Digital source: MacBook Air (M1, 2020) as Roon Core, Roon 1.8>. AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt.
Integrated amplifier: MBL N51.
Loudspeakers: MBL Radialstrahler 120.
Headphones: HiFiMan HE400S and Drop x HE4XX; Sennheiser HD 650; Sonus Faber Pryma 0|1.
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COMMENTS
For those that want a good cheap dac with volume, I think they shot themselves in the foot with the lack of digital input types.
Just a single usb3 input!
spdif, toslink, aes/ebu would have been nice to have, as the measurements show it's not a bad stand-alone dac with level control (simple two button up/down volume remote would have been great also).
Cheers George
Just a single usb3 input!
spdif, toslink, aes/ebu would have been nice to have
I agree it would have been nice to have one more option anyway. But obviously they wanted to keep the unit compact, which means limited space.
another stereophile article where goerge hifi is in first with a grumpy man complaint
is it good form for one manufacturter to criticize the work of another?i guess any pub licicity is good pub licicicty.
did u know that this DAC and headphone output from iFI is intended for office desktops. no need for a remote when you can reach to turn.no need for spdif inputs when a computer's USB output is availble.
your little lightspeed sells for almost the same price as this ifi doublepack.does IT have a DAC with optical/coaxial?does IT have a remote?
...as far as I'm aware. They use a USB 3 socket so that they can include a better-shielded USB 3 cable in the box.
Hi
Agreed. How can a properly designed DAC come without any optical & digital coaxial inputs? Incredible for a DAC tagged for $599.99 & even made cheaply in China !!!
What a lame duck! Who wants it? I don't given some many better choices in the marketplace for muchh lower pricing !
Jack L
..and I don't mean usb 3 compatible, which is the case here and elsewhere, is not intended for audio. All other connections are mostly useless nowadays for better or worse.
At this point in time, I don't see the need for any cable other than USB. I think USB is superior than toslink in terms of max data transfer. I've heard of other little differences like jitter issues with toslink, or toslink's advantage with electrical isolation, and toslink can handle a much longer run, but at this price level it makes sense for the company to focus on one input and go with the most popular one.
Sorry not for me, depends on what source you have.
It may be fine to just have a usb input for those that are happy listening to the later compressed/louder, re-issues of streamed and download stuff.
EG of compression, the later re-issue of the same thing the more compressed it got, and usually the ones the streaming/download companies use.
https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/year?artist=Traveling+Wilburys
Cheers George
As far as audio file support goes, USB is more advanced than either spdif or toslink, both limited to 24-192.
USB is the only interface of the three mentioned, that can accomodate PCM rates above 24-192 or DSD.
Hi
Really ????
I am pretty gratified sonically with my 24-192 DAC with spdif+toslink i/ps withOUT any USB considering I am a vinyl addict. This USA NY brandanme DAC cost me muuuch less than the $599 Zen DAC.
Question to you re a realistic situation: e.g at my home: A 4K UHD TV with only toslink O/P & a WiFi DVD player gets only spdif O/P. That ZEN DAC would be useless there !!!
It ALL depends what you need to hook a DAC to, pal.
Listening is believing
Jack L
I'd hazard a guess, that without USB, computer based audio would have never gotten off the ground. A large part of the audiophile community, to this day, is still listening to high resolution music including DSD via a PC. Because of the interest in PC based music, enhancements to USB have taken place, such as the development of DOP,(DSD over PCM)
As you say "It ALL depends what you need to hook a DAC to"
Hi
Sure as long as you love PC based music ! Why not?
But digital music, even HD PC music, is not my favourite cup of tea considering I am a vinyl addict.
For conveniency & updating myself with the music world, streaming is the way to go for me. But for closest-to-live music enjoyment, vinyl analogue is my only way.
No offense intended.
Jack L
I've heard a lot of things I didn't believe pal.
Right off the bat, the reviewer has no credibility. Why pick a reviewer who doesn't regularly listen to headphones?
I'd like to clarify that I own a couple pairs of headphones and do listen to them regularly—when I host a weekly radio show (FM and streaming) for instance. But it had been a little while since I'd done critical listening through them was what I meant.
The first sentence was perfectly clear as to what you meant.
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