XR+DAC

XR+DAC. 24bit/192KHz High End USB DAC. 

I've been a happy user of my good old 16bit/48KHz USB DAC for years. It holds its own against more expensive hyped 32bit/768KHz etc DACs, simply because I cannot hear a difference between high resolution material and red book (16bit/44KHz). This does not mean that there could not be any audible differences between high res and red book - high res music can actually sound worse, or appear to sound better if, for example, it's produced from a different, better master, or if intermodulation distortion injects some artifacts into audible spectrum that can actually sound pleasant to some ears. If you are looking for "musicality" or "warmth" or any type of coloration or alteration in music that was not in the original recording, this DAC might not be for you. If you would like to know more about this topic, see this excellent article:

Idea behind this DAC is to reproduce 16bit/44KHz material impeccably and leave in the dust those who waste their efforts in pursuing ridiculous bit depths and ultrasonic frequencies. Not persuaded? No problem! You still have an option to run 24bit/192KHz material through optical link.

A friend of mine tested recently this DAC against his 2399$ high end DAC from Norway - he could not hear any difference whatsoever. He is the sort of guy that can easily hear the difference between DACs and RCA interconnects in his system.

The latest, upgraded reincarnation of this DAC is as good as it gets: equipped with low jitter MicroChip external MEMS clock with +-10PPM, Texas Instruments 16bit/44KHz audio USB interface PCM2707C and PCM1794A, 24bit/192KHz Advanced Segment DAC. It's simply powered from mini USB port, filtered and regulated with 10(!) Ti LDO voltage regulators on every IC power pin. If SPDIF is used, an additional USB power source is needed. You can use any phone USB charger, or bring it to the even higher levels of musical nirvana with an external battery, with no connection to mains whatsoever. A 10000mAh power bank can run it for days, as it draws only 100mA of current.

Analog output is taken care of by state of the art Ti SoundPlus OPA1656 ultra low noise and distortion op amp. XR+DAC incorporates latest NanoTrace and CurveSelect technologies without any serial capacitors whatsoever on the analog signal path; PCB traces are manually routed,  lengths minimized and shapes refined towards absolute symmetry between channels in order to achieve unmatched imaging and transparency.

XR+DAC just runs without additional drivers on Macs and even on older Windows versions - a true, fast and simple plug and play device. XR+DAC is built by hand (and love!) in Belgium with premium parts, housed in compact, full aluminum box. There is never going to be a mass production of this device!

DACs are built by hand on order, please allow few days to complete and test them.

Tech specs:

DAC total distortion measurement at 1KHz through SPDIF, powered by 10000mAh power bank. It's way down below the limits of my Scarlet 2i2 sound card as shown on the left, with THD <0.0006%.

Emails from some of the customers:

"More time this afternoon with your DAC. It is impressive. It really is. I was able to grab an extra Interconnect and A/B it properly with my Topping D90. It was VERY hard to separate them and your DAC felt to me more musical in quite a few cases. Only downside was when I was not playing PCM but DSD converted to PCM by Roon. There your DAC suffered a bit. I will continue A/Bing them with different types of music... And I am convinced for sure for the DAC. Am taking it. I was doubting mainly because I would have loved to see a separate usb interface with 24/192 from the power input. But as it is the DAC sounds better than my 700 euro Topping D90. " 

"DAC+XR made the difference I have been looking for. Music is lifelike and natural. I won't go into audiophile terms of describing the sound. I will just say that the band or orchestra feels like it is in my room more than ever before. During this past weekend, I played Helge Lien Trio, Esbjorn Svensson Trio, Miles Davis, Jonh Coltrane, Julee Cruise, Tchaikovsky, all sounding excellent, a pure pleasure. Made me move, made me smile. This small DAC is a big achievement! I did forget to say how beautiful it is and the copper label is a great touch."

"Je viens de tester votre DAC. Au début j’ai eu un peu peur car il sonnait un peu « maigre ». La bonne surprise est venu quelques minutes plus tard, le temps sans doute que l’électronique chauffe. Le fait est qu’il peut se comparer sans honte à mon Schiit Yggdrasil, qui, sans être ce qui se fait de « mieux », se compare régulièrement avec des DACs encore plus chers. Les différences sont légères et importantes à la fois car cela les distingue parfaitement. En gros, votre DAC est plus précis dans le haut du spectre, avec plus de « viande sur l’os », sans être plus agressif ou ajouter des artéfacts, il me semble. Là où mon Yggdrasil est plus agréable à mes oreilles c’est dans l’extrême grave, aussi parce que je suis habitué à sa couleur sonore… Votre DAC pourrait très bien être qualifié de neutre par rapport à mon produit"

"Voilà Neb, j’ai terminé mes écoutes, votre DAC gagne sur presque toute la ligne, sauf sur le prix, mon cher Yggdrasil ! J’ai toujours attribué ce grossissement du grave à mes Magnepan, et bien non, c’est le DAC, le vôtre est plus linéaire, tout simplement comme il se doit… Félicitation, je suis très exigeant, vous le savez déjà et je n’ai pas le compliment facile."

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