to breathe musicality that seemed a tad stifled on its own. The unit has a high performance Alps volume control, though this time without a white line position indicator that festoons the DAC80’s knob!

HA 200 Front

Playing my Audio Technica ATH-W1000 cans the sound was very efficient, though my higher impedance Sennheiser HD650’s needed to be driven quite hard to get a good listening. Using the line-out from my Fiio X5 into the HA200, the Audio Technica showed me just how high the Hz could go, though I actually found the sound too bright. Bass was still all there; just that it was overpowered by the top frequencies, making the sound a little too clinical for comfort. The Sennheiser HD650 and planar designs such as Oppo PM1 and Audeze LCD-2 were a lot easier to listen to. They worked really well, and no surprise.

The HA200 is a very classy, pure and punchy performer, largely due to the Class A topology. Having been brought up on power thirsty toroidal transformer beasts, my eyes lit up when given a chance to try this product. This is no slouch, weighing in at 2.1kg, and is unlike many has-b Class AB products, with their two amplifiers operating for both sides of the waveform acting in push-pull and therefore sharing the wave form polarity from positive to negative in each cycle, the side effect being crossover or notch distortion. There is no distortion from this little beauty. In Class AB, and B for that matter, there is always a point where one of the two halves of the cycle switches off, which NuForce claim to add distortion every time they switch on. In pure Class A, it never does, making it more current thirsty, and also meaning that the sound is pure and less fatiguing. I loved this little beast. Being pure class A does have its downside in that it is continually eating away 24W of power, whether idling or running. A small price to pay for such a promising performance.

And it can get even more expensive to use; the unit can allow for a balanced input, meaning that each HA200 could produce a balanced mono output via the XLR socket at the front (which is hidden behind a cover when not needed).  In Balanced Mode, four completely separate amps (2 per unit) are used to drive the four phases of the music signal (i.e; right normal, right inverted, left normal and left inverted). Having to use two HA200’s mean 48W, but this is a serious piece of kit which I liked more and more as I reviewed it. Even at twice the price for the balanced combi, it was well worth the outlay.  NuForce really do know how to produce an accurate but still very natural and musical product which gave me no listening fatigue and endless fun, unlike the DAC80.

HA 200 Back

CONCLUSION

These are two products that work exceptionally well together but one half not so good on their own. For me the DAC80 is too close to the older DAC100 for comfort, and things have moved on over the last few years. However, I found the HA200 to be one of the best headphone amplifiers I have heard; it is very accurate and ideal for sound engineers like me. So, if you want something that adds things to the music, be it warmth or colouration, then go somewhere else, but if you want a player that quite simply does your music justice, then this is a really good choice, and even better if you buy two.

DAC80

Sound Quality – 8.1/10

Value for Money – 8.2/10

Build Quality – 8.4/10

Overall – 8.23/10

HA200

Sound Quality – 8.7/10

Value for Money – 8.65/10

Build Quality – 8.4/10

Overall – 8.58/10

Janine Elliot

At the time of review an overall score of 8.5 was needed for second review…this is now 9/10. The HA200 Headphone amp will go to Linette Smith for second review and possible Outsanding Product Award. 

NuForce HA200 Headphone Amplifier

I was very interested to get my hands on the NuForce HA200 Headphone amplifier.  The last time I did a second review for a product that Janine had reviewed first, the Flare Audio R2 IEMs, we had a complete ‘Marmite’ experience.  She loved exactly what I didn’t about them….would the same happen with this NuForce Headphone amp? Interestingly, I was reviewing it with some of the same kit as Janine, we both use the FiiO X5 and I had the Audeze EL8 and Oppo PM1 headphones at my disposal too….both of which tend to be my ‘go to’ desk headphones.

Out of the box the signs were good.  It was packaged in a no nonsense but careful way. Like Janine, I was impressed by the design. The HA200 is slim, black and understated.  It has that Stealth-Hifi look to it with nothing unnecessary to the design, the minuscule red LED is a great touch. It looks smart and serious and has a good weight to it (2.2kg) and a nice, solid front plate, all in all a quality item.  It is not a small beasty though, in fact it has nearly as big a footprint as an A4 sheet of paper so this could be an issue if you are looking to use it in a desk set up and have limited space.  As the DAC80, that Janine reviewed with the HA200, did not get a recommended award, I only received the headphone amp to review, so I stuck with my Ami Musik DDH1 as a DAC and used either my laptop as the source via a Chord Company SilverPlus USB or the FiiO X5.

Being pure class A, the HA200 soon started to warm things up on my desk.  We have had class A amps that you could comfortably fry an egg on but the NuForce (thankfully) doesn’t get into the realms of scary ‘oh my god, call the fire brigade’ hot…..its a nice hand-warmer on a chilly day!  Moving onto some music, I decided to take a different angle to Janine.  I mostly listen to Electronic music at my desk and Janine had covered Jazz and Classical, so I went over to Soundcloud (yes, I know MP3 quality) and happened upon a Live & Direct Carl Cox set to start with.  The most obvious thing was that there was an immediate difference in the bass from using my usual DAC/headphone amp combo.  The bass had a great detail to it and there was a massive sub kick…this was sounding like a great combo with the Audeze EL8s.  I try out a Perseus Trax sampler next …a teaser for their vinyl only 303 copies limited edition release.  This is proper squelchy 303 laden acid techno of the highest order.  I really got a sense of detail and the HA200 was playing to the strengths of the EL8s with the soundstage seem wider and deeper than usual.  I switch onto the FiiO X5 as my source which is mainly packed with Flacs.  Carl Cox gets an outing again with his Phuture 2000 album.  It’s a bit of a favourite of mine, gutsy, powerful and fast jungle…..with some deep sub bass.  I get a real sense of all the little detailed noises which shine out whilst underpinning it all is the solid current of bass, punching the tracks along.  Trying the Oppo PM1s there seems to even more of a synergy with the NuForce with the music becoming even more all-encompassing. ‘Time to blackout’ kicks in and it sounds exceptional, plenty of bass but detailed and controlled with now overblownness to it….it feels like I am hearing the track exactly how Carl Cox meant it to be.  There is definitely a theme developing here and the HA200 is very listenable, with comfortable headphones like the ones I was using you could just sit back and enjoy for hours.  I flick through many of my electronic favourites, stand outs include Age of Love (Jam and Spoon remix) which has a wonderful sweet-sounding choral vocal.  The Hardfloor remix of Blue Monday (which is THE best version) has great spatial detail and a wonderful textural 303 sound.  The horns in Rudimental’s track ‘Feel the love’ really sing out and the bass (which can get a little out of control), like on everything else I’ve played through the HA200, is superb.  I do find it quite hard to choose between the Audeze EL8 and the Oppo PM1 headphones but with the benefits of the HA200 the Oppos just have the edge….they do seem like a match made in heaven!

Sometimes when I am reviewing, it feels like the quest for detail is everything, even at the cost of musicality and I have found sometimes that hyper detail is very sterile to listen to.  Janine and I come at kit from very different angles.  She is very much a music professional and sound engineer and I the casual listener, so we can often disagree.  However, I found myself very much echoing her  findings with the HA200.  It is accurate, detailed but very musical and natural….maybe because it complemented the Audeze and the Oppo headphones so well, and I do also have a bit of a soft spot for pure class A amps!  It is not a portable headphone amp and would possibly be more at home inmost people’s main systems on their desks (particularly if you go for the two unit balanced system option) but if you really want that main system feeling at your desk then I am sure room could be made.

CONCLUSION

Recommended if you really want to take your desktop system to the next level and make it as good as listening to your main system.  It is in no way a headphone amp just for bassheads, but, if listening to music that sounds natural and exciting with a clear and detailed bass is your thing, you will seriously love the NuForce HA200, add a good pair of planar headphones and you will be onto a winner.

Sound Quality – 8.7/10

Value for Money – 8.6/10 

Build Quality – 8.6/10

Overall – 8.63/10

Pros:

Natural, non-clinical detail especially on the bass

Seriously looks the part

Surprisingly low price for such great performance

Cons:

Quite a large, hot thing to have on the desk

Linette Smith

Designer’s Comments

Reuben Klein, Optoma’s Product Manager said: “The HA200 produces clear and accurate sound and gives a real live presence for instrument and voices.

“This Class-A reference headphone amp, with its unique circuitry, transforms the performance of earphones and is the nearest that you will ever get to valve sound.

“Using a Class-A power supply makes everything clearer.  This gives better definition from the deepest bass to the rustle of leaves.  You will simply hear so much more.  Yet this detailed sound is never fatiguing at any volume.

“We believe that it offers a superior quality sound than similar equipment produced by rivals which are three times more expensive.”

Capable of driving any set of headphones with more detail and greater scale, the HA200 uses a purist Class-A design in a constant current configuration and offers true single ended output performance.

Unique to the HA200 is its ability to quadruple output power by simply adding a second unit and operating them together in Balanced Mode. This gives even greater fidelity with the two units easily configured for simultaneous use to provide a true balanced mode operation with increased transient speed, dynamic control and quadrupled output power.  Sonically, the resulting sound is completely ‘grain-free’.  The soundstage is wide and deep while instruments and voices are reproduced with extreme clarity and purity of tone. The incredible power and dynamic control over the music simply must be experienced to be appreciated.

The HA200 has a 6.5mm outlet for professional headphones and professional standard XLR inputs and outputs.

Of course Hifi Pig covered he launch of Chord Electronics new Mojo live from the Shard on Facebook and Twitter so our readers could be the first people in the world to get information about this product. We also covered the news item as soon as we had the info available, but now we have a series of official photographs for you to enjoy.

LH Labs via Audiobility are launching their new high-end mini Headphone Amp/DAC in to the UK, the Geek Out V2. This initial launch in the UK over the next few months will be offering a 15% discount via indiegogo with delivery before the holidays. Launch offer starts from $254.00

Geek Out V2 has selectable gain settings of 1000mW & 100mW. “Geek Out V2 pairs perfectly with those monstrous power hungry cans or your uber-sensitive IEM’s” says the company’s recent press release.

You can now play any music on the market today from MP3’s all the way up to 32/384 kHz and DSD 128 ultra-high-resolution files. The V2 + version has a built in battery so this Headphone Amp/DAC can be completely portable.

There is also an Infinity version which has the added benefit of a third gain setting of 450mW, plus a third digital mode to optimize the DAC for streaming music through services like Tidal. Its THD performance is further improved by -3 dB.

Cambridge Audio’s DACMagic XS is now available in 4 new colours.

The  new red, blue, gold and titanium finishes join the original black model and are available today for £100.

Smaller than a matchbox and cased in aluminium, the Digital to Analogue Converter and headphone amplifier “gives your computer audio quality a major boost and unlocks the full potential of your music and films” says the company’s press release.

DacMagic XS uses technology from Cambridge Audio’s high-end DACs. But it is not just for audiophiles – anything from MP3s to high resolution lossless files, streaming services such as Spotify, Skype, games and films will all dramatically benefit.

Naim today released firmware updates to both the Naim DAC (colloquially known as the nDAC) and the DAC-V1. Both DACs have a strong following and demand for DSD playback has been strong from some international markets.

The firmware updates add single and double rate DSD to both DACs. This has required some significant additional programming and optimisation of the core DSP code which has also benefitted sound quality says the company’s latest press release. Beta testers were most adamant that sound quality had improved they continue.

The Naim DAC accepts DSD input over S/PDIF or on a USB stick (dsf or dff files) plugged into its front or rear USB inputs. DAC-V1’s USB input is asynchronous allowing the connection of a PC, or Mac directly or using S/PDIF. Mac users need no extra drivers, Windows, including Win 10, users will need the new version 2.00.0 driver downloadable from the Naim website.

Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) has also been added to the DAC-V1. This allows the user to configure a digital input to adjust on-the-fly to input clock signals that are out of range. This improves overall robustness with S/PDIF sources that do not have an accurate clock.

Dan Worth takes the £3000, Dutch designed DiDiT 212 Digital to Analogue Converter for a ride and rather enjoys it. 

Rients Steenbeek MD at DiDiT Technologies has been a music enthusiast since a young boy. Whilst his father and brother both played the piano, Rients learned and played the violin. At the age of 14 Rients was allowed by his parents to dismantle the families audio and television equipment in order to build his on system.

Rients found that although the turntable and speakers were good he, even at the age of 14, realised that the inbuilt receiver was not up to scratch, which spurred him on to build his very first amplifier from a kit. Later, after many years of sourcing high quality electronics he became a supplier for others and this is how he met his other very knowledgeable team members.

Former Industrial Design Student Roy van der Hulst was a portable music enthusiast from a young age, moving through the ranks of cassette Walkmans, to personal CD players to mini-discmans as well as developing a fetish for high quality headphones. Soon Roy was on the ‘hifi merry-go-round’ buying Asian imported electronics from Rients and although they both appreciated the sound of the equipment, they believed the styling wasn’t for the European market.

So the combination of his industrial experience and Rients’ contacts moved the pair on to create their own company with the ethos of designing equipment from the ground up, focusing on style without sonic compromise.

Team member Patrick Schoon was born the son of a Phillips technician and has an extremely strong background in building, repairing and maintenance of musical instruments as well as electronics. Working in the 80’s primarily in the recording, broadcast and theatre industry Patrick has a very broad spectrum for sound and has accustomed himself with the installation and creation of music across the many industries making him invaluable to the team.

Last but certainly not least Sebastiaan de Vries believes he was ‘simply born for music’ playing piano and bass from a young age. Sebastiaan attended the Dutch Conservatory for Music learning about audio design which he put to good use creating and also modifying electronics, he feels his background as a musician has allowed him to do very well, fine tuning the sound for its most natural presentation.

Both Patrick and Sebastiaan have been doing OEM work for other companies whilst still furthering the DiDiT brands portfolio.

I’m happy to always talk and convey to readers when I meet an individual or company so deeply invested in the creation of music, through instruments or electronics and who can really marry the two together. In my experience I find that some of the very best equipment on today’s market comes from folk who are so deeply rooted as musicians and have had such a varied music based life, this surely must translate to a product of some sophistication!

It’s all too often that someone has an electronics degree and then they build an amplifier or other piece  of Hifi paraphernalia that falls short of the mark – as they don’t understand the true essence and power that well presented tones can do for the emotions of the brain. There’s got to be that passion for the music first and foremost.

A fairly long introduction – the guys at DiDiT boast some strong credentials, so let’s see if the 212 flatters them.

PACKAGING

The packaging for the DAC212 looks pretty damn good. Made from a thick soft shock absorbent cork which has etched logos and has been machined out or moulded to accept the DAC and finished externally with rounded corners, it really is a nice touch before even exposing the unit itself. It gives you that feeling that these guys really make an effort in presenting everything to you with a degree of sophistication.

BUILD AND DESIGN

There are many ‘blinged up’ products at the moment on the market which offer style over substance. As we expand the size of our homes, life products do seem to be getting smaller by the day due to advances in technology. Big doesn’t mean better, but I can assure you neither does smaller, it’s all down to the creative force behind the product.

Coming in at 8 inches squared and a mere 2 inches high the DiDiT DAC can certainly be classed as a piece of lifestyle equipment. Machined from aluminium billet the casework is absolutely flawless with great attention to detail going into its minimalistic design, which for me falls into the hifi jewellery category… the workmanship reminds me of Jeff Roland or Nagra.

The base of the unit has three small aluminium ringed sorbothane feet. The feet’s mass has been very carefully calculated after the finished design was weighed in order to find the correct sorbothane to mass ratio – too little and the product will ring like a struck crystal glass, too much and the midrange will just be sucked out and bass response becomes sloppy in my experience, so getting this aspect correct, although not a hard task, is just another small detail which the guys at DiDiT haven’t overlooked.

CONNECTIONS

This version of the DAC has a single ended RCA output (balancedto follow) with two coaxial RCA inputs, optical and USB. The unit can decode signal up to 32bit and 384khz. Accompanied with the DAC is the wand like DiDiT remote offering full control over the volume, source, power, muting and menu features and is also exceptionally well machined/designed. I’ve got to point you to the dot matrix display coming through the casework, itlooks great and can if desired be turned down or off via the menu.

POWER SUPPLY

The 212 uses an internal switch-mode power supply – eek! I hear you say. Now normally your eeks would be very well justified as switch-modes inject a terrible amount of noise into electronics and back into the shared mains too and generally they’re not compliant with balanced mains supplies which I use myself.

If you speak to any knowledgeable audio engineer they will testify to the fact that a well designed and implemented switch-mode supply can in fact offer benefits to a product, I am no engineer but I have a set of ears. What I have found in the past is that the overall pace of a units sonic signature is known to be increased and at the same time its bass performance tighter and more articulated. Plugging the DiDiT into my balanced mains supply caused no issues at all, unlike some of the standard cheap varieties which have played havoc in my rig when tested previously.

THE SOUND

The first thing noticeable with a DiDiT 212 DAC in my system was how the sound became more focuses over the current Astin Trew Concorde. There was a crisper, tighter and more articulated presentation.

During Nils Lofgrens ‘Keith Don’t Go’ notes are completely embellished with vigour and prominence, reaching dynamic purity as the weight of a string climbs into its polished high pitch. Decays had a nice “floatiness” as they wandered through the darkness of background silence that aided the completeness of the plucked string.
Combining three dimensionality with true rhythmic musicality Lofgren’s vocal begins again after his solo and there is no loss of definition to the instrument with it retaining its tonal qualities in full.

Rhythm and pace sit equally with instrument timbre and coherence in the 212’s world. The DAC never sounds exasperatingly fast, but the quickness in which it deals with leading edges is undoubtedly accurate and controlled. Beat driven music has an instant toe tapping appeal and smile factor which is just so addictive.

Play any good acoustic music which has strong female vocals and the 212 is pretty stunning. Too many people in my experience sacrifice vocal density for vocal clarity. It’s so easy to find a piece of equipment or system that does clarity of a vocal, which generally makes the midrange over-forward and the upper mids (especially in female vocals) too hard and etched. This leaves the density of tone thin, lacking body and cohesiveness.

The DiDiT combines projected strong and vibrant vocals with great tone and dynamic expression. Upper bass notes are controlled and the texture of the body of a lower octave is detail rich and natural in tone, expressing real timbre from start to finish, culminating in fantastic liquidity.

I really can’t state that the DAC is coloured in any way. I would like to say that it’s neutral and coherent, but there’s more to it than that. The vibrancy of details, control of tones and the rhythmic beating heart of the 212 puts it smack bang on my ‘great all rounder’ list of components due to its fine balance.

Yes I’ve heard other DACs do vocals better, the Lampizator Big 7 does vocals like no other DAC I’ve ever heard, a magnificent mix of holographic and organic frequencies, but on the flip side I never found it truly rhythmical. The Astin Trew Concord, which missed out by a fair bit when reproducing the purity of instrument tone and timbre but was a far better fit with a larger range of equipment and genres, for reviewing this was really a must. Being unselfish and gearing a system to remain reflective of a great range of musical styles and other product signatures is crucial.

The DiDiT 212 (costing less the both the above) for me sits somewhere in between the two, but on reflection of this comment I feel it does more than each respectively. The 212 hammers home how strong product design matched with carefully selected components doesn’t need to cost the earth in order to supply the end-user with a fantastic high-end product.

Imagine a large block of ice being sculptured by the sculptor. During the process it’s sawn to remove large unwanted sections, then chiselled and hammered into shape, but the edges are rough still and the piece of ice still remains opaque. Some amateurs may stop here – relating the sculptured form to the subject matter, although a true artist will get a blow torch and hot water to finish the piece to give its transparency, clarity and sparkle, at the same time smoothing and polishing its surfaces. This is my DiDiT 212 analogy.

We exchange the word smooth for controlled in the analogy, for me a smooth sounding piece of equipment rolls off frequencies, damps tones and dynamics and has a relationship with the description ‘warm’. The 212 is far from this, its insight and control shows complete clarity right through its image and like the ice sculpture is truly liquid.

Bass performance, whether playing an instrument or synthesized beats, is as I said rhythmic, but the insight, especially into upper bass notes, is fantastic. Many many times I comment on products lacking body in the upper bass, making way for a more detailed interpretation which often is too stark and almost makes the music sound miserable and lifeless. I was listening to some Fleetwood Mac at the time and really was drawn into this area of the sound. What I found was there are the smallest areas of separation between the lower bass and upper bass which seemed to alleviate smear, gave better timing and the lack of crosstalk allowed the detail rich upper bass to really have an area of its own that never became loose of the entirety of the sound and eradicated that blend of tones that can also muddy things a little down below. Intense passages at loud levels give dynamic drama that is very exhilarating.

A kick drum kicks with drive and prominence, fleshed out and proud of the drum basket and lower bass notes emanate at volumes which really roll deep into the room without any loss of their leading edges, so make sure you have a strong amplifier for your loudspeakers to compliment the drive.

A high end piece of equipment which is designed to really extract a lot of information from a piece of music will always have it suffering when playing less than good recordings and the 212 is no different. The question is how badly will the sound diminish, is it liveable with and how often do we need to be playing less than adequate recordings?

For me, I play less than great recordings a lot! When I’m not reviewing or having a listening session and as I don’t watch a lot of TV I explore Spotify frequently and when friends come over at the weekend it’s easy to hand them the iPad (as a remote) and allow them to choose whatever they wish to listen too. Of course I’m going to report a loss of quality and resolution, but what I admire about the 212 is its musical appeal and character. This remains present and although there are definite shortcomings, the overall experience is still massively enjoyable and that’s got to be key!

USING THE DIGITAL PREAMPLIFIER

Next up was using the 212 as a DAC/pre connected to some Cairn MEA monoblocks…Wow! I never believed that I would be so impressed with it as a digital preamp. Usually I will use a Rowland pre into the Cairns and they get used very often here. The MEA’s have an absolutely huge soundstage, wall to wall and floor to ceiling. With the JR pre the sound is bouncy and just so energetically enthralling, they really are a hidden jewel.

With the 212 doing the forefront duties I found a new sense of inspiration for the sound. Bass notes were tighter and deeper, midrange had a further increase of clarity over the JR pre (which adds some warmth to the sound) and due to the well balanced nature of the Cairns the increase in clarity and perceived top end resolution pushed them on sonically, with better synergy, authority and most noticeably pace and rhythm.
CONCLUSIONS

The DiDiT 212 from Rients and the team in the Netherlands is a stunning piece of engineering, a real classy looking product with an equally classy sound – especially for the money.

For me the vocals are standout with this DAC, if you are a valve fan vocally, but go potty at the pitfalls such as the looser bass and the loss of that bottom most octave and want to try something in the solid state arena again, then I’d suggest you have a ‘money back’ listen.

Apart from the vocals and bass pace nothing else really stands out, or is that the wrong way of phrasing this? What I mean is the tonal balance, coherence and down right musicality of this unit allows you to be truly emerged in the music, rather than ever being drawn to certain areas. It’s always easy to listen to electronics, but it’s not often we just relax into a truly musical presentation and leave everything else outside the door.

Note: I really enjoyed this one. So much that I’ve bought two, this one and the soon to be released balanced XLR version which will also support HDMI over I2s which is my primary digital connection.

Update: as well as my purchase a good friend of mine Andy telephoned me for another DAC recommendation, he currently uses a VAD DAC (same as our editor Stuart). I of course recommended the DiDiT for his Graaf/Audionote/Kondo system and he absolutely fell in love with it through his mega-bucks horns.

Sound Quality – 8.9/10

Build Quality – 9/10

Value For Money – 9/10

Overall – 8.96/10

Price at time of review: €3000

For:
Great dynamics
Even handed sound with clarity and weight to boot
Exceptional build quality
Dynamic and harmonic

Against:
Won’t accommodate round barrel type IEC plugs, use a Furutech FI-15 when seeking a good quality thinner IEC.

Dan Worth

Designer’s Notes

The DAC212 is designed around multilayer circuit boards.
With multilayer board designs, we can assign one layer to an unbroken ground plane, which will give a very low inductance design with reduced crosstalk.

All power supply layers are designed in differential pairs. High and low current traces are paired and separated from each other. Designing is performed with advanced CAD/CAM computer simulation methods. This way of designing drastically reduces distortion below the 0.001% barrier.

Virtual Grounding, Balanced Interfacing
Good grounding is an essential point in any audio design. When multiple circuits or stages get combined, they often use a common ground return path. This same ground gets somewhere connected to the chassis, and the chassis in turn to earth. In such situations, it is hard to control the current loops. More important, interferences from circuit to circuit and from the outside world get induced in the common ground lines. This raises distortion and noise. In the DAC212 the line amplifier stages float with no reference to ground. To accomplish this, the internal interfacing from the DAC to the line amplifier stages is truly balanced internally. This makes the circuits more immune for ground-loops and interference, and it increases headroom.
To take the independency from common ground even further, the line amplifier stages are configured in an “equal impedance differential setup”, where the output of a DC servo forms a ground point and provides a zero volt reference instead of the common stages are driven Direct Coupled.
The input circuitry literally floats above ground. No ground noise can be induced anymore anywhere in the line amplifier stage. This way, the line amplifiers ensure a high common mode rejection from hum, noise, and other distortions. Internally differential balanced lines are always paired as differential pairs, and low pass filter stage are configured differential with equal impedance arms for positive and negative.

We are extremely focused on reducing noise levels in our circuits. As we see this as the key to obtain more resolution. Each channel, every stage and system clock has its own very low noise power supply regulator, thereby isolating the sensitive circuits. The DAC212 uses no less then 12 independent very low noise local power supply regulators.

This all results in a THD of 0,00035%, a S/N ratio of 122dB (A weighted) and a linearity measurement which is one straight-line down to –135 dB.
All without sacrificing musicality.

RientsSteenbeek