The Well-Tempered Computer, an introduction to computer audio

Saturday, January 21, 2012

iBasso D7


Portable USB DAC with volume control and headphone out.

- True 24Bit/192K USB-DAC, supports bit for bit decoding.
- Asynchronous USB transfer
- WM8740 DAC chip
- Up to 24Bit/192K coaxial output
- RCA output and Line out.
- Built-in +/- 5V class A headphone amplfier that run off of USB power
- Full aluminum case
- Measures 60W*93L*22H (mm), and weights 108g
- Comes with USB Cable, and Leather pouch

Price: US$ 179
Website

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Anedio D2 DAC


Pre-amp / DAC with various digital inputs and headphone out.

Asynchronous USB using the XMOS receiver, Thesycon driver for Win (USB audio class 2).

Inputs:
USB: 24 bits, 44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96K, 176.4K, 192KHz
SPDIF 75-ohm BNC + RCA: 24 bits, 44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96K, 176.4K, 192KHz
SPDIF 75-ohm RCA: 24 bits, 44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96K, 176.4K, 192KHz
Tosllink Optical: 24 bits, 44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96KHz

Outputs:
RCA and XLR
Headphone

Price:  US$1470
Website

Anedio U2


Asynchronous USB to SPDIF converter.

USB class 2 compliant (24/192)
USB receiver by XMOS, Win driver by Thesycon.
Two independent low-jitter crystal oscillators.
Galvanically isolating using a high-speed transformer at the SPDIF output.
BNC connector.

 Price: US$390
Website

Phase Tech HD-7D192


USB audio class 2 compliant DAC with USB receiver by XMOS.

Inputs: SPDIF (optical/coax) / asynchronous USB
Outputs: AES/EBU, ciax, I2S
Word sync out.

Website
Price: Yen 249,900

Rasteme Rudd14


24/192 asynchronous USB DAC.

USB receiver by XMOS.
Price: Yen 56,700-
Website

Musical Fidelity Vlink192


24 bit/ 192 kHz asynchronous USB converter

It has both coax and fully balanced digital outputs.
Both are fully galvanically isolated.
USB receiver by XMOS

Price: $399
Website

ATOLL DAC200

Pre-amp/DAC with various digital inputs and headphone out

Inputs
  • 1 AES/EBU
  • 2 SPDIF coaxi
  • 3 SPDIF optical
  • 1 asynchronous USB : 24bits/192kHz (XMOS, driver for Win)
  • 1 wireless dongle
Outputs:
  • 1 coax
  • 1 optical
  • 1 RCA 
  • 1 XLR 
  • 1 headphone
DAC: BURR BROWN PCM1792 (24 bits/192 kHz)
Price: €1500

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Arcam D33

DAC with a USB Class 1 electrically-isolated USB 1.1 and a Class 2 USB 2.0 High Speed (480 Mbit/s) not electrically-isolated input.
Both probably asynchronous


Analogue Audio Output
  • Conversion 2x Burr Brown 24-bit 192kHz Advanced Segment Delta-Sigma
  • Signal to noise ratio > 110dB CCIR (unweighted)
  • Harmonic distortion (1kHz) 0.0008% (20Hz — 20kHz, unweighted)
  • Frequency response (+0.1dB, -0.5dB) 10Hz–20kHz
  • Filtering User selectable, fast or slow roll-off
  • Output level (0dB) 2.2Vrms
  • Output impedance 47Ω
  • Minimum load 5kΩ
Digital interfaces
  • USB Class 1 electrically-isolated USB 1.1
  • Class 2 USB 2.0 High Speed (480 Mbit/s)
  • AES/EBU Up to 192kHz sample rate
  • Coaxial S/PDIF x 2 Up to 192kHz sample rate
  • Optical S/PDIF (TOSLINK) x 2 Up to 96kHz sample rate
  • Computer compatibility
  • PC Windows 7, Vista & XP (driver required for 24/192 material)
  • MAC OSX (no driver required)
Physical
  • Dimensions W433 x D370 x H110mm
  • Weight 6.2kg nett/10.0kg packed
  • Power consumption 30W maximum
  • Analogue output connection RCA Phono x 2, Balanced XLR x2
Remote control.
Price: £2000
Website

Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6

Streaming audio player



Wolfson WM8740 DACs in dual differential mode
24-bit/384kHz upsampling

Inputs
Wi-Fi / Ethernet
S/PDIF optical and electrical
24 /192 asynchronous USB (driver for Win)

Services: Aupeo!, BBC iPlayer Radio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius/XM and MP3Tunes

Remote: Stream Magic Remote app for the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad


Price: € 995.00
Source: What Hi-Fi?

Monday, January 9, 2012

DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core

Room correction and USB DAC


Manufacturers description:
The new DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core room correction system can be used to correct any stereo audio system automatically. It utilizes a highly powerful DSP chipset for master grade room correction, the new dual-core VS8053 "IceDragon".
The new Anti-Mode Dual Core can be inserted between a pre-amp and a power amp (or active speakers). With automatic calibration and built-in TFT screen to display the room measurements, it offers the unmatched ease of use DSPeaker is famous for around the world.
In addition to the acclaimed Anti-Mode room correction, Dual Core also offers remote controlled USB-DAC / S/PDIF-DAC, pre-amp, volume control and versatile EQ functions. All easily controlled with the featured remote control. Both balanced XLR/RCA connections are available, but also Pure-Digital mode where the corrected signal is passed through completely in the digital domain.

  • Automatically corrects any stereo system with userdefined frequency range
  • Remote controller
  • Can be used as a digital 1.1 crossover
  • Measures and displays the room response on a color TFT display
  • Supports multiple measurement points
  • Custom parametric EQs (notching, peaking, lowpass, highpass)
  • Easy to use House curve and Tiltcurve tools
  • Supports several independent "sweet spots", selectable with remote controller
  • USB DAC
  • Dual 6 MHz oversampling multibit DAC per output channel
  • Dual 192 kHz ADC per input channel
  • Pure Digital mode (Optical)
  • Digitally controlled analog volume control

Price: $1200 / €850
Website

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Wyred 4 Sound µDAC




  • 24/192 coaxial/Toslink
  • asynchronous 24/96 USB
  • ESS Sabre DAC 
  • 3.5”x3.5” chassis

Website
Price: US$ 399

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Pioneer N-50



Networked audio player


Protocols:

  • Airplay 
  • DLNA 1.5 certified
  • vTuner

Inputs:

  • 192khz 24 bit Bit Asynchronous USB
  • S/PDIF (Coax & Toslink), 
  • Ethernet/LAN input, 
  • front panel USB for Mass storage/iPod/iPhone/iPad

Output:

  • RCA
  • S/PDIF (24/192 Coax & Toslink)

iPhone and Android Control Application

Price: $699

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Wadax active loudspeaker


The La Pasión is a three way $106,500, self powered digital loudspeaker.
Only a source is required to complete the system. 
Each driver is independently powered. 
DACs inside each La Pasión loudspeaker have a specifically designed current output stage to directly drive the tweeter with no degradation of the DAC performance. 
Individual 400-watt Wadax digital amps drive the midrange and woofer modules. 
Additionally, binding posts are provided to externally amplify the midrange drivers if desired. 

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Devialet D-Premier


DAC (digital-to-analogue converter), stereo preamplifier and stereo power amplifier in a single chassis.



Streaming over WiFi.
The initial release of the Devialet AIR Application works with:
  • iTunes (as a library browser) on Mac or PC
  • up to CD resolution (RedBook 44.1 kHz / 16 bits)
  • Wide range of formats: uncompressed PCM formats (WAV, AIFF), lossless codecs (ALAC, FLAC), lossy codecs (AAC, some MPEGs)
    An upgrade of the Application (Q1 2012) will support all lossless and lossy formats and expand resolution to 96 kHz / 24 bits.
Price: €11,920.00
Website

Audioengine D2 Wireless 24/96 DAC



The D2 sends a 24bit/96KHz PCM stereo digital stream over-the-air in a "closed-system" Wi-Fi configuration. The system's proprietary RF technology ensures data integrity with no impact on existing routers or networks. The volume control on the D2 Sender is transmitted over an entirely separate channel so there is no impact on the digital audio stream.


  • Wireless bit-perfect 24/96 digital-to-analog converter
  • USB-to-S/PDIF converter
  • Mac or PC plug-and-play, no drivers or network setup
  • Precision receiver re-clocking for low jitter 
  • USB and optical inputs
  • Optical and analog outputs
  • Burr-Brown PCM1792 DAC

Price: US$ 599
Website