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Meridian Audio Ultra DAC D/A processor
As I mentioned in my review eight years ago of Meridian Audio's 808.2 Signature Reference CD player, I have long been impressed by the British company's componentsin fact, ever since the early 1980s,...
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CanEver Audio ZeroUno D/A processor
It's the sad realization at the heart of every product review: No matter what the writer has to say, the reader may hear thingsor see or feel or taste thingsrather differently. I refer not only to...
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Moon by Simaudio Evolution 780D D/A processor
Simaudio saw disc-based digital audio in its rear-view mirror at least as far back as 2011, when it introduced the Moon Evolution 650D and 750Dtwo iterations of what it called a "digital-to-analog...
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AudioQuest DragonFly Red & Black USB D/A headphone amplifiers
Approximately 331/3 years after AudioQuest's first phono cartridge, the company announced two new USB D/A headphone amplifiers: the DragonFly Black ($99) and the DragonFly Red ($199). Both have...
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Moon by Simaudio Neo 230HAD D/A headphone amplifier
I am a lucky person. Who gets to be an artist, an aspiring griot, and a Stereophile reporter? Who gets to stay at home in paint-smeared pajamas, draw pictures of teapots and barn owls . . . and then,...
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T+A Elektroakustik DAC 8 DSD D/A processor
"They're so damn hard to tell apart!" So exclaimed my longtime pal and fellow audiophile Bruce Rowley when I revealed to him that T+A Elektroakustik's new DAC 8 DSD digital-to-analog converter ($3995)...
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Mytek HiFi Brooklyn D/A processor–headphone amplifier
When I moved to New York City about a year ago, I was prepared to dislike Brooklyn. Judging it by its reputation as the apotheosis of cool, I envisioned the borough full of good-looking people engaged...
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dCS Rossini Player & Rossini Clock
It has been 20 years since I first became aware of the British company Data Conversion Systems, which manufactures audio products under the dCS brand. Rather than use off-the-shelf conversion chips,...
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Bryston BDA-3 D/A processor
In the February 2010 issue of Stereophile, I reviewed Bryston's first standalone digital-to-analog converter, the BDA-1 ($1995). Five years later, Bryston released the BDA-2, which replaced the BDA-1's...
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Schiit Audio Yggdrasil D/A processor
Right now, I swear, Schiit Audio's Mike Moffat and Jason Stoddard are sitting there in California, smugly smirking at me and John Atkinson. While JA was struggling to properly measure Schiit's Ragnarok...
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Auralic Altair D/A processor
Now that we've entered a world of post-disc audio (sorry, AnalogPlanet.com), audiophile streaming and file-playback products have appeared by the hundreds, and many companies are on their second,...
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Meridian Audio Ultra DAC D/A processor
As I mentioned in my review eight years ago of Meridian Audio's 808.2 Signature Reference CD player, I have long been impressed by the British company's componentsin fact, ever since the early 1980s,...
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CanEver Audio ZeroUno D/A processor
It's the sad realization at the heart of every product review: No matter what the writer has to say, the reader may hear thingsor see or feel or taste thingsrather differently. I refer not only to...
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Chord Electronics DAVE D/A processor
Fifteen years? Has it really been 15 years since I reviewed what was then the flagship D/A processor from English company Chord Electronics? In the July 2002 issue, here's how I summed up my review of...
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Arcam irDAC-II D/A processor
For digital playback, in recent months I've been breathing some rarefied air, pricewise. In December 2016, I reviewed dCS's Rossini Player and Clock, followed in May 2017 by Meridian's Ultra DAC, and...
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Music in the Round #85: Nimitra, exaSound, Baetis, Roon
It's been going on for a while now: Despite support for multichannel in audio/video receivers and A/V processors priced from as little as $200 to $30,000, there are still very few offerings that cater...
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Brinkmann Audio Nyquist D/A processor
What? Johnny-come-lately turntable manufacturer Brinkmann Audio now makes a DAC? Are they desperate? What sampling rates does it support162/3, 331/3, 45, and 78? I guess the vinyl resurgence is over!...
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Mytek HiFi Manhattan II D/A preamplifier-headphone amplifier
In equipment reports, I use the phrase forward momentum to refer to something a little deeper and more encompassing than what's meant by that well-worn Brit-fi expression pace, rhythm, and timing...
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Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty D/A processor
Throughout the summer and fall of 2016, I worked on a project with Stereophile contributor Sasha Matson, recording, editing, mixing, and masteringfor release on 180gm LP, CD, and high-resolution...
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Benchmark DAC3 HGC D/A preamplifier-headphone amplifier
Much has been written about the divide in high-end audio between subjectivists, who trust their ears, and objectivists, who believe that anything not scientifically proven is fake news. I respect both...
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