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

Calyx Femto DAC

DAC with volume control.
Claimed dynamic range of 132dB, THD of 0.0001% and RMS jitter of 500 femto seconds.
USB 24/192 max. Synchronization not specified but probably asynchronous.

• Digital Input: Two Coaxial / Two Optical / Two AES-EBU / BNC / USB
• Sampling Rate: 44.1kHz ~ 192kHz
• THD+N Ratio: 0.0003% @ 1kHz
• SNR: 130 [dB] @ 1kHz
• Channel Specification: 144 [ dB] @ 1kHz
• Dynamic Range: 130 [dB] @ 1kHz
• Output Level(UnBal): 6.8 [V]
• Output Level(Bal): 2 [V]

Lots of measurements in the user manual.

Website: Calyx
Price: $6.000

Certon Integrita music server

• Security: RAID level 5 – intelligent data protection (a hard disk may fail and the data integrity is maintained)
• Capacity: 5 internal hard disks*, 2.5 TB, 5TB or 10TB total /1.5TB, 3TB or 6TB usable / *including 1 hot spare
• Hard drives: SATA-II AV hard drives certified for 24/7 continuous operation
• Fans: None
• File types: Including 192khz/24bit, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, WAV, WMA
• Connectivity: 1 x Gigabit Ethernet, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x eSATA
• Network: TCP/IP
• Management: Integrita Control Centre via web browser
• Media server: iTunes, DLNA
• Size: 425w x 370d x 140h (mm)
• Weight: 11.3kg
• Power supply: Fanless, 84% efficient, filtered against harmonic ripple
• Power requirement: 60W 100-240V; 50/60Hz
• Guarantee: 2 years

Website Certon
Price: £2950

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

Koss Striva

Headphones with build in Wi-Fi receiver.

You must register at MyKoss.com to configure the access points manually.
Using the browser you can connect to free internet radio streams including SHOUTcast.
Headphone can also be used wired.

Tap $500

Striva Pro $450

Website: Koss

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

T+A MP 1260 R - DAC / NETWORK-CLIENT

Streaming Client formats	MP3 , WMA, AAC, OGG-Vorbis, FLAC (192/24 via LAN) and WAV (192/24 via LAN) with gapless playback (where supported by server)
Supported media servers	UPnP AV, Microsoft Windows Player 10, (MS DRM 10), vTuner Internet Radio Service, DLNA compatible servers
Features	Web server (remote PC web browser control), Audio network config., Internet Radio Station database (automatic update via Internet) digital access of iPod contents (D/A conversion in MP 1260 R)
Interfaces	USB 2.0, iPod with control and display, 2 x Digitalentrances (SP/DIF) coax + optical (TOS-Link), 16 ... 24 Bit, 24 ... 96 ks/S, LAN, W-LAN
Audio data
Analogue outputs	Stereo 2,5 Veff / 22 Ohm
Digital outputs	1 x coax IEC 60958 (LPCM)
D/A converter	32 Bit, 352,8/384 kHz Sigma Delta 8-times oversampling
Upsampling	free programmable signal processor with 4 selectable oversampling algorithms. FIR short, FIR long, Bezier/IIR, Bezier
Analogue filters	Phase linear bessel filter with 100 kHz limit frequency
Frequency response	2 Hz - 20 kHz
Total harmonic distortion	< 0.001 %
Signal / noise ratio	112 dB
Channel separation	106 dB

Website: T+A
Price: US$ 4,200

Micromega AS-400

Integrated Class D amp (400 W, both channels / 4Ω)
Beside the conventional inputs (phono, line in) it is WI-Fi enabled (802.11n) using Airstream.
A protocol based on iTunes/AirTunes and limited to 16Bits / 44.1 kHz.

Website: Micromega
Price: $4995

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

Cambridge Azur 851C

DAC/CD player/preamplifier

Inputs:
AES, SPDIF (Toslink & coax), USB

24-bit/96kHz driverless USB input
Supports 24-bit/192kHz USB input using a free Cambridge Audio driver
Unclear if this is asynchronous USB

Twin Analog Devices AD1955 current output DACs used in dual differential mode
Up-sampling (to 24-bit/384kHz) using a 32-bit Black Fin DSP

Output: XLR & RCA

Website: Cambridge Audio
Price: £1200

Trigon Chronolog

Networked CD/DVD player/ripper

Formats:
wav, mp3, flac, cdda, nsv, m4a, aac, strm, pls, rm, mpa, wma, ogg, mp2, m3u, mod, amf, 669, dmf, dsm, far, gdm, imf, it, m15, med, okt, s3m, stm, sfx, ult, uni, xm, sid, ac3, dts, cue, aif, aiff, wpl, ape, mac, mpc, mp+, mpp, shn, zip, rar, wv, nsf, spc, gym, adplug, adx, dsp, adp, ymf, ast, afc, hps, xsp

OS: Linux
Protocol: UPnP
HD: 120GB SDD
Networking: 1GB LAN Ethernet/WLAN-WiFi interface

Graphical user interface using touch-WEB portal
Bit rate and frequency display
Automatic updates via the Internet

Output: RCA/XLR and HDMI/DVI

Website: Trigon
Price: $9,495

The best optical drive

A typical audiophile worry is “Is my rip bit perfect?”
There a couple of things to say about this subject and I do it here.

Another typical question is “What is the best optical drive to rip my CDs”
The answer is often Plextor.
They do have an excellent reputation but years ago they stopped making their own drives.
Today a Plextor is simple a rebadges OEM.

Little is known about the accuracy of optical drives from different brands.
But there is some empirical data.
The AccurateRip database tells you if your rip is accurate or not.
It can be used the other way around too, how many rips are accurate given a certain brand/model.
A list can be found here: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2012