Hegel Super headphone amplifier

Digital inputs: USB micro
Outputs: mini-jack (analog) + optical mini-jack (digital)
USB interface: up to 24 bit / 96 kHz, plug & play
Noise floor: -140dB
Output impedance: Below 1 ohm
Dimensions: 1,6 cm x 4,1cm x 8,2cm / 0.6” x 1.6” x 3.2” (HxWxD)

Website: Hegel
Price: $399

Cambridge DacMagic XS

Cambridge DacMagic XS £99.95

Connections	Micro USB input, 3.5mm analogue output
Digital to Analogue Converter	ESS9023 24-bit DAC
Sample Rates Supported	USB 1.0 mode: 16/24-bit, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz  USB 2.0 mode: 16/24-bit, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz
Output Voltage	2V RMS
Max. Power Consumption	150mW
Min. Headphone Impendance	12 Ohms
Frequency Response	+/-0.2dB 20Hz – 20kHz
THD (unweighted):	<0 .004="" td="">
SNR	103 dBr (unweighted)
Crosstalk	66dB
Output Impedance	0.5 Ohms
Volume Steps	53 steps (54 different volume levels)
Dimensions (W x H x D):	30 x 10 x 53.5mm (1.2 x 0.4 x 2.1’’)
Weight	100g (3.5oz)

ADL X1 USB DAC

ADL X1 USB DAC £395

• Max headphone output at 1%THD @ 1KHz: 34mW(12 ohm), 60mW(16 ohm), 82mW(32 ohm), 86mW(56 ohm), 36mW(300 ohm), 19mW(600 ohm)
• Channel separation 60～64dB (1KHz) 33ohms -50dB/<=±3dB
• Frequency characteristics 20Hz～20kHz (±0.5dB)
• Total Harmonic Distortion 0.033% (33ohms) , <0 .02="" 0.0085="" li="" mw="" ohms="">
• S/N Ratio 95.5dB/32ohms , 98.1dB/56ohms , 101.6dB/300ohms, 102.1dB/600ohms 

Alo Audio The Island

24 bits /192 kHz USB headphone amp.
Bus powered.

Website Alo Audio
Price : $299.00

Gefen USB DAC and converter

24 bit / 192 kHz USB DAC with RCA and headphone out.

Can also be used as a USB to Toslink convertor.

Driver for Windows.

• Audio Input Connector: (1) USB Mini-B
• Audio Output Connectors:
  • (1) TOSLINK (optical)
  • (1) L/R analog audio (2 x RCA female)
  • (1) 1/4-inch stereo headphone jack
• Power/Streaming indicator: (1) LED, blue
• Sampling Frequency indicators: (6) LEDs, blue
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 110 dBA
• Frequency Response: 10Hz - 20kHz ± 0.1 dB
• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)+N: <0 .02="" li="">
• Operating Temperature: +32 to 104 °F ( 0 to +40 °C )
• Operating Humidity: 20 to 90% RH, no condensation
• Storage Temperature: -4 to +140 °F ( -20 to +60 °C )
• Storage Humidity: 0 to 95% RH, no condensation
• Power Consumption: 2.5W (max.)
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 3.4" x 1.3" x 3.4" (86mm x 34mm x 86mm)
• Shipping Weight: 1 lbs (0.45) kg

Website Gefen

Price: $129.00

Avantgarde acoustic - Zero 1

3 way active speaker with 2 horns for mid and treble.
All the digital inputs.
Crossover and room adjustment implemented in DSP

Drivers	Subwoofer: 30 – 250 Hz Midrange horn: 250 – 2.000 Hz Tweeter horn: 2.000 – 20.000 Hz
Digital input	S/PDIF Toslink AES/EBU USB
Analogue input	Optional (AD converter)
Amp	2 x 50 watts + 1 x 400 watts
Crossover	DSP: 6 channel, 66-bit FPGA
Filter steepness	Up to 100 dB/octave
Filter type	Progressive FIR filters
Phase shifts	< 5 degrees
DAC	3 x 24-bit Burr & Brown
Master/slave radio link	2.4 GHz ISM/SRD
Amplitude linearization*	Yes
Phase linearization*	Yes
Room adjustment/equalization*	100 EQs, each with 16,000 frequency points
Weight	30 kg
BxHxD	490 x 1040 x 318 mm

* with optional software

Website: Avantgarde acoustic
Price € 9000

Moos Mini Aero

Active speakers with a lot of technology build-in.

• Loss-less wireless audio up to 24 bit/ 96 kHz
• Scan-Speak drivers
• Wolfson DACs
• Hypex amps

A complete 'who is who' in a small form factor.

Cabinet	Vented
Drivers	Scan-Speak Revelator R2904 Revelator 15W-8530
Dac	Wolfson Quad differential DACs SNR > 125dB Analog Devices Asynchronous Sample Rate Converters
Amp	Hypex UcD
DSP	Analog Devices SHARC floating point signal processor, with 32-bit processing word size and 64-bit accumulator
Input	Wireless (WATT) USB dongle for PC and Mac

Website: Moos
Price: $2499

KEF X300A

Active speakers dominate the studios.
At the home, they are rare.
However recently a couple of companies released active speakers targeted at the home or at least at the desktop.


KEF X300A
Active 2way speaker with 24/96 asynchronous USB input.

Website KEF
Price: $799 (pair)

Elispson Planet LW

You won’t find many speakers in this blog.

A box, a couple of drivers and a passive crossover have nothing to do with digital.

This one is different.

It is an active speaker so each driver is powered by a dedicated amplifier.

What sets it apart is that there is no analog input.

It uses a wireless connection to get the data from a PC or a iSomthing using a dongle.

Elipson calls it WELL. Wireless Elipson Lossless Link, the internet says it is based on KLEER technology so lossless audio up to 16 bit/44.1 kHz over a 2.4GHz radio link.


2-way active speaker with coaxial driver
2 x 50 W / 4 ohms ICEpower amplifier
Mid-bass driver: 6.5 " (165 mm)
Fabric dome tweeter
Frequency response: 42 Hz - 20 kHz

Website Elispson
Price €1690 (pair)

Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter

AD converters are typically for the pro world.

You need one to record digitally.

The music lover does playback only so needs the reverse of an AD, a DAC.

More and more people start to use a PC as a source for play back.

Why not digitize all of your analog sources?

Ayre Acoustics thinks we will do and launched an AD converter targeted at the home.

A review by JohnAtkinson

Website: http://www.ayre.com/

Price: $3950

dCS Vivaldi

• Transport
• Upsampler: DXD (24/352.8 or 384kS/s), DSD (1-bit 2.822 MS/s) or standard high resolution PCM (24/192)
• Master clock
• DAC

Asynchronous 24/192 USB
DSD over USB (DoP)
Network - UPnP

Website dCS
Price: $110,000

Sonore exD DSD DAC

USB Audio Class 2.0 compliant DAC with native DSD playback (DoP V1)




Ultra low jitter local master clock <3pS
True asynchronous mode operation
USB Audio Class 2.0 compliant
PCM playback up to 192kHz
DSD playback of DSD64 and DSD128
Compatible with DoP v1 specification
Custom made USB to DSD and PCM module
Support for Mac OS X without special driver (10.6 and 10.7), support Audirvana Plus "Direct" and "Integer" modes
Support for Linux without special driver (Alsa version 1.0.24 or later)
Support for Windows XP, Vista and Win 7 (32 and 64 bit), driver (WDM and ASIO) will be provided


RCA unbalanced outputs
XLR balanced outputs
Output impedance: <50ohm unbalanced, <100ohm balanced
Output voltage: 2V Unbalanced, 4V Balanced

Website: Sonore
Price: US$ 1195

Linnenberg u:c:a

Pre-amp with USB and SPDIF inputs and RCA and headphone out.

USB input uses the M2tech OEM circuit (Win/Mac) but a new receiver using the XMOS XS1-L1 is planned allowing for full USB Audio Class 2 support (Win, OSX, Linux).

DAC: TI/Burr Brown PCM1794A with TI/BB4192 sample-rate converter.
Upsampling to 192kHz, regardless of input rate. Master clock oscillator with 3ps periodic jitter. Passive I/U conversation with 0.1% precision resistors, zero feedback.

Headphones amplifier: Full discrete construction. NO OPAMPS. NO CHIPS. Volume control with selected blue Alps attenuator. 6.35mm phone jack output. 1000mW continuous sine power output. 1Ohm output impedance. Suitable for 32 – 600 Ohms cans.

Sampling frequencies:	44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kHz, (plus 32kHz S/PDIF)
Resolution:	Up to 32bit, (24bit S/PDIF)
Frequency response:	1Hz - 24kHz +0.1dB -0.5dB
Distortion and noise:	<0.01% 10Hz - 20kHz @ -10dB
Output level:	4V rms
Output power:	2 x 500mW continous @ 32 Ohms
Output impedance:	1 Ohm
Mains voltage:	115V, 230V factory set
Dimensions (H x W x D):	55 x 165 x 224 mm

Website Linnenberg
Price: €1.190

Perreaux Audiant DP32

Pre-amp with both digital and analogue inputs

Digital Inputs:	1 USB (asynchronous 24/192) 1 AES/EBU (XLR) 2 Coaxial (RCA) 2 Optical (Toslink)
Digital to Analogue Converter:	ESS Technology Sabre³² Reference ES9018 32-bit DAC
Input Word Length (maximum):	32-bit (AES/EBU, Coaxial, Optical) 24-bit (USB)
Input Sample Rate (maximum):	192kHz (all inputs)
Analogue Inputs:	1 Balanced/Unbalanced (selectable) 1 Unbalanced Line/Home Theatre (selectable)

Website: Perreaux
Price: $2.895

Audioquest DragonFly USB Digital-Audio Converter

Capabilities:
• Drives headphones directly
• Variable output drives powered speakers or a power amplifier
• Fixed output feeds preamp or AV receiver
Features:
• 64-position analog volume control
• Accepts music files up to 24-bit/96kHz resolution
• Asynchronous Class 1 USB data transfer using the Streamlength protocol
• Direct-coupled circuitry from the ESS Sabre DAC chip through the analog volume control and output analog driver section
• Dual Master Clocks are used to minimize the amount of jitter present in the DAC circuitry

Website Audioquest
Price:  € 249,00

M2Tech hiFace Two USB to SPDIF converter

The biggest news is probably that M2Tech decided not to use their proprietary drivers but to using the native mode USB audio drives of the operating system.
It is UAC1 and UAC2 compliant so will work out of the box with Win, OSX and Linux.
For > 96 kHz you need a driver on Win as Win is not UAC2 compliant.
The receiver is by XMOS and the driver by Thesycon.

• Input 1 x USB A type male
• Output 1 x RCA or BNC female
• Input USB 2.0 Audio Format with aAsynchronous synchronazation 
• Output S/PDIF Stereo Digital Audio Format
• Sampling Frequency: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4khZ, 192kHz
• Resolution 16 up to 24 bit
• Dimensions 10.2(d) x 2.2(h) x 2(w) cm
• Power Supply 5V DC from USB bus
• Weight 50gr approx.

M2Tech hiFace 2 
Price: US$ 185

PlayGo is working on a new wireless transmitter.

It is a multi-protocol solution

• Apple AirPlay Technology
• Microsoft® Play To
• USB Audio for playback of digital audio from iOS devices
• UPnP & DLNA Support

Supported audio formats

• AAC
• Apple Lossless
• MP3
• FLAC
• WAV
• WMA

Lossless Hi-Fi Audio Support

• Up to 24-bit / 96kHz native audio
• Burr-Brown SRC4193 upsampling
• First company in USA to use the NEW 32-Bit Burr-Brown PCM5102 DAC
• 112dB signal to noise ratio
• 112dB A-weighted dynamic range
• 2.1VRMS output on gold plated RCA connectors
• TOSLINKTM Digital Audio Output

More at Kickstarter

T+A DAC 8

DAC with volume control (defeatable) and headphone out.
Supports both USB audio class 1 and 2.
For USB Audio Class 2 it is possible to select either synchronous or asynchronous transmission; a special driver is required for this.

Specifications
D/A converter	32-Bit, 384 kHz Sigma Delta, 8-times oversampling, double-mono-quadruple
Analogue filter	3rd order phase linear Besselfilter, switchable 60 kHz or 120 kHz
Frequency response	2 Hz - 20 / 22 kHz (44.1 / 48.0 kSps)
	2 Hz - 40 kHz (88.2 / 96.0 kSps)
	2 Hz - 80 kHz (176.4 / 192.0 kSps)
Total harmonic distortion	< 0,001 %
Signal noise (A)	116 dB
Channel separation	110 dB
Analogue outputs
coaxial (Cinch)	2,5 Veff / 22 Ohm fixed. 0 ... 2,5 Veff variable
Symetrical (XLR)	5,0 Veff / 22 Ohm fixed. 0 ... 5,0 Veff variable
Digital output	1 x coax, IEC 60958 (CDDA/LPCM)
Digital inputs	SP/DIF (16 - 24 Bit):
	4 x co-ax, 1 x BNC, 1 x AES/EBU up to 192/24, 1 x TOS-Link up to 96/24
	1 x USB with USB Audio Class 1 (USB full Speed) up to 96/24, adaptive mode
	and USB Audio Class 2 (USB high Speed) up to 192/24 asynchronous mode (drivers available)

Website T+A
Price: £1890

Antelope Audio Rubicon

Rubicon is a 384 kHz converter, phono stage preamp and headphone amplifier with an integrated atomic clock.

• 10M Rubidium Atomic Clock
• 64-bit Acoustically Focused Clocking jitter management technology
• Ultra low noise phono inputs with custom audio transformers, discrete JFET preamp design
• 384kHz A/D & D/A converters
• Gold-plated stepped relay volume attenuator matched to 0.05dB for all volume levels
• Ultra-linear, dual stage headphone amps
• De-jittered audio S/PDIF output
• Custom USB 2.0 chip streaming up to 480 Mbits/384kHz with recording option
• DLNA streaming capabilities through an Ethernet interface

Website Antelope Audio

Price: tba

Totaldac D1

R2R DAC with volume control and headphone out.

Also available with active 2 or 3 way crossover.

• 192KHz asynchronous Xmos USB, optical, RCA and AES-EBU digital inputs, selectable from a remote control.
• 3.3Vrms max RCA, XLR analog output and 32ohm-600ohm headphone amplifier.
• digital volume control, adjusted by a remote control and an OLED display.
• phase polarity selected by remote control.
• non-oversampling FIR digital filter activated or disactivated by remote control.

Website: Totaldac
Price: €6500