We're halfway through 2026, which means a lot of products have passed through TechRadar's testing rooms — in total, we've reviewed a colossal 639 products in January to June 2026.

That includes a load of fantastic audio tech — including new options good enough to challenge the best wireless speakers, the best turntables, the best DACs to get more from streaming music on your PC or phone, and the best stereo speakers.

Our expert reviewers have tested a lot of stuff, and some products have proven to be the cream that rises to the top. Here are the products in these areas that scored either 5 stars or 4.5 stars in our reviews, making them best-in-class or highly recommended.

Wireless & stereo speakers

Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i

• Score: 5 / 5
• Price: $499 / £249 / AU$699 (pair)

What is it? The latest bookshelf stereo speakers in Wharfedale's famous 'Diamond' line, which is over 40 years old and clearly still going strong. They're two-way speakers with a 25mm tweeter, a 130mm mid/bass driver, and deliverying a frequency range of 65Hz - 20kHz. And they're easy to drive, and flexible on positioning — a great beginner hi-fi model.

What we said: "The Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i speakers turn out to be (yet another) high-achieving-yet-affordable loudspeaker option. They sound excellent, they're very unfussy about what drives them, they look and feel good, and they're extremely well priced. They're a little large for a pair of ostensibly 'bookshelf' speakers, so be warned if you're actually looking to put them on shelves, but that's easily forgiven."

Read our full Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i review

Cambridge L/R S

What is it? Small and stylish active stereo speakers with wireless connectivity as well as wired digital and analogue connections. There's 100 watts of Class D amplification powering a 21mm tweeter and 76mm mid/bass driver combo, and the connection stretch to USB-C, line-level stereo RCA, digital optical input, a pre-out for a subwoofer, and Bluetooth (with aptX HD codec compatibility).

What we said: "The Cambridge L/R S is a good-looking, well-built wireless active stereo speaker system that has the bold sound smarts to back up the fine, multi-option visuals. Sure, it's a little too confident at the bottom of the frequency range, with too much weight given to bass information, but for the money it's a genuine contender in an already-stacked market. Requires serious consideration."

Read our full Cambridge L/R S review

Sonos Play

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $299 / £299 / AU$499

What is it? Sonos' mid-size portable speaker, with enough power and quality to work as a home speaker, but a battery and charging cradle so you can take it away instantly. With audio input as an option over its USB-C port (via an adapter) it's incredible versatile — it's also tough and waterproof.

What we said: "The Sonos Play is a triumph of usability. It has just the right design and convenience considerations to make you pick it up and use it more often than other speakers, even great portable ones. To paraphrase a notable camera quote: the best speaker is the one you choose to listen on. The Sonos Play encourages me to listen more, in more places. It doesn't hurt that it sounds better than most portable speakers, too, and can hold its own as a home speaker."

Read our full Sonos Play review

Fluance Ri91

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $799 (about £640 / AU$1,270)

What is it? Big floorstanding active speakers with the power of a full hi-fi system, but no need for a separate amp or inputs. There's 150 watts of power behind two 6.5-inch mid/bass drivers and an AMT tweeter per speaker, and connections include HDMI, two RCA inputs, a subwoofer out, and Bluetooth (including aptX HD).

What we said: "The Fluance Ri91 sound great when turned up, though they can be a bit mid-focused, especially for those looking for neutral-sounding speakers. The included HDMI ARC input (quality control issues notwithstanding) are appreciated, as is the ability to stream higher-res audio over Bluetooth aptX."

Read our full Fluance Ri91 review

Denon Home 400

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $599 / £449 (around AU$999)

What is it? A relatively hefty and powerful wireless speaker (think of it as a fair bit bigger than a toaster), that uses six-drivers to deliver expansive Dolby Atmos spatial sound. There are left and right drivers, upfiring drive units, and two 4.5-inch woofers, all with their own Class D amplification. It uses the Denon HEOS wireless system and app, which is powerful and well-specced too.

What we said: "It's a home speaker that delivers where it counts, and is probably the most compelling single-unit spatial audio offering at this price, where it goes head-to-head with some serious competition. It offers confident, engaging and immersive spatial audio performance, a thoughtful and stylish design, and a great range of connectivity options, along with an excellent HEOS app. It sounds wonderful in its default Auto mode or the slightly more balanced Pure mode, but it really rewards those of us who tinker a bit, especially if you mess around with some of the customization options for the width and height of spatial sound."

Read our full Denon Home 400 review

Klipsch The Nines II

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $2,399 / £2,249 / AU$4,999

What is it? A pair of active standmount stereo speakers (their size and weight maybe pushes them beyond being 'bookshelf' speakers, really) that deliver tons of power connectivity with any extra components needed. They can be a soundbar replacement with HDMI and Dolby Atmos/DTS:X support, plus they have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for music, as well as optical, phono, USB, coaxial, and ethernet.

What we said: "The Klipsch The Nines II are an easy recommendation despite the weight and despite the price bump over the previous version. It's thanks to the immersive, robust sound and large set of features, not to mention broad connectivity — they're an excellent all-in-one hi-fi upgrade."

Read our full Klipsch The Nines II review

Sonos Era 100 SL

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $189 / £169 / AU$289

What is it? A cheaper version of Sonos' entry-level home speaker, delivering all the same connectivity as the regular Era 100 (including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, plus line-in over its USB-C port using an adapter) and the same sound quality, but for cheaper. You lose voice control and Quick Trueplay on Android as a result, but it's hard to argue with the price.

What we said: "What Sonos has achieved with the Era 100 SL is impressive. It has managed to pack in the same quality sound, great connectivity and iconic design, while dropping the price to a more affordable level. But there are absolutely some compromises — voice control is absent here, while Android users will miss out Sonos' room correction. Despite this though, it's one of the strongest performers in its price range, making it an easy choice if you never invested in the original Era 100."

Read our full Sonos Era 100 SL review

Turntables

Sony PS-LX5BT 

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $499 / £399 / AU$599

What is it? Sony's successor to its previous and wildly popular affordable Bluetooth turntable, bringing fully automatic operation and Bluetooth connectivity in a sleek design. The ultimate beginner turntable? Well, there's a cheaper version that might be more tempting, but for the price, it's hard to argue with.

What we said: "The Sony PS-LX5BT picks up where the PS-LX310BT it replaces left off — as one of the best pound-for-pound Bluetooth turntables around. If you want the most painless vinyl experience possible, you’ve come to the right place."

Read our full Sony PS-LX5BT review

Goldring GR3

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $1,299 / £699 (around AU$1,599)

What is it? Goldring is one of the oldest hi-fi companies in the world, and hasn't made a turntable in several decades — and now it's back with a very well-specified and great-looking new model. A built-in phono stage and high-quality provided cartridge make it great for relative novices, though it's odd that you can't bypass that phono.

What we said: "Goldring has managed to enter a tricky area of the turntable market with a player that is distinct enough (where finish, specification and sound quality are concerned) to stand out and make quite a compelling case for itself."

Read our full Goldring GR3 review

Headphone DACs

Fiio KA15

• Score: 5 / 5
• Price: $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$189.99

What is it? This tiny DAC blends the retro with the modern. It does a better job of converting hi-res audio to analog than your device's built-in DAC will, and has a fun little cassette animation while it plays.

What we said: "If you have big audio ambitions and a very small budget, the KA15 is excellent value for money. It's a significant upgrade in sound quality for smartphones and computers, and while it's not as powerful as a desktop headphone amp it has more than enough oomph for a wide range of headphones and IEMs so it's fairly future-proof."

Read our full Fiio KA15 review

Eversolo DAC-Z10

• Score: 5 / 5
• Price: $1,980 / £1,939 / AU$3,339

What is it? A super-versatile addition to a hi-fi setup, providing a high-end DAC system, a pre-amp, and a powerful headphone amp all in one unit. It's pricey, but it's incredibly well-specified, making it kind of a bargain — at least as far as premium hi-fi goes.

What we said: "The Eversolo DAC-Z10 won’t fail to satisfy, provided your partnering equipment is up to scratch. It’s a premium DAC for a premium system, and offers all the bells and whistles you could hope for as a result, as well as immaculate sound quality that specializes in finding every possible grain of detail in your music. It's simply as capable a DAC/preamp/headphone amp as this sort of money can buy."

Read our full Eversolo DAC-Z10 review

iFi GO Link 2

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Price: $59 / £59 (around AU$111)

What is it? A no-fuss, super-small headphone DAC to make it easy to use wired headphones and earbuds with your phone or laptop, and with an audio upgrade along the way. Oh, and it's super-cheap as a bonus.

What we said: "The iFi Go Link 2 takes everything that's great about the original and packs it into a dinky DAC that's even smaller and lighter than before. It's a fantastic audio upgrade and it's priced very keenly, too."

Read our full iFi Go Link 2 review

Not that long ago, I stumbled across my old AudioQuest DragonFly Red USB DAC when rearranging a work cupboard. Its paintwork might have seen better days, but its simple form factor took me back to a really exciting time in hi-fi — when more people were starting to care what their music sounded like again, and making better sound more portable was an important part of that.

The DragonFly line was really quite revolutionary among the best DACs of the time for that reason, and was an education piece as much as anything else. For so long, most people had accepted that the sound from their laptops and portable devices just was whatever it was — but the DragonFly, with its unintimidating, recognizable form factor, helped demonstrate the impact of dedicated audio electronics to a wider audience.

Plus it was just so convenient. I would wager I had one DragonFly model or another plugged into my laptop for most of the years between 2012 and 2018.

Its last model, the DragonFly Cobalt, was released in 2019, but it was eventually discontinued last year due to a rise in costs due to unpredictable US tariffs. Now, with a rethink on materials and supply chains, it’s back with a new version — and AudioQuest is promising the new DragonFly Copper is its most powerful and efficient DAC yet.

That’s because the new 32-bit ESS Sabre ES9218 DAC its outfitted with claims twice the output power of any DragonFly before it, but with a smaller processor that has helped reduce power consumption by a quarter. The new copper case, which AudioQuest says has been “informed and inspired” by the RF-draining barrels of its premium Mythical Creatures cabling, also adds to its improved performance, helping to minimize noise.

It also looks pretty nice, which is a bonus, and it still has the little light-up dragonfly to let you know the sample rate you’re listening to, from green at 44.1kHz, blue at 48kHz, yellow at 88.2kHz and light blue for 96kHz.

Long-time DragonFly designer Gordon Rankin is behind the tuning of this generation too, and AudioQuest says he has optimized it in a way that reduces distortion to a level “significantly below” that of previous models.

The one thing that AudioQuest hasn’t updated, though, is the need for the DragonTail USB-C converter, because the DragonFly itself is still rocking an older style USB-A connector.

While this was super-convenient for my laptop in 2015, my laptop is all USB-C now (along with my phone, and most of the rest of my life), and so some of that once-effortless form factor feels lost in 2026 (particularly because my personal chance of misplacing this necessary dongle is almost devastatingly high).

AudioQuest isn’t alone here — several USB DACs on the market rely on a similarly clunky addition — but there are tons of USB-C options, and it feels like an obvious problem for the DragonFly to solve.

I asked whether it had been considered, and while I wasn’t given a firm answer, it was suggested that the smaller connector wouldn’t be great for stability and longevity, but also that maintaining USB-A also gives it greater flexibility to use with as many devices as possible.

As for how it sounds, from a first listen, it’s as promising as ever. Although I wasn’t able to do any A/B testing due to the demo using an iPad with no 3.5mm jack, listening with a pair of Austrian Audio’s The Arranger through the DragonFly Copper sounds incredibly clean and precise.

Now, these $1,100 / £900 / AU$1,759 open-back headphones are undoubtedly not-to-shabby on their own, but even if we credit them with a good chunk of the space and airiness I hear on a listen of Come Away With Me by Norah Jones, I’m certain that the amount of clarity and insight is very much aided by the DragonFly.

Jones’ breathy voice is sweet and full of texture, as are the instruments — the DragonFly’s fine detail retrieval able to fully enunciate the leading edges of notes all the way through to their decay in a way that I’m confident you just wouldn’t hear without it.

Of course, the DragonFly Copper re-enters a market that is very different today, with more wireless headphones and much more competition in the affordable USB DAC market too. But talking to people in the hi-fi world, there’s a clear excitement for the DragonFly’s return, and I think that extends to more than just nostalgia.

I’m certainly excited to spend more time with it when it goes on sale in September for $250 / £230 (about AU$430 but there’s no confirmed Australian price as yet).

At this year’s High End Vienna show, iFi unveiled its latest and greatest portable DAC, the iFi iDSD GR 2 — and I was there to see the big reveal.

This portable and decidedly hip flask-shaped DAC / amp is endeavouring to build on the extremely strong foundations laid by its predecessor, the iFi xDSD Gryphon, which we rated five stars under intense review. This model delivers even more amplification power, and aims for even more detailed audio alongside a more intuitive interface — pretty promising stuff right?

Not only did I see the product at its unveiling event, but I’ve also tried it out for myself. I got to listen to a few tracks with the GR 2, play around with its new interface and also hear from the iFi team about some all-new features. It’s safe to say we’re feeling pretty positive about the GR 2 so far, having given it one of our Best In Show awards at High End Vienna, so here’s everything you need to know about iFi’s latest creation.

iFi crams in even more tech

Although the GR 2 may look similar to its predecessor on the outside, it has plenty of big improvements on the inside — so to begin with, let’s run through some of the main ones.

iFi told me that this model delivers around 50% more output power than its predecessor (up to 1,513mW RMS), but at the same time, supplies greater dynamic range and less distortion. This is largely enabled by the DAC’s new current-output Burr Brown PCM1795 chipset, which can also serve up “true” 32-bit resolution audio.

iFi was also keen to highlight how this new chipset retains the “warm, analog house sound” it is known for. The team were also keen to impress on us that because the GR 2 is a current-output DAC, (its circuitry outputs an electrical current proportional to the digital input value, rather than a voltage) the company had “freedom to engineer a bespoke analog output stage.”

One major difference is that the GR 2 features a color OLED touchscreen, adding a new level of intuitiveness that we felt was missing from the original Gryphon (which had a functional but un-colorful black and white display). This OLED screen enables you to swiftly cycle between core settings and different connectivity methods, making the user experience incredibly slick.

But despite adding this touchscreen, battery life has been significantly boosted. Nath Chinn, Product Marketing & Technical Enablement Consultant at iFi, told me that the new model has a capacity of 4,900mAh, which is about a third more than the original Gryphon.

Perhaps the best feature that’s been added to the GR 2 from an iFi fan's perspective is K2HD tech (also found in the much pricier and really quite huge iDSD Phantom desktop DAC) which Chinn emphasised is still exclusively licensed by JVC Kenwood to iFi products. K2HD is intended to restore harmonic detail, and bring a track closer to its intended sound. Chinn revealed a bit about the licensing process to me, stating that “we had to basically spend 18 months doing a dance, sending them [JVC] products, and then evaluating them in their master recording studios with engineers to see whether we’re worthy enough. It’s a labor of love, but we’re honored to have that privilege”.

Chinn described the GR 2 as a “Swiss army knife” and the inclusion of K2HD only boosts the product's versatility. Speaking of which, there are a number of connectivity methods on board to suit just about any situation. There’s Bluetooth 5.4, with aptX codecs including Lossless and Adaptive as well as Sony’s LDAC. But there’s also a 4.4mm and 3.5mm input and output, a USB-C port, and more.

But just how good is the GR 2 in use? Well, I headed on over to iFi’s demo space, which was equipped with the new DAC/amp, a music streamer, and a pair of the Sennheiser HD 820. I tuned into Grace by Jeff Buckley in 24-bit/192kHz, and it sounded spectacular. This combination served up a phenomenally balanced presentation, with intricately textured vocals and expertly separated instruments.

I also found the GR 2 incredibly easy to use. It was so simple to activate settings like K2HD, cycle between USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity modes, and make any subtle adjustments I needed. This combination of high-end specs and seamless usability really does make it feel like an excellent mobile/desktop solution for hi-res audio fans.

All of this is even more impressive when you consider that the GR 2 has a lower launch price than its predecessor. It comes in at $529 / £529 / AU$849, which is by no means cheap, but pretty competitive given the device's specifications. Is it worth the cost? You’ll have to wait for our full review to find out…

Khadas Tea Pro review: two minute review

The Khadas Tea Pro headphone amplifier is a slim and lightweight external DAC/amp that works across most devices — iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and Linux — and is particularly good for smartphones with MagSafe or magnetic cases.

The Tea Pro connects via USB-C and delivers both 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm stereo outputs, with support for up to 768kHz PCM and DSD512 audio. It also has Bluetooth 5.4 input with aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and LDAC as well as the obligatory SBC and AAC. The integrated battery promises up to 8 hours of CD quality listening over USB-C and 11 hours using AAC on Bluetooth.

Although there's Bluetooth on board at up to 96kHz PCM, for best results you want to use this device as a wired DAC/amp. The Bluetooth performance isn't bad by any means, but the Tea Pro delivers higher resolution audio via USB-C.

FiiO TT13 review: price and release date

• Released August 2025
• Priced $199 / £199 (about AU$375)

The Khadas Tea Pro was launched in August 2025 with a recommended price tag of $199 / £199 (about AU$375) and is available with a choice of two cables: USB-C to USB-C, or Lightning to USB-C for older iPhones and iPads. Although it's twice the price of the original and well-received Tea it's a very significant upgrade with significantly higher sound quality, better Bluetooth, an integrated display and more headphone options.

Khadas Tea Pro review: features

• MagSafe attachment
• Bluetooth or USB-C
• Excellent hi-res support

Although it's compatible with almost anything with a USB port, the Tea Pro is clearly intended for MagSafe iPhones (iPhone 12 onwards) or phones in magnetic cases. That enables it to clip securely to the back of your phone, and it's a strong connection both directly and through a compatible phone case.

There are two headphone jacks here: a 4.4mm balanced output delivering up to 180mW at 16.5 Ω, and a 3.5mm jack putting out up to 100mW at 16.5 Ω. There's also a built-in microphone for voice calling. If you have headphones with their own mic connected to the 3.5mm jack, the headphone mic will take precedence over the Tea Pro's mic.

The ESS ES9039Q2M DAC supports sample rates of up to 768kHz PCM and DSD512, with a signal to noise ratio of up to 122dB. A Qualcomm QCC5181 takes care of the wireless features, with support for SBC / AAC / aptX / aptX Adaptive / aptX HD / LDAC over Bluetooth 5.4.

There are seven EQ presets for different musical genres, and you can also set your own EQ via the 10-band custom EQ. That delivers adjustable gain from -12dB to +12dB.

The internal battery is 2,100mAh and promises up to 11 hours of listening depending on the audio format you're using: 11 hours with AAC over Bluetooth and 8 hours of CD audio over USB-C. The Tea Pro can also recharge from your phone when its battery is low if you enable Device Charging in its settings menu.

Features score: 5 / 5

Khadas Tea Pro review: sound quality

• Good on Bluetooth, better on USB
• Wide soundstage and good clarity
• EQ presets best ignored

The Tea Pro delivers a neutral sound, and with high gain on it delivered an impressively propulsive performance on my open-back BeyerDynamics; I'd have liked to drive them a little louder but there's more than enough power for sensible listening levels. Bass is generally clear and well defined and highs are airy without being harsh, and things only started to get uncomfortable when both iPhone and Tea Pro were at their highest volume levels on very bright or bassy tracks.

As fun as the Tea Pro is over Bluetooth, it's better still with a USB-C connection. It's louder, more defined and more spacious, with the likes of Robyn's Dopamine delivering more punch than over wireless. There's a nice wide soundstage, with tracks like U2's remastered Zoo Station sounding suitably widescreen and Talk Talk's New Grass delivering impressive airiness.

The Tea Pro is very good for a portable DAC/amp, although I did notice a difference on tracks such as Little Simz and Obongjayar's Point and Kill that showed up the relative lack of headroom compared to a desktop device: on my desktop DAC/amp the serpentine bass is noticeably clearer and more distinct, the whole track feeling much more airy, whereas on the Tea Pro the low end was less defined and the track a little boxy. I found that the on-board EQ presets made that more apparent, dulling the sound. I much preferred leaving the EQ off altogether on my better headphones, although I did need to cut the highs for IEM listening to reduce the harshness they're prone to.

Sound quality: 4 / 5

Khadas Tea Pro review: design

• Very Apple-like appearance
• Tiny screen in a big bit of glass
• A little fiddly when magnetically mounted

The Tea Pro is a good-looking thing. It looks decidedly Apple-esque, with a very slim 7.85mm machined aluminium casing, curved edges and two large black glass sections: the status display area, which looks big but contains a fairly small 0.95-inch AMOLED screen, and a smaller lozenge displaying the Tea logo. That lower lozenge is functional as well as decorative, as it ensures your phone won't wobble when you put it on a desktop or other flat surface.

Buttons are kept to a minimum. On the left there's a power button and a menu/confirm button, and on the right there are volume up and down controls. The slim size of the Tea Pro makes them a little fiddly to access when the device is attached to your phone, but not impossibly so. That's not an issue if you're connecting with the supplied 10cm USB-C cable.

Inevitably adding a magnetic item to your phone adds weight, but the Tea Pro isn't too bad: at 96g it's lighter than Apple's own similarly sized MagSafe power bank.

Design score: 4 / 5

Khadas Tea Pro review: ease of use and setup

• Simple pairing/connection
• Simple menu system
• Tiny text in display

Pairing over Bluetooth is effortless and the menu system is simple: it gives you access to filters, EQ, high and low gain options, device settings, headphone options and so on. The text is exceptionally small, however, so it's handy that you can also access settings via the companion iOS/Android app.

Usability and setup score: 4 / 5

Khadas Tea Pro review: value

• Nice sound and premium appearance
• Pricey for a portable DAC
• Some rivals are more powerful and a lot less expensive

It's clear that some of the price tag here is for that aluminum body and extensive use of glass: rival headphone DAC/amps cost a lot less but look and feel a lot less special. If you're happy to pay a premium for solid build and stylish looks then this is a good choice with excellent iPhone attachment and good compatibility with other devices too.

Value score: 3 / 5

Should I buy the Khadas Tea Pro?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Khadas Tea Pro review: Also consider

The cassette-themed FiiO KA15 is cute, fun, sounds good and comes in at half the price of the Tea Pro, delivering both 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm outputs with a desktop mode that puts out much higher power than the Tea Pro can deliver. The iFi Go Link 2 is cheaper still and particularly good if all you want to do is add wired headphones to a USB-C device such as a phone or tablet.

How I tested the Khadas Tea Pro

• Wired open and closed back headphones and IEMs
• Lossy streaming, lossless FLAC and Logic Pro projects

I spent a week listening to the Tea Pro via my usual headphones: BeyerDynamic DT990 Pro open-back and DT770 closed-back headphones at home and work, and SoundMagic E11C IEMs outdoors and on public transport. I listened to lossy and lossless streaming and uncompressed FLACs on my iPhone 16 Pro.

• First reviewed: May 2026
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

The 2026 High End audio show is in full swing in Vienna. The show is a key fixture of the hi-fi enthusiast's calendar, and was previously held in Munich — this year, it made the big move over to the Austria Center on the banks of the Danube, and TechRadar followed it.

We've had our audio team on the ground, rapidly learning how not to get lost in the new layout and exploring the mix of returning companies and new players who've jumped on board as part of the change.

We explored as many listening rooms and headphones booths as we could, to identify our favorite products in the audio areas we cover here on TechRadar, so naturally we've got a mix of speakers, streamers, a soundbar-that's-not-a-soundbar, and headphones, rather than hi-fi cables and pre-amps.

So here, in alphabetical order, are the products our team picked as the products that really stood out to us at the end of the show days, all chosen based on listening to their performance.

Astell & Kern SP4000T and Clarus

Let's start with a double winner — we got to test these together, and while each seems phenomenal, the combination was the most impressive part. The SP4000T DAP is an upgraded version of the already fantastic A&K SP4000 player, now packing four vacuum tubes for a taste of the analog.

The Clarus are wired earbuds with nine drivers per bud, using a bunch of different technologies, each targeting different frequencies.

The combination of the two really leans into the 'clarity' suggestion in the Clarus' name — we were instantly taken by the pin-sharp attack in their dynamic range, and the fine detail that they were able to bring out of the music, all while giving every listener a huge sense of scale that feels well beyond something handheld or that fits right in your ear conch.

Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5

Bowers & Wilkins is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so what better time to release its new flagship 801 D5 loudspeaker? This model features B&W's famous Diamond Dome tweeter and an upgrade to its internal Matrix bracing, including a new Space Frame Bracing extension.

The aim is to deliver even more incredibly natural, generous, and immersive sound. During our demo with the 801 D5, we were blown away by life-like vocals, brilliantly regimented deep bass, and super-defined treble, as well as its sophisticated soundstage and spacious presentation.

Cabasse Pearl Pelegrina Édition Atelier

The High End show is always full of bonkers speaker designs, and Cabasse's spherical Pearl design is old news to hi-fi fans — but we can't help but be taken by the Pelegrina version's 'alien eyeball squid has come to Earth to negotiate a new intergalactic peace' design — and what's new this year is the Atelier system, meaning that you can have any finish you want on them, to make them fit your spaceship listening room perfectly.

But what's most important is the astoundingly powerful sound from a speaker cabinet that's actually amazingly compact. The front driver is a tri-coaxial system, meaning it's actually three drivers nested inside each other, and there's a hefty custom-design woofer on the rear capable of especially high excursion.

The end result is a set of speakers that look like an art installation, but can party like a warehouse rave. They can thump the low-end with the best of them, while delivering super-rich and detailed sound that wraps across the room despite their compact 'pupils'. And they're active speakers, so you can put them wherever you want in your home and just start playing.

Cambridge Evo 300

This is the artist formerly known as Cambridge Audio's new, more powerful compact streaming amp — if you've got a really beefy speaker. Still, if you don't want to dedicate too much space to components, then the 300W per channel you can get from the Evo 300 might be exactly what you want.

That's paired with Cambridge's excellent, super-comprehensive streaming platform and digital skills, so you've got easy access to Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Roon, and Deezer, with various casting options from your phone and aptX Bluetooth if you prefer. There are two sets of speaker outputs, plus a sub out; for input, you've got XLR, HDMI eARC, and analog options including an MM phono input.

It's just the ultimate all-in-one modern amp if you've got big speaker ambitions — and here in 2026, why shouldn't you?

Canvas Hi-Fi Canvas L

This is basically a pair of floor-standing speakers disguised as a soundbar for Halloween. You've got a stereo setup where each side has a tweeter, a midrange driver, and an 8-inch bass woofer with a matching 8-inch passive radiator. There's 1500W of amplification behind that, as well a necessarily well-braced cabinet — all of which are designed to attached to the rear of your TV using a mounting bracket, with the speakers sitting underneath the screen.

And it's in this list because it sounds like two excellent floorstanding speakers. It delivers unbelievably deep and resonant bass for a floating speaker bar, with the low end dispersed well throughout the room. There's phenomenal texture and realism to vocals, and it's all brilliantly musical and full of excellent rhythmic energy. It's delicate when it needs to be, but our overarching takeaway from listening to music is just how firm and 3D every instrument feels.

We didn't get to try it with music, but this is the first time we've heard something claim to be an audiophile soundbar and responded, "Yep, that's fair". It was electric, musical, and kind of addictive.

iFi iDSD GR 2

The iFi iDSD GR2 portable DAC is a considerable upgrade on its beloved predecessor, the venerable xDSD Gryphon, in a number of ways. It delivers far more amplification power, longer battery life, and even a touchscreen for a more user-friendly experience.

After trying it out at the show, we loved how it more seamlessly helps you to bring the very best out of a pair of premium headphones, and with K2HD tech for enhanced harmonics alongside a whole load of connectivity options, the GR2 has just about everything an audiophile needs, whether listening at home or on the go.

Meze Audio Arta

These new planar magnetic headphones come from a brand known for bringing high-end sound to a very reasonable price — but this time, Meze Audio just went all out, price be damned.

The result is one of the biggest and most cohesive soundstages we've ever heard from a pair of headphones. From the tinkliest treble with heavy sub-bass, these headphones deliver it all with total control and clarity, all at the same time if they have to. It's that cohesion that stands out, partly because it means individual parts don't stand out — everything sounds simply 'correct' in a way that deeply satisfies the brain. They deliver total audio order — a perfect, seamless whole.

Noble FoKus Artemis

These are wireless active noise-canceling headphones, from a company that most people will probably know best for putting improbably powerful driver arrays into earbuds. Well, it's now put an improbably powerful driver array into over-ears, including a dynamic driver, a planar driver, and a balanced armature — and somehow, the end result is pretty lightweight and comfortable, with a 50-hour battery life.

The end result is probably the most revealing noise-canceling headphones we've ever tried. They're utterly impeccable at picking out every nuance of instruments, even in the most dense mix, and even with the ANC mode activated (which is pretty good too).

There's a huge dynamic range, and really steep level of attack to them: every drum is hard, and every plosive is picked up with precision in a voice. The sound is maybe a little cooler than most people will be used to from ANC headphones, but that will be exactly their strength — they create the silence, and then fill it with tiny details you'd never heard before.

Ruark R710

The Ruark R710 streaming amplifier blends a beautiful retro-style look with an expansive suite of modern features — as well as some not-so-modern ones that we very much welcome. It builds on Ruark's previous R610 in a number of ways, packing in more power for the speakers, along with an integrated CD player, which has apparently been included by popular demand (and is hidden in the handsome wooden front grille, making it a fun secret touch).

When listening to the streamer alongside Ruark's new Talisman R speakers, we were impressed by the warmth and tonality of vocals, the high caliber of instrument separation in the mix, and the striking power of the overall presentation from a compact box.

Yamaha NX-70A

Yamaha's new active speakers have a very sleek and stylish look, but generally seem quite unflashy and demure — though in our demo at the show, they seemed like something of a wireless wonder.

They offer a lively, precise sound with really well-honed handling of transients, which helps them to build an excellent stereo spatial presentation. The diffusion of ambient sounds into the room while holding the tension on the sharper central sounds makes them a really exciting listen. There's so much detail, creating a really physical sense of texture to something like the hum of a saxophone reed. Add the pleasingly weighted bass response, and you get a set of active speakers that really grab your attention, in the best way.

iFi GO Link 2 review: two minute review

The iFi GO Link 2 is designed to do one thing, and it does it very well: it upgrades your laptop or smartphone's audio output to deliver impressive hi-res audio with no fuss and no unnecessary features.

It's a very good way to add wired headphone support to devices that have long since dropped the headphone jack, although if you want to connect 4.4mm headphones you'll need to look at one of iFi's larger DACs: the tiny GO Link 2 has just enough space for one 3.5mm headphone output.

This model delivers lower harmonic distortion and a wider dynamic range, and it does so in a device that's even smaller than the already tiny original. With an unchanged price tag the second-generation GO Link is one of the most affordable ways to improve your audio experience, especially for music on the move.

iFi GO Link 2 review: price and release date

• Released February 2026
• $59 / £59 (about AU$111)

The GO Link 2 was announced in February 2026 with a recommended retail prices of $59 / £59 (about AU$111). That's the same price as the original model and slightly less than the larger GO Link Max, which has a balanced 4.4mm output as well as the standard 3.5mm socket.

Pricing is competitive with the likes of the FiiO KA11 and KA1 headphone DAC/amps.

iFi GO Link 2 review: features

• ESS SABRE DAC with up to 6dB extra range
• Low noise floor and low distortion
• S-Balanced 3.5mm output

The GO Link 2 is based on the same ESS SABRE DAC as before, but this time around it comes with what iFi calls Dynamic Range Enhancement, which adds up to 6dB between the loudest and quietest moments. It also features lower harmonic distortion — up to 62% lower than the first-gen model, iFi says.

Although there's only a 3.5mm output, the GO Link 2 features iFi's S-Balanced system which iFi claims significantly reduces crosstalk between channels by "applying balanced circuitry principles to a single-ended headphone output".

This is the first GO Link model that's fully compatible with iFi's Nexis app, which you can use to customize the filters and apply firmware updates — but only on Android so far. As an iPhone/iPad user I wasn't able to take advantage of those features, as the iPhone app wouldn't communicate with the DAC. Hopefully an update is incoming.

Features score: 4 / 5

iFi GO Link 2 review: sound quality

• Impressively loud with great bass
• Excellent clarity and positioning
• Best suited to lower impedance headphones

The GO Link 2 will make you smile. It delivers excellent clarity, a spacious soundstage and a really inviting audio experience, especially on nice headphones. It's pretty great on budget ones, too.

I already have an iFi desktop DAC/amp, and I was pleased by how close this comparatively microscopic model sounded to its much more expensive sibling at sensible listening levels. It's particularly impressive at the low end, which it handles with power and precision, and if you're upgrading your phone or laptop you'll be really pleased that you did.

One of my favourite songs for testing audio is the live version of Peter Gabriel's Digging in the Dirt. It's beautifully performed and recorded, but there's a lot going on from the very low end to the very high, with a subterranean percussive bass, all kinds of instruments, and powerful vocals from Gabriel and Paula Cole. The GO Link 2 took it all in its stride, delivering a deeply involving sound from an Apple Lossless stream. I had a lot of fun with FLACs too, for instance U2's remastered Achtung Baby and Talk Talk's various masterpieces.

The GO Link 2 is surprisingly loud, and louder still when you connect it to a computer: there was a noticeable increase in volume when I played the same Apple Lossless audio on my Mac compared to on my iPhone.

However, I did find that being able to push the headphones harder on my Mac was counter-productive: towards full volume, snare drums and distorted guitars became harsh, while deliberately loud-mastered pop music such as Kygo and Selina Gomez's It Ain't Me became too bright and noticeably distorted by the deep bass notes. The same thing didn't happen on iPhone.

If you like to listen loud on a computer then a desktop DAC or one of iFi's more powerful DACs will have more headroom for your headphones.

Sound quality: 5 / 5

iFi GO Link 2 review: design

• Tiny and minimalist
• 137mm x 12mm x 7.6mm
• 7.8g

Dongles don't get much dinkier than this. The GO Link 2 is absolutely tiny, with the main section smaller than half of a Biro pen. It's 8% smaller than the first generation model, and it's 29% lighter.

There are no buttons, no switches, nothing to turn or poke or press, and because it's too small to have a screen it has a colour-changing status LED instead. That LED is green for PCM audio from 44.1 to 96kHz; yellow for PCM from 176.4 to 384kHz; and blue for DSD256.

The USB-C connector is attached with a short braided cable to the main unit, which has a 3.5mm headphone socket. Although the GO Link 2 is USB-C it comes with adapters for USB-A and Lightning ports, covering all the bases.

The cable feels very thin and I'd worry about it fraying long term; it's a known issue with some of the first-generation models, so it's probably wise to treat the GO Link 2 with care.

Design score: 4 / 5

iFi GO Link 2 review: ease of use and setup

• Plug...
• ...and play
• No buttons, screens or switches

It doesn't get much easier than this: plug it in and you're good to go, although as ever with USB audio devices if you're connecting to a Mac you'll need to tweak Audio and MIDI setup on your computer to enable higher quality than 16-bit/44.1KHz.

It's a shame that the app that enables you to adjust filters and other settings is currently Android-only, although I was quite happy with the out-of-box settings.

Usability and setup score: 4 / 5

iFi GO Link 2 review: value

• Superb value for money
• No unnecessary features or gimmicks
• Even better than the original

The original GO Link is much-loved, and iFi has very sensibly decided not to mess with its winning formula. Instead it's refined it with more dynamic range, even smaller dimensions and the same plug-and-go ease of use. The GO Link 2 is cheap and it'll make you cheerful.

Value score: 5 / 5

Should I buy the iFi GO Link 2?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

iFi GO Link 2 review: Also consider

FiiO's KA1 is similarly small and equally affordable, but unlike the GO Link 2 it also supports MQA rendering. It's available in both USB-C and Lightning options.

For an extra 20% over the GO Link 2 or KA1's price you could buy iFi's larger but still eminently portable GO Link Max, which has higher power output and both 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced outputs.

How I tested the iFi GO Link 2

• Open-back, closed-back and IEM headphones
• Lossy streaming, lossless FLAC and multitrack Logic Pro projects

I tested the iFi GO Link 2 for 10 days using my usual headphones and IEMs: BeyerDynamic DT990 Pro open-back headphones, DT770 closed-back headphones, and the affordable and punchy SoundMagic E11C IEMs.

I listened to a range of music on my iPhone 16 Pro, my iPad Pro and my Mac mini, with sources including lossy and lossless streaming, uncompressed multitrack projects on my Mac, and FLAC audio files.

• First reviewed: May 2026
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

• Topping announces the DX9 Discrete DAC and headphone amp
• Uses delta sigma processing like an integrated DAC, but in discrete components like an R2R DAC
• Going on sale for £1,299 (about $1,750, AU$2,600)

Topping Audio may not be the most prolific hi-fi company, but when it strikes, it strikes hard; a recent DAC, amp and preamp combo called the DX5 II proved that. And its latest piece of gear is just as ambitious.

The brand has announced the Topping DX9 Discrete, which is now on sale in the UK for £1,299 (about $1,750, AU$2,600) — that's not cheap, but given the tech inside, it's also kind of a bargain.

This combination DAC and headphone amp builds on its predecessor in a few key ways, most crucially introducing Topping's proprietary PSRM architecture for digital-to-audio conversion (which I'll come back to in a moment), and support for a 10-band PEQ. Thankfully, it retains the older version's design, including a cool see-through build.

The DX9 has a display on the front that lets you monitor various factors and change settings, and it has a wide range of inputs and outputs including USB, optical, coax and HDMI, hitting up to 32-bit 768kHz PCM / DSD512 decoding.

The Topping DX9 Discrete supports Bluetooth 5.1 with LDAC, various aptX standards, AAC and SBC, and works as a headphone amplifier with six channels, capable of driving even particularly fussy cans. But easily its coolest feature is in the DAC space.

The company keeps Topping itself

As audio fans might know, picking an audio system can be hard, with many fancy techs solving one problem only to raise another. Do you go for an R2R DAC, with is discrete architecture creating a warm harmonic sound but often more distortion, or an integrated chip that has less distortion but can feel like a colder and more digital sound?

Topping thinks it can deliver the best of both worlds using its PSRM system. The uses discrete components, similar to R2R DACs, but uses them for delta-sigma processing, like an integrated chip — all through a 1-bit pipeline at extremely high sample frequencies (purportedly in the megahertz range).

According to Topping, this is a bit like it's converting all your Hi-Res Audio files into DSD, which is natively based around the idea of 1-bit, high-frequency files.

The promise is that this all results in greatly reduced distortion compared to R2R DACs, while retaining a slightly more analogue-feeling sound for your music.

It's a neat trick, and one I'm sure audiophiles will flock to, if at least to see just how well it works. But selling points aside, this still seems like a sold DAC-amp combo which should sit well against other other favorite options…

• A Redditor built a tool to let you blind ear test FLAC and different MP3 quality levels
• Crucially, you use your own music, rather than samples you don't know well
• It's humbling a lot of audiophiles

In a bid to work out whether they had the hearing chops to tell the difference between FLAC and MP3, a Redditor recently built a tool to let you do a 'blind' listening test. It's not the first tool for this, but it addresses common pain points with these tools, to make it easier to directly compare and contrast songs — and most crucially, you use your own songs, so you're testing with tracks you know inside and out.

You upload a FLAC and the tool will create 16, 64, 128 and 320kbps MP3 copies. Then you can seamlessly switch between the lower bitrates and original, with randomized labels not telling you which version you're listening to. Changing won't jump you back to the start of the song, so you can hear excerpts in different streams.

The tool does the rest, and it's all processed in your browser, so your data won't be uploaded to the cloud or anyone ready to sell it. Just note, you'll actually need a lossless file to do the test, and for best results you'll want to be outputting to a good DAC – either in a hi-fi system or powered speakers, or one of the best portable DACs and some of the best wired headphones.

But why I am I talking? You can test out the tool yourself, by browsing to it right here. It's free to use, although there's a donation link for the creator if you find it useful.

Hearing a difference?

Most audiophiles will probably assert that they can always hear a difference between lossless and lossy, but this test might cause some to doubt their own ears. The owner himself said jokingly "turns out I'm deaf I guess", when describing how they can't hear the difference between 128kbps, 320kbps and FLAC.

The original poster's not alone, with other users confirming that they've struggled to hear a difference. One poster simply said "this is very humbling", communicating in four words what many other responders took paragraphs to say.

Another commenter described doing the test on $25,000 monitors, and not being able to tell 320kbps files from lossless.

As many point out, MP3 takes up less space than FLAC, making it ideal for space-conscious listeners.

This isn't exactly breaking news. Sound engineers have long rumbled about the differences between higher-quality compressed audio and full lossless being impossible to pick out. Famed producer Steven Wilson who recently admitted that he can't tell the difference between CDs and high-res audio any more (though I should point out that none of the options in the comparison tool are as high-quality as CD, which is around 1,400kbps).

There is plenty of defense for lossless, though, beyond audio fidelity. Posters point out that storing the best-quality FLAC files means you can easily convert to other file types without introducing artefacts, because while you can convert lossless to lossy MP3, you can't convert back and regain the information you lost.

So for audiophiles, having your music collection in FLAC is still a safer choice, even if it eats up that storage space. But this tool is a reminder that a good MP3 can still sound great, and even on par with lossless in real terms.

And at the very least, it asserts that 16kbps and 64kbps MP3s still sound garbage.

• Powerful headphone amp/preamps with and without ESS DAC
• Dedicated low-noise IEM amplification stage and up to 8W output
• From $1,500 / £1,700 / €1,600 / AU$2,600

Australia-based head-fi firm Burson Audio has launched a new series of Class A desktop audio devices. The Stellar Series features two models: the Conductor Stellar, which is a hi-res DAC, Class A headphone amp and a desktop pre-amp, and the Soloist Stellar, which is a headphone amp and preamp.

Pitched between the entry-level Party Playmate 3 and the Grand Tourer products, the Stellar devices promise to bring the "essence" of Burson's flagship Voyager Series in a more compact and accessible form.

While both products are happy to drive all kinds of headphones, one of the key selling points is for IEM owners: the Stellar duo come with a dedicated ultra-low noise IEM amplification stage built around two TPA6120A2 amplifier chips. Burson says the result is a pure, hiss-free experience on highly sensitive in-ears.

Burson Soloist Stellar and Conductor Stellar: key features and pricing

Both devices deliver 8W of Class A power via four Onsemi MJE15032 transistors per channel, optimised for high Class-A bias and powered by Burson's Max Current power supply. The enclosures are inspired by spacecraft and feature precision-machined fins and vents for optimal heat dissipation.

The Conductor Stellar is based around the ESS9039PRO DAC, whose filters and path settings have been selected to match the analog output stage, and it's been designed to connect to almost anything. It has Bluetooth 5.0 with LDAC, aptX HD, and AAC, supporting hi-res wireless audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz. It's Roon Ready, and its USB-C input supports native DSD512 and 32-bit/768kHz PCM.

The Soloist Stellar does without the DAC and focuses solely on amplification. It has independent channel-balance controls for headphones and speakers, correcting for room asymmetry and natural hearing differences.

Both devices have XLR and RCA inputs plus a mic bypass for gaming headphones, and the outputs are an XLR pre-out, an RCA pre-out and an RCA mono subwoofer output. Headphone outputs are XLR, 6.35mm and 3.5mm. Headphone output is up to 8W into 16 ohms and 500mW into 300 ohms.

Ready for pricing? Recommended retail prices of the Stellar Series are (deep breath):

• Conductor Stellar (Standard edition): $1,800 / £2,000 / €1,900 / AU$2,800
• Soloist Stellar (Standard edition): $1,500 / £1,700 / €1,600 / AU$2,600

• iFi announces the GO Link 2 DAC
• Allows 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 playback
• Sells for $59 / £59 / (around AU$112)

While iFi already has some of the top spots in our list of the best headphone DACs, it's clearly not content without a full sweep. Only a week after announcing a trio of flagship DACs (and barely a month after launching the super-high end iDSD Phantom) the company has leapt to the other end of the market, to unveil a brand-new budget option to super-charge your headphones.

Meet the iFi Go Link 2 which, as the name suggests, is a successor to the 2022-release Go Link. It's on sale now, going for $59 / £59 (around AU$112), so it costs the same as the original — but is a cheaper alternative to the more recent five-star Go Link Max.

Honestly, at this price, it might be a better upgrade to your tech line-up than just buying some of the best headphones.

Like its predecessor, the Go Link 2 allows for 32-bit/384kHz PCM audio playback and DSD256 from any device — well, as long as it has a USB-C port you can put it into. That's most laptops, smartphones and tablets, though.

iFi Go Link 2: so what's new?

It seems that the main improvement the Go Link 2 brings, is a smaller body. It's 29% lighter and 8% smaller, making it a slightly more space-saving option. Though bear in mind, 8% of 'not much' is in itself, er, not that much.

This sequel DAC also offers reduced distortion, which iFi puts at 62% less, and a 50% crosstalk reduction due to the S-balanced 3.5mm output. All those numbers point to this being a slightly refreshed and refined headphone DAC, not a brand-new model. If you want extra tools, like support for 4.4mm headphone connections or a range of various refinement techs, you'll want the excellent Go Link Max (which is only a little more, at $79 / £79 / AU$139).

One other tweak is that the Go Link 2 now works with iFi's Nexis app, which doesn't sound like it'll change that much, but the brand does promising it'll push through the occasional update, and let you add digital filters.

So, not a total overhaul. But people who own one of the best smartphones, and have realized that the ceiling on audio from these gadgets is lower than expected, will find that a small fee will let you enjoy much more high-resolution audio.

iFi GO Blu Air: Two-minute review

The iFi GO Blu Air is a solution to tech firms taking away headphone jacks: it enables you to connect your wired headphones to Bluetooth streaming sources, and it features a 4.4mm balanced and a 3.5mm standard headphone output. It's impressively powerful and runs for up to 10 hours between charges, delivering excellent bass and a spacious sound stage that's particularly enjoyable on well produced music.

The GO Blu Air is exceptionally small and light and that means features have been kept to a minimum: there's no USB DAC functionality and you don't get on-board EQ, although there are switches for iFi's subtle but effective XBass and XSpace audio enhancers.

As we've come to expect from iFi, the GO Blu Air is well made, does exactly what it sets out to do and won't break the bank. It sounds great and is surprisingly powerful for such a small device, but its small size and low price means it lacks some features of rivals such as a display, on-board EQ and USB DAC functionality. It's emphatically one of the best portable DACs provided you don't need that wired connectivity.

iFi GO Blu Air review: Price and release date

• Released August 2025
• Priced $129 / £129 / AU$229

The iFi GO Blu Air Bluetooth DAC was launched in August 2025 and is available now. In the UK its recommended retail price is £129; in the US it's $129; and in Australia it's AU$229.

The GO Blu Air is cheaper than its predecessor, the iFi GO Blu: that model was $199 / £199 / AU$399. A lower-priced model is a smart move in a sector that's becoming increasingly competitive.

iFi GO Blu Air review: Features

• Up to 24-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth
• Cirrus Logic Master Hi-Fi DAC
• "S-balanced" 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm outputs

The iFi GO Blu Air is based around a Cirrus Logic Master Hi-Fi DAC and features iFi's own XBass bass expansion and XSpace audio expander. There are also standard and minimum phase digital filter options to shape the sound further.

The headphone outputs deliver up to 165mW into 32 ohms on the 3.5mm out and up to 262mW into 32 ohms on the balanced output. iFi calls the 3.5mm output "S-balanced", with dual-mono headphone amplification all the way to the output socket. You can read iFi's tech note about it, but essentially the company says it's particularly useful for ultra-sensitive IEMs. SNR (or signal-to-noise ratio) on both outputs is a highly respectable ≥110dBA and battery life is up to 10 hours via the internal 450mAh battery, dropping to about 7.5 hours if you're using the LDAC codec. Recharging takes less than an hour.

The iFi GO Blu Air has Bluetooth 5.2 (up from the 5.1 of the GO Blu) with LDAC, LDHC and aptX Classic, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive as well as the obligatory AAC and SBC codecs. It supports resolutions of up to 24-bit/96kHz. Unlike the previous GO Blu the USB-C port is purely for charging; this model doesn't double as a wired DAC.

Features score: 4 / 5

iFi GO Blu Air review: Sound quality

• Tons of fun on IEMs and over-ear headphones
• No on-board EQ to tame high-end harshness
• Audio enhancers are subtle but effective

The iFi GO Blu Air is a lot of fun with both headphones and IEMs, delivering an inviting soundstage and excellent clarity from a range of audio sources. It's particularly good on well-produced, spacious tracks such as Bob Marley's Could You Be Loved, Peter Gabriel's Shaking The Tree, Christine and the Queens' Tilted or The Blue Nile's Tinseltown in the Rain, delivering a consistently enjoyable, revealing and dynamic listen.

The GO Blu Air doesn't have its own equaliser, and I did find myself reaching for software EQ when I listened to fairly trebly recordings such as Junior Varsity's Cross The Street, Sugar's Changes and Kygo & Selena Gomez's It Ain't Me: getting the bass to smile-inducing levels in my IEMs made their high frequencies a little too prominent for my taste, although that was less of an issue in my less excitable over-ear headphones.

I'm wary of bass and space enhancement options as they often color the sound in too-noticeable ways, but I was pleasantly surprised by both XBass and XSpace here. Their effects are subtle, with the former adding a little more low end that gave my open-back headphones more of a closed-back punch without introducing distortion at sensible listening levels, overpowering the other frequencies or overly changing the sound. XSpace impressed me too, making the likes of Talk Talk and acoustic music more subtly spacious.

Sound quality: 5 / 5

iFi GO Blu Air review: Design

• Similar to GO Blu but more plasticky
• 3.5 x 33.7 x 19.5mm (WxHxD) and just 30g
• Magnetically attached clip is surprisingly strong

I'd suggest that the Air looks a little less premium than the GO Blu, but I'm not a fan of that model's rather 1970s-cigarette-lighter appearance – and if a slightly more plastic appearance is part of the reason why the new model is cheaper, I'm all in favor.

The GO Blu Air is very compact at 3.5 x 33.7 x 19.5mm (2.11 x 1.33 x 0.77”) and it weighs 30g. There is a single rotary volume/transport controller, which iFi calls the ChronoDial, on the right. The dial is multi-mode: turn it to adjust the volume, press to play, pause or skip, and long-press to activate your phone's voice assistant. Below the dial is a button for enabling or disabling Xbass and Xspace, for setting the digital filter and for Bluetooth pairing; on the other side there's a single button for power on/off and Bluetooth format announcement. Up top you'll find a 4.4mm balanced headphone output and a 3.5mm output plus the status light for Xbass, Xspace and Bluetooth.

One of the design features I like is the detachable magnetic clip, which saves you having to buy a clip-on case: you can use the clip to attach the GO Blu Air to your clothing, bag or belt. I'd like it even more if I could use the magnet to clip the GO Blu Air to the back of my phone; I did try, but while it does attach it's not strong enough to clamp through my phone's case.

Design score: 4 / 5

iFi GO Blu Air Review: Usability and setup

• Effortless Bluetooth pairing
• No display: color status lights instead
• Remembering what buttons do is hard at first

It's very easy to set up the GO Blu Air: simply switch it on and it enters pairing mode the first time you use it. You can then connect it in your device's Bluetooth settings and you're good to go.

The lack of a display is understandable in such a small device, but it does mean trying to remember what the status light colors mean and which button does what can be tricky. It doesn't take long to learn but the inclusion of a pocket-sized quick start guide comes in very handy.

Whether you're working from the guide or from memory it's all straightforward: single button presses take you from no enhancement to XBass only, to XSpace only, and to both XBass and XSpace; a spin of the ChronoDial adjusts the volume while a short click takes care of play/pause and a longer click skips to the next track.

Usability and setup score: 4 / 5

iFi GO Blu Air review: Value

• Competitively priced but some rivals have higher spec
• Previous model is now discounted so price gap is smaller
• A good buy if you don't need a USB DAC

If the lack of a USB DAC isn't a deal-breaker this is a very good Bluetooth dongle for a very good price. But it's a very competitive market, and I'd suggest looking at some alternatives too – including the GO Blu Air's predecessor.

The GO Blu Air is effectively a GO Blu without the USB DAC and as a result it has a significantly lower price tag, but at the time of writing I found the original GO Blu discounted to just under £169 so there's less of a price gap than the two devices' MSRPs suggest.

Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the iFi GO Blu Air?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

iFi GO Blu Air review: Also consider

The iFi GO Link USB DAC is an excellent and affordable wired headphone DAC, and if you want USB and Bluetooth capabilities the GO Blu is still available and often discounted.

The key rivals here include FiiO’s KA13 and BTR15. The former is a screen-free wired USB DAC and the latter is both USB and Bluetooth. It's marginally cheaper than the iFi: at the time of writing the BTR15 is £114 in the UK, $119 in the US and $219 in Australia.

How I tested the iFi GO Link Max

• TIDAL, hi-res music files, vinyl and Logic Pro projects
• Beyerdynamic and Philips over-ears and SoundMagic IEMs

I tested the GO Blu Air over two weeks with a variety of headphones and IEMs including Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro and Philips Fidelio X2HR open-back headphones, Beyerdynamic DT770 closed-back headphones, and SoundMagic E11C IEMs.

I connected the GO Blu Air to a Samsung Galaxy S25 for hi-res streaming services over LDAC and listened to locally stored lossless audio and my own multitrack Logic Pro X projects via AAC from my MacBook Pro. I also connected my Audio-Technica turntable, which transmits aptX.

• First reviewed: February 2026
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

• iFi has released new trio of DACs, including a flagship iDSD model
• The model names are NEO Stream 3, Zen Stream 3, iDSD 3
• Range of releases for different users, with prices starting at $399 / £399

Apparently iFi isn’t content with its near-total domination of our best headphone DAC round-up, because it’s just released three brand-new options aimed at different kind of buyers.

Unveiled on February 19, this new trio of third-gen DACs is headlined by the iFi NEO iDSD 3, which fills the brand’s slot as its flagship model, though it’s not as spec-heavy as the incredible iDSD Phantom we recently tested.

Selling for $999 / £999 (no Aussie availability for now, folks, but that converts to around AU$1,900), this is a combination DAC and amplifier that offers both at a price that’s reasonable to buyers who can’t spend thousands on kit.

The iDSD 3 supports PM at 769kHz and DSD512, with a headphone stage hitting a peak of 5,551mW. The model also outputs at Bluetooth 5.4 with support for aptX Lossless. It also has support for K2HD restoring and analogue sound-shaping, pulling lower-res tracks up by their bootstraps.

Meet the streamers

The iDSD isn’t iFi’s only $999/£999 new release; there’s also the NEO Stream 3.

The NEO has some of the specs of the iDSD, like 768kHz support and DSD512, but only upsamples to K2HD and misses the Bluetooth codecs. It’s also a bit smaller, great for listeners who don’t have that much space.

For buyers on a less malleable budget, there’s also the NEO Stream 3, which costs $399 / £399 (around $540, AU$760), making it a more tempting entry-level buy.

This looks ripped from a UFO console. It’s a streaming-only model — that means wire-free — designed for audiophiles who rely on Bluetooth. The Stream 3 supports PCM at 384kHz and DSD256, with K2 processing.

iFi are pretty prolific for new releases — I haven’t even found an opportunity to name-drop the iFi Go Link Max or iDSD Valkyrie DACs which also came out relatively recently. The three new models are on sale right away.

Eversolo DAC-Z10: one-minute review

Never let it be said that Eversolo is not ever so serious. The Eversolo DAC-Z10 is an extremely well-specified digital-to-analogue converter, headphone amplifier and system preamplifier in a single package – and while it sells for a significant sum, even compared to the best DACs around, it turns out to represent unarguable value for money.

As well as the full-on specification (which includes four AKM DAC chips, twin RSR ‘ladder’ volume control modules, and no fewer than three independent and heavily shielded linear power supplies), the user interface (via a big touch-screen) is excellent even before you realize it offers a choice of virtual VU meters and dynamic spectrum displays.

There are more than enough digital inputs, plus balanced and unbalanced analog outputs, and an extremely capable discrete headphone amplification module.

And it all works very well indeed. The DAC-Z10 is almost fanatical when it comes to detail retrieval, really holds its own where rhythmic expression, soundstaging and dynamic impetus are concerned, and maintains the tonal balance of the music as originally recorded as much as possible.

In fact, about its biggest shortcoming is how overtly intolerant it is of inferior partners – don’t imagine the DAC-Z10 is about to make a silk purse out of the sow’s ear that is sub-par electronics or loudspeakers. But that's not a real flaw for something that costs this much anyway – you'd expect an expensive DAC to sing with expensive other components, wouldn't you?

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Price & release date

The Eversolo DAC-Z10 launched during November 2025 and in the United Kingdom it sells for a strangely specific £1,939. In the United States it’s $1,980, while in Australia the going rate is AU$3,339 or thereabouts.

This puts it in line with options from the likes of Denon and NAD – big names in the hi-fi separates space.

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Features

• Numerous digital and analog inputs
• Independent left and right channel AKM digital-to-analog conversion modules
• Three independent power supplies

Even by Eversolo’s established standards, the DAC-Z10 is extensively specified – ‘lavishly’ may not be too strong a word. It’s difficult to know where to start, really. Maybe on the outside would be best…

At the rear of the DAC-Z10, there are numerous digital and analogue inputs, alongside balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analogue outputs for connection to a power amplifier, powered speakers or what-have-you. There’s also a grounding post for channeling even the most minor electrical interference out of harm’s way.

The digital stuff consists of an IIS (aka I2S) input (featuring eight switchable modes, naturally, and capable of dealing with digital audio resolutions of up to 32bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512), HDMI eARC, USB-B (with multi-core audio processor and again supporting 32bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512), a fully isolated AES/EBU input, and a pair of coaxial and a pair of optical audio inputs (all of which support 24bit/192kHz PCM and DSD64). There’s also wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 5.0, with SBC and AAC codec compatibility.

There’s a further analog output on the fascia: a 6.3mm single-ended headphone socket. It’s powered by a dedicated amplification module, and automatically detects the impedance of the headphones it’s driving and adjusts gain accordingly.

The internal layout of the Eversolo is no less thorough. Built on the company’s ‘Fully Isolated Architecture’ platform, which isolates the digital and analog domains in a drive for optimal signal purity, the DAC-Z10 features three linear power supplies. One is for the left channel, one for the right, and one for system circuitry – each is isolated from the others in an effort to minimi`e interference.

The DAC-Z10 is big on the concept of independent left and right stereo channels elsewhere, too. For instance, each stereo channel has a dedicated pair of AKM DAC chips – an AK4191 and an AK4499 – so left and right digital signals are kept completely separate from input to conversion.

Volume control uses an independent R2R ‘ladder’ module for each channel, so signal integrity and phase alignment should be uncorrupted, even if the selected volume level is very low or very high.

The Eversolo ‘Precision Core’, which features a temperature-controlled crystal oscillator, phase-locked loop technology and FPGA clock reconstruction, makes up the DAC-Z10 clock system. Despite the extremely thorough attention it has paid to this critical componentry, though, the Eversolo also has an input for an external clock – and with multiple impedance options.

This allows the DAC-Z10 to integrate into super-high end systems that have even more effective clock systems than the one specified here. Either way, though, the DAC-Z10 seems extremely well-served where clocking, and by extension the imaging and transient response of its sound, are concerned.

• Features score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Sound quality

• Profoundly impressive detail retrieval
• Expansive, organized and front-foot sound
• Not especially tolerant of less-capable partners

Let’s get the minor negative out of the way first, shall we? The Eversolo DAC-Z10 is not about to indulge in partnering equipment that is less capable than it is. The DAC-Z10 punches above its weight, not below it – so it can hold its own in systems with high price-tags, but it’s not about to make your run-of-the-mill power speakers or wallet-friendly amps into world-beaters. If anything, it’s more likely to expose their shortcomings.

But as long as the stuff before and after the Eversolo in the chain is up to scratch, there’s a whole lot to enjoy about this device – especially where its powers of digital-to-analog conversion are concerned.

Where detail retrieval is concerned, the DAC-Z10 is as good as anything I've heard at anything like the price. No event in a recording is too minor, no harmonic variation is too subtle, no over- or undertone surrounding the fundamental note of an instrument or a voice is too muted to elude it.

The production of Horsegirl’s Phonetics On and On is open and so spare that you might think every shred of information is available even when it’s playing on an unremarkable system – but the Eversolo demonstrates that even deeper subtleties and transients are there, and it has the power to reveal and contextualize them. If you’re after the most complete image possible of your music, the DAC-Z10 is ready and able to give it to you.

It’s more than willing to get out of the way of the music, and of the source machine that’s playing it. So when it comes to tonality and frequency response, the Eversolo tries its utmost to have as little input as possible even though it’s responsible for D-to-A conversion – the sound you get, in these respects, seems very much to be the sound stored on the disc, the digital file or whatever.

What the DAC-Z10 will do is ensure that low frequencies are shaped and controlled to the point that rhythmic expression is coherent and momentum levels never dip below what is appropriate.

It takes care of the minor dynamic variations with just as much ease as it does with every other aspect of detail retrieval – and when the music undergoes big shifts in intensity or volume, as it does during a listen to Daniel Blumberg’s soundtrack to The Brutalist, the Eversolo is able to describe them in full, and in the most articulate manner.

It ensures the top of the frequency range always carries enough substance to prevent its bite becoming problematic, and allows the midrange to project with real confidence.

And the bigger and more information-packed the audio content you serve it, the more impressive the DAC-Z10 sounds. A DSD64 file of Michael Jackon’s Off the Wall sounds positively ferocious once the Eversolo has done with it – the clean, open and pristine recording (especially in 2024 remaster guise) sounds more animated, more immediate, and more engaging than it does via any even vaguely price-comparable alternative. And there are plenty of very capable, vaguely price-comparable, alternatives around.

• Sound quality score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Design

• Aluminum chassis
• A choice of VU meters, spectrum displays and control dial colors
• 310x88x365mm / 12.2x3.5x13.4in (WxHxD)

As is only to be expected, given the asking price, the Eversolo DAC-Z10 is carefully constructed from premium materials, and finished to an extremely high standard. Fundamentally it’s simply a rectangular box in the established ‘hi-fi’ manner – but in terms of look, feel and finish it’s a fairly upmarket proposition.

It’s not quite as wide as your average hi-fi separate, but nevertheless Eversolo has found space for an 8.8-inch touchscreen that’s bright, clear and responsive, and is able to display a great deal of information without looking in any way crowded.

It forms the majority of the fascia of a chassis built from aircraft-grade aluminum and coated in a soft(ish)-touch finish that only adds to the impression of refined good taste.

Eversolo has remembered to make sure the design of the DAC-Z10 is enjoyable as well as admirable, too. As well as an exhaustive amount of relevant information, the screen can display a number of different VU meters or dynamic spectrum displays – and the single ‘turn/push’ control dial alongside it can be illuminated in one of quite a few different colors.

• Design score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Usability & setup

• Remote control, app and touchscreen control options
• Some end-user tweaking available
• Switchable XLR polarity

Despite its wealth of features and extensive functionality, setting up and operating the DAC-Z10 is pretty straightforward. And you have plenty of options, too.

Obviously the first thing to do is make your relevant connections into and out of the device. The DAC-Z10 will support plenty of digital devices, of course, and there’s the ability to route a single analog source through too – which is useful if you’re connecting directly to a power amplifier rather than a pair of powered or active speakers.

It’s worth noting the XLR connections have switchable polarity, which makes system-matching a great deal more straightforward than it otherwise would be. After that it’s just a question of trimming each individual input in terms of volume – every digital input can have a choice of six filters applied, which allows the end user a fair amount of input into the way the quartet of DAC chips performs.

In terms of control, you’ve a gratifying number of well-implemented options. The control wheel, which is a turn/push number, is responsive and reliable, and the same can be said for the weighty little remote control handset that is, in its own way, just as tactile a device as the DAC-Z10 itself. The touchscreen is equally simple and logical to use, and just as reliable in the way it reacts.

Best of all, though, is the ‘Eversolo Control’ app that’s free for iOS and Android. It’s far from the most visually exciting control app around, it’s true – but once you get beyond the relative lack of visual stimulation you’ll find a thorough, stable and eminently useful interface that enables you to control every single aspect of the DAC-Z10’s performance.

• Usability & setup score: 5 / 5

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Value

• It costs a lot, but it does a lot
• Performs as well or better than anything else at the same price
• Versatility really adds to its value as a long-term buy

Obviously spending this sort of money on a DAC with preamplification functionality means you have a system that justifies the outlay, and in that case there’s really no arguing with the value for money that’s on offer here.

The amount of things it can do, the range of connections it has, the usefulness of its various control options, and the impeccable quality of its audio mean that its price is very agreeable… to people with this kind of money to spend.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Eversolo DAC-Z10?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Eversolo DAC-Z10 review: Also consider

How I tested the Eversolo DAC-Z10

I slotted the Eversolo DAC-Z10 into my reference system – so it took care of the digital-to-analog conversion required by a Rega Apollo CD player, a Naim Uniti Star (meaning internet radio, network streaming and music streaming service content was available), and an Apple MacBook Pro via USB to access digital audio of the highest possible resolution.

It also accepted an analog signal from a pre-amplified Technics SL-1300G turntable. It was connected to a Cambridge Edge W power amplifier via balanced XLR connections, which in turn was connected to Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 Signature loudspeakers on their bespoke FS-700 S3 stands.

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: February 2026

It's not hard to see what iFi's doing at this most prestigious London unveiling event. I'm in the North Tower Lounge inside Tower Bridge (the beautiful 1886 Thames suspension overpass often mistaken for London Bridge – which is thoroughly dreary in comparison). I have a beautiful, aerial view of the Capital. And I'm holding a martini.

Around me, iFi's core team are wearing what Londoners might call 'the full whistle', short for 'whistle and flute' in cockney rhyming slang, or 'suit' – in this case, black tuxedoes. Add to this a poster on the feature wall reading 'Phantom', and it feels as if Daniel Craig's 007 (or the villain Auric Goldfinger from 1964's Goldfinger) could drop in at any minute.

And once I understand fully what's being unveiled tonight, this heightened sense of drama feels justified. iFi has never been a simple black box company, even with its budget friendly efforts – this is, after all, the company that brought us DACs shaped like hip-flasks. And the all-new Phantom is every last millimeter a singular, unique and hugely specified machine.

So, if I'm reminded of the Rolls-Royce Phantom while gazing upon this piece of hi-fi tonight, that's very much intentional on iFi's part. The iFi iDSD is a formidable headphone amp, streamer and DAC, with 7000W of power. It is, the men in formal wear assure me, the pinnacle of what iFi can achieve – and I'm proud to say, they let me listen to it for a long time.

The world is not enough

Top of the headline-grabbers (although it must be said, there are plenty here) is an all-new custom DSD2048 remastering engine: iFi’s Chrysopoeia FPGA-based solution. Essentially it's the first of its kind to upscale like this to a consumer product, using a bespoke algorithm 18 months in the making.

Make no mistake, everything has been reworked for the Phantom. As iFi Chief Engineer Colin Farch tells us: “Each stage of development involved re-examining the circuit, measuring performance, and making improvements to cement it as the most accomplished iFi listening experience to date.”

The iDSD Phantom is still built on iFi's continuing love affair with K2 and K2HD tech. This a mastering system is based on the human ear – it was conceived by JVC Kenwood many years ago in Japan, and iFi is the only company outside out JVC Kenwood to have access to the tech. Here, its particular studio-grade guise is unique for the iDSD Phantom.

iFi fan favorites such as XBass Pro and XSpace Pro are here in three iterations, but you also get five more digital filters and – in possibly my favorite feature – you can select between tube or solid-state outputs via a little switcher on the chassis, using NOS GE56870s or discrete circuitry. Again, iFi suggests the iDSD Phantom is perhaps the only product to offer this, and I've certainly never before had the option of flicking between solid-state or two different tube solutions.

When we experiment with it later, in a hands-on listening session using headphones, my colleague (an esteemed member of the audio press) proclaims of the solid-state variant: "It's like a sushi knife!"

A sort of licensed troubleshooter

Extra marks if you get the quote, from Bond in Thunderball (1965). So, the Phantom brings studio-grade DSD2048 conversion into your living room, with 768kHz PCM/DSD512 and full support for Qobuz Connect, Tidal and Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2. It also boasts a 7,477mW peak output and real-time, user-switchable, solid-state, tube and Tube+ output stages.

But what else can it do? As a streamer, iFi tells us the iDSD Phantom works on a heavily modified version of Volumio 3, and has integrated steamer controls inside the Nexus mobile app. A weighty remote comes with your purchase, but for me, this product is all about getting hands-on.

I switch it on and the buttery-smooth volume dial on the right of the unit starts cruising silently all on its own. Already I'm in love. I use the left hand dial to scroll away from the digital VU meter on the circular screen and through the options: K2 Technology, Operation modes, Gains, Remaster, Filters, iEMatch (another iFi favorite that will help you match your in-ears' or cans' sensitivity to the iDSD Phantom), XBass, XSpace and a further Settings tab.

What of the actual digital-analog conversion? You're getting four custom-interleaved Burr-Brown DSD1793 DAC chips, built on iFi's strong ties to what the team calls the "legendary multi-bit Philips TDA1541A" – adding, "we're obsessed with it; it's the king of DACs".

In ‘Normal’ mode, DSD signals pass directly to the DAC, while PCM signals go through a user-selected digital filter. In ‘Remastered’ mode, each DAC chipset processes up to DSD1024, and in their custom configuration they achieve native decoding that allows for DSD512, DSD1024, or the new pinnacle of DSD2048. So that's me told – that's how it's done folks. Oh and at DSD2048, the 1-bit stream is sampled ~90 million times per second.

Want to listen to it? Of course you do – let's go.

Like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs? Yes, but more

I'll stop with the Bond references now (that one, as I'm sure you remember, is from 1964's Goldfinger) and concentrate on the serious business of enjoying music – although I must tell you that to kick off our listening session, we also hear the iDSD Phantom used in a system involving PMC Active Twenty5 23i floorstanders.

Brit Award winner and celebrated British record producer Steve Levine takes the mic, telling us, "Using this, it was like I'd taken a tea towel off my own speakers – and they're good Neumann speakers too!"

I understand it's a simile, but the idea of Culture Club's celebrated record producer casually slinging a tea towel over his expensive speakers (and possibly this very expensive DAC) while doing the washing up makes me guffaw awkwardly, nearly spilling whatever's left in my martini glass over my notes.

Thankfully, music comes to my aid and Pharrell Williams' Come Get It Bae does indeed thump, slap and bang, then stop just as abruptly. Distortion or saturation? Not a bit of it. Bass is full-bodied, the top-end has miles of room and thus of course, vocals (including Miley Cyrus') are expertly textured and layered. The fact that such a beautiful product's job is to just get out of the way and let the music through is something I'll be thinking about for a while.

On to personal listening then, and I quickly scooch in quick for a spot with the Sennheiser HD 800 S open-back headphones and my very own Phantom. Yes please. As I scroll through my listening options, I'm told the circular screen between the dials can also be used to display album artwork, which would be a lovely touch as I deploy FKA twigs' Girl Feels Good.

And I do feel good. The prowl at the top of the track skulks just above my right ear; the central vocal is more opened out and somehow breathier than I've ever heard before. Guitars at the outset of R.E.M's Man on the Moon are textured and three-dimensional, and there's extra melancholy to be unearthed in Michael Stipe's incomparable timbre.

Now there's a name to die for

Sorry, I couldn't stop myself (Die Another Day, 2002). Anyway, I keep listening: Gaga, Goldfrapp, Lana del ray, Jessie Ware… it's all more than I'm used to hearing; more information, greater intensity, a more notable dynamic rise and fall, sharper leading edges to notes I'd only ever registered as just there before.

So let's talk money. The iFi iDSD Phantom is available to purchase from today, January 20th, from ifi-audio.com and select elite dealers, priced $4,499 (before tax) / £4,499 / €4,695 EUR / $6,999 CAD (so around AU$8,997).

I can't afford it. I know… I know (well spotted again, No Time to Die, 2021) but nevertheless, the iFi team let me sit and enjoy the iDSD Phantom for some time, in my little corner of the North Tower, Tower Bridge, London. Hi-fi appreciation should, I think, always involve a comprehension of the stats alongside actual listening. Well, I do like to do some things the old-fashioned way (Skyfall, 2012)…

• Ultra-affordable USB-C to headphone adapter with DAC
• 32-bit/384kHz Hi-Res Audio support in a tiny body
• About $26 – but we're waiting on a global release

Getting the best sound from your smartphone causes a bit of a conundrum: the best wired headphones deliver higher quality audio, but on most phones there's nowhere to plug them in. But there's a solution: enter the dongle. (Ah, my favorite Bruce Lee movie – Ed.)

A USB-C headphone dongle can give your audio a big upgrade without a big expense, and the newly launched Qlink-C from Questyle looks like it could be a good budget buy. The Q-link-C hasn't made it to the brand's Amazon US page just yet, but it's launched in Japan with a price tag of roughly $26, and will hopefully be available to US buyers very soon.

Although dongles are generally used for headphones, you can also use them for anything that takes a standard aux input.

And while at this price you won't get a super-elite audiophile experience or enough power to drive the most demanding headphones, moving from compressed Bluetooth to uncompressed wired audio will make a noticeable difference on decent headphones – especially with the Hi-Res Audio-capable DAC at the heart of this one.

Questyle Qlink-C: what does this dongle do?

Questyle is one of those audio brands that aims to have a product for every kind of buyer, and its product range includes budget buys such as the QCC Dongle Pro for wireless headphones and the premium Sigma Pro amp and DAC.

The Qlink-C is at the budget end of the range but that doesn't mean it isn't delivering a decent specification. Its CX31993 DAC delivers Hi-Res Audio at up to 32-bit/384kHz, and it has a signal to noise ratio of 100dB. It's extremely small (12cm / 4.7inches) and very light, coming in at just 4.5g (0.17 oz), but it should be fairly tough: its cable is braided to withstand everyday use and has been tested to survive 15,000 bending cycles.

The challenge for Questyle is to stand out in what's already a very crowded market sector of the best portable DACs, with affordable dongles from the likes of UGREEN and Moondrop offering similar specs for similarly low prices – or lower if you don't mind topping out at 24-bit/96kHz.

• The AI-driven memory shortage doesn't just affect PCs
• More capacity is coming, but not before 2027
• Low-margin budget products are likely to be hit hardest

What do the best DACs, the best Hi-Res Audio players, the best TVs, and the best soundbars all have in common? They're all facing component shortages and price hikes – not because of tariffs, but because of the AI-driven shortage of memory and storage chips. And the pain's going to be particularly pronounced at the more affordable end of the market, where profit margins are already razor-thin.

As you're no doubt aware, the AI industry is buying a lot of memory for its data centers: as Reuters reported back in October, just one AI firm, OpenAI, intends to order 900,000 semiconductor wafers in 2029. That's around 40% of the world's entire production. And there's plenty more demand in the industry.

As The Wall Street Journal reported this week, "The rapid build-out of infrastructure for artificial intelligence is consuming a large portion of available supply of NAND flash memory, DRAM memory and hard drives. That has resulted in a shortage of memory for other markets such as PCs and smartphones."

Audiovisual devices aren't the same as PCs, and don't typically need as much memory as smartphones. But they still need some memory in order to do what they do. Everything from smart speakers to smart TVs to in-car entertainment systems use RAM alongside their processors, and some of them use NAND storage too, because they're all just small computers at heart; both of these components' prices are rocketing.

We've already seen Samsung warn that its TVs' prices may rise due to comopnents shortages, while there are warnings about smartphone makers scaling back their specs for this year's mobile phones, cutting their memory to cut the cost of manufacturing.

And according to NPR, memory prices are expected to rise even more this year. As Avril Wu of the consultancy Trendforce told NPR, "I keep telling everybody that if you want a device, you buy it now."

How AI could affect AV

AI data centers don't use the same memory chips as a DAC or a Hi-Res Audio player: they use High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), not the DDR RAM you'd find in a PC or PlayStation. But those differing chips are made from the same kind of semiconductor wafers, and those wafers are in ever-increasing demand because HBM uses roughly three times more of those wafers than DDR5 RAM does.

They're also much more profitable to sell, and as a result many firms are shifting focus from consumer memory chips to data center ones – so for example Micron, one of the big three memory makers alongside SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, has shut down its long-standing consumer memory business, Crucial, "to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments". In other words, AI.

As some manufacturers shift focus, new capacity for other kinds of memory isn't coming on board fast enough to cover the demand. So for example in October SK Hynix announced that it "has already secured full customer demand for its entire DRAM and NAND production for next year", and that it'll need to expand its production to cope with the market demands – but even the equipment to make the chips are set to rise in price.

In the shorter term, that means higher memory prices. Much higher prices. CNBC reports that RAM prices are expected to rise "more than 50% this quarter compared to the last quarter of 2025." And the Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute says that "DRAM prices have also surged 171% year-over-year, outpacing gold, while DDR5 spot prices have quadrupled since September 2025. DRAM and NAND prices doubled in a single month".

While capacity is being added to existing production plants and new plants are being built, that capacity isn't expected to come online until 2027.

That's likely to have two key impacts on the AV hardware market. The first is that we'll see price increases down the line, especially at the budget end of the market where manufacturers can't simply swallow the increased cost: there's a lot less margin on a $300 smart TV than a $3,000 one.

The second is that manufacturers may go back to the drawing board as some smartphone firms have done, limiting their next products' specifications to compensate for shortages and price hikes. It may also persuade some firms to postpone their product plans altogether until market conditions are more favorable.

We've been here before, of course: I remember the completely fruitless search for in-stock AV receivers after chip production had shut down during COVID lockdowns. At least this time we know the component crunch is coming, and can make purchasing plans accordingly.

Our picks of the best AV gear across different categories

• New Mesh DAC delivers the same digital filter as the firm's flagships
• More than enough power for almost any headphones
• $199, or $209 if you want the silver one

Schitt Audio has launched an updated version of its Magni Unity headphone amplifier, with the firm's new Mesh DAC card to deliver what it calls "a complete one-box amp/DAC solution".

The extremely small, modular system is designed to deliver similar performance to the firm's flagship DACs for considerably less money: the Magni Unity with Mesh DAC is priced at $199 in black, or $209 if you want it in silver. International availability and pricing hasn't been confirmed just yet.

The Magni Unity is still available without the DAC for the same price as before, $119 / $129.

Schitt Audio Magni Unity with Mesh DAC: key features

The Magni Unity delivers 2.5W of power into 32 ohms and has three gain settings to cover most headphone types. It has a "vanishingly low" noise floor – Schitt says noise is inaudible "on all headphones and IEMs".

If you go for the Mesh DAC version of the Magni Unity it features the same "megacomboburrito" digital filter as Schitt's more expensive DACs, enabling you to have a high-end-matching desktop DAC and amp setup without the separate units that usually entails, so it fits in a very small space: 5 inches by 3.5 inches.

Schitt is pretty irreverent with its product descriptions, claiming that the Unity's distortion is "unmeasurable at normal listening levels; 1000x lower than the typical headphones you're using" and noting that while the amp gets "moderately warm" with a DAC card "this is fine, we have made much hotter-running stuff that lasts farrrrrr past the warranty."

More information on the Mesh DAC is available on the Schitt website.

• Astell & Kern HC5 DAC is designed for phones, laptops and gaming
• Includes the DAC and processing from A&K's flagship SP4000 music player
• January 2026, £399 / $450 / €499 (about AU$800)

Astell & Kern has launched two new products: a diminutive DAC and a new set of reference in-ear monitor earbuds.

The AK HC5 is the size of a lighter but there's nothing small about its specification. It pairs the AK4499EX DAC, previously used in the elite Astell & Kern SP4000 Hi-Res Audio player, with the AK4191EQ digital processor to separate analog and digital pathways. reduce noise and preserve even the smallest musical details.

The HC5 connects via USB-C to a wide range of devices including phones, laptops and gaming consoles, and has been designed to work with what Astell & Kern describes as "less than perfect listening sources" by utilizing a very clean, stable amplifier stage that suppresses noise and maximizes the performance of the DAC. It also has the same digital audio remastering tech as A&K's more premium DACs, which is capable of upsampling to PCM 384kHz / DSD256.

It basically means that you can attach this to your device, load up some really high-end music, and get a similar kind of audio performance to A&K's far-more-expensive portable players.

It's a very different (and to my eyes, much better-looking) design than its predecessor, the Astell & Kern HC4, which we reviewed in 2023. However it's also more expensive: where that launched at $220 / £219 / AU$399, the HC5 is £399 / $450 (about AU$800). You'll be able to buy it from January 2026.

Astell & Kern STELLA earphones: key features and pricing

If you're looking for a set of high-end earphones to go with your new DAC, Astell & Kern has you covered: the new STELLA earphones have been created in partnership with VOLK Audio and in collaboration with multiple Grammy award-winning engineer Michael Graves to create "a new pinnacle of IEM precision".

The earphones feature a newly designed 12-driver architecture with four different kinds of transducer (9mm dynamic drivers, balanced armatures, planar magnetic drivers and electrostatic tweeters), a custom 6-way crossover network and five tuned sound tubes, with every component created specifically for these headphones.

A&K says that there's no artificial EQ or forced compensation; the sound signature is "defined entirely by acoustic integrity."

The STELLA are made from a 6061-T6 aluminum shell with satin-black anodising; a stainless steel faceplate with integrated vents; a sapphire crystal glass panel; and a central aluminum plate with the Astell & Kern logo in one earphone and the VOLK Audio one in the other.

These are premium earphones with a premium price: £3,899 / $3,900 (about AU$7,845). Like the HC5, they'll be available from January 2026.

• Lossless, low-latency wireless audio for any USB-C source
• Use your lossless / LDAC headphones with Apple devices
• $59 / £49.99

Fiio has announced a new pocket-sized Bluetooth transmitter, the Air Link. It delivers LDAC and the full aptX codec suite – including aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless – to pretty much any audio source with a USB-C port.

That makes it of particular interest to iPhone, iPad and Mac owners who want the best possible quality from, and a wider choice of, high-end headphones or wireless speakers.

It's an interesting upgrade for any device. There's Bluetooth 6.0, ultra-low latency of less than 50ms and a compact design that means it won't make your phone too bulky.

FiiO Air Link: haven't we heard this one before?

If you're thinking "hang on, didn't Fiio launch this last year?" you're almost right: it's very similar to the Fiio BT11, which also delivered LDAC, Hi-Res Audio and lossless through the same Qualcomm chipset, and was designed to work with everything USB, including iPhones and iPads.

Unfortunately that product has had a bit of a troubled existence, with some online discussion – including an exceptionally long and ongoing thread on head-fi.org – about connectivity issues. Fiio's own website describes connectivity issues with LDAC in particular, blames low quality receivers and suggests using "the LDAC Bluetooth codec in a better environment."

That was a real shame, because the BT11 looked like the perfect product for people we described as "iPhone-loving wireless audiophiles". So I'm really hoping that the Air Link can deliver on the same promise – but this time without any problems.

The Air Link will be available from November 2025 with an official price of $59 / £49.99. We've particularly rated Fiio's releases over the last couple of years as bringing excellent audiophile sound for a lower price than the competition – it's a real leader in the growing 'Chi-fi' world, where Chinese audio brands are bringing the goods. The Fiio JM21 is our favorite budget options among the best hi-res audio players, for example.

• A modular hub featuring DAC, amp and programmable controllers
• Capable of driving headphones up to 300 ohms
• Early bird pricing of $329 / £249 (about AU$499)

For gamers and musicians of a certain age, the words Sound Blaster bring back happy memories: Creative Labs' sound cards ruled the school in the 1990s, replacing PCs' very basic audio with something much more exciting. And now Sound Blaster promises to change the audio world all over again with a new modular hub for all kinds of devices – not just PCs but phones, game consoles and even studio equipment.

It looks like lots of people are interested: the Kickstarter for the Sound Blaster Re:Imagine has only just gone live and it's already reached four times its initial target.

So what exactly is the Re:Imagine? That very much depends on what you want it to do. It's a DAC, it's an amp, it's a sound card, it's a very small retro gaming PC. It's like Lego for your audio.

Sound Blaster Re:Imagine: key features and pricing

The core of the Re:Imagine is a wedge-shaped audio hub, the Horizon Base Unit, for power, audio and device connections. It has a headphone out, line in and out, mic in, Toslink optical in and a USB Type-C audio input too. Wireless connectivity is dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

The hub features a 32-bit/384kHz DAC (meaning it's capable of handling seriously hi-res files) with PCM playback, and there's an amp designed to drive the best wired headphones from 32 to 300 ohms as well as "large" desktop speakers. And there's a 3-inch "smart screen" to control it.

The hub is designed for both stand-alone and connected use; for the former it has a Linux operating system and it's powered by an octa-core ARM system on a chip with a neural processing unit.

The various modules are magnetically attached and square or rectangular, and the default set gives you the aforementioned smart screen plus four programmable buttons, a rotating control knob and dual slider controls. The Horizon Base Unit has five square slots for the modules but Sound Blaster will also make a taller, six-slot version called the Vertex.

The system comes with several apps including an on-device DOS emulator for playing classic PC games; AI-powered versions of the early '90s Sound Blaster Parrot and Dr.Sbaitso apps, which parroted your speech and offered a pre-ChatGPT conversational app respectively; an AI-powered DJ app, and audio recording and visualizer apps.

It's certainly an interesting design, although of course its success is likely to depend on what other modules become available – and on how many people will be willing to drop $500 on one, as that's the predicted retail price. However it's currently much cheaper for Kickstarter early birds: $329 / £249 (about AU$499) plus shipping and taxes.

The Sound Blaster Re:Imagine is on Kickstarter now with anticipated deliveries in June 2026.

FiiO QX13: Two-minute review

Another day inevitably brings another FiiO product – and today’s FiiO product is the QX13 USB headphone amp/DAC. It’s an established product type, sure, but anyone with even a passing interest in the company knows FiiO seldom does things by halves.

So $219 / £199 / AU$349 buys a small, beautifully made device built from either carbon fiber or aluminum, and fronted by some heftily toughened glass. On the inside there’s the usual FiiO over-engineering, from the ESS SAbre DAC arrangement to the Texas Instruments amplification, and on the outside there are a couple of audio outputs, and a small and extremely informative full-colour display (ideal for those who can read all the way down to the bottom line in the opticians without any help). FiiO even provides a protective leather case that attaches magnetically to your iOS or Android device in the interests of both tidiness and swankiness.

Connect via USB-C to a smartphone, games machine, laptop or anything else that could do with an audio leg-up, and the improvements are both obvious and wide-ranging. In almost every respect, but especially where soundstaging, detail retrieval and dynamic impetus are concerned, the QX13 is a significant step on in quality.

If it wasn’t for the device’s tendency to hit treble sounds with quite such vigor, it would be approaching ‘ideal’ and be part of the best portable DACs around.

FiiO QX13 review: Price and release date

• Release date: July 2025
• Price: $219 / £199 / AU$349

The FiiO QX13 headphone amp/DAC is on sale now, and in the United States it sells for $219. In the United Kingdom it's around $219, while in Australia it goes for something like AU$349.

This puts it towards the top of the ‘USB headphone amp/DAC dongle’ market but, as we shall see, FiiO has done its best to make that price seem fair enough…

FiiO QX13 review: Features

• ESS Sabre ES9027SPRO DAC
• Texas Instruments op-amps
• Powerful ‘desktop’ mode

You’ve got to hand it to FiiO – it hasn’t let the requirement for the QX13 to be as compact as possible prevent it absolutely piling on the specification.

At the heart of the product is an ESS Sabre ES9027SPRO digital-to-analog conversion chipset. Capable of dealing with resolutions up to a giddy 32bit/768kHz and DSD512, it features eight channels arranged in parallel and a couple of low-noise ES9312 regulators dealing with output matching on each audio channel. Amplification is provided by half a dozen Texas Instruments op-amps arranged to reduce crosstalk and minimize interference.

Thanks to this optimized layout and also to the efficiency of its heat dissipation, the QX13 can deliver comparable power to full-size headphone amplifiers when it's in ‘desktop’ mode. Meanwhile, its high-precision power regulator can adjust the headphone amplification where gain and output power is concerned, in real time.

Part of the efficiency of the heat dissipation is thanks to the carefully shielded digital and analog boards. This also, of course, allows for more precise signal processing at every stage. Once it’s decoded from digital to analog, the signal passes through several stages of expansion and enhancement in an effort to deliver as complete an account of the information as possible.

There’s more, of course – there’s always more when FiiO is involved. The use of XMOS crystal oscillators allows the QX13 to be compatible with the 10-band lossless PEQ that’s available via the web or the Android FiiO control app. UAC 1.0 mode means the QX13 is compatible with PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and other gaming devices. It’s compatible with the company’s compact ‘ESTICK’ power bank.

But by now you get the picture – FiiO seemingly has a limitless supply of kitchen sinks it’s prepared to throw at every device it manufactures.

Features score: 5 / 5

FiiO QX13 review: Sound quality

• Positive, detailed sound
• Spacious and organized presentation
• Rather over-confident high-frequency reproduction

Unsurprisingly, the FiiO QX13 passes the first test (‘does it improve on the unassisted sound of the average laptop or smartphone?’) in quite some style. It’s an altogether fuller, more convincing and more enjoyable listen than you can achieve simply by plugging your headphones into the output socket of a device like this.

It’s a remarkably open and organized listen. The soundstage it creates during a 24bit/96kHz FLAC file of Paul Simon’s 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover is expansive, carefully controlled and equally carefully laid out. Each element of recording relates naturalistically to each other, but each has a discrete pocket of space in which to operate; the sound is at once focused, unified and spacious. The spaces between each element are given the necessary prominence, and the QX13 keeps these silences very dark indeed.

Frequency response is fairly even. From the bottom end to the very top, the FiiO gives every area more-or-less equal emphasis – it’s slightly tilted towards the higher frequencies, but not fatally so. And at every point, it identifies, retains and reveals an impressive amount of detail. If there is minor, fleeting information regarding tone or texture in a recording, the QX13 has no problem placing it in convincing context.

It’s similarly adept when it comes to the dynamics of harmonic variation in a voice or an instrument, too, and where the broad dynamic shifts in intensity during a 16bit/48kHz FLAC file of Beak’s Carob Honey are concerned, the QX13 fairly steams through them. The amount of dynamic headroom it has available is significant.

The bottom of the frequency range is tightly controlled, and the attack and decay of individual notes and/or hits is so closely observed that rhythmic expression is confident and direct. The midrange communicates in the same positive, eloquent way; there’s really no mistaking a vocalist's attitude when they’re described by the FiiO.

From the lowest frequencies to the highest, there’s a common tonality to the QX13’s presentation that creates a strong impression of singularity and of ‘performance’. At the top of the frequency range, though, the FiiO overplays its hand just a little. It attacks high-frequency information with absolute zeal, and it doesn’t take much (even a mild lack of sympathy where source machine, content or partnering headphones are concerned will do it) for treble sounds to become slightly hard and overly assertive.

This is what I mean by ‘slightly titled towards the higher frequencies’, and it’s this trait that means the QX13 doesn’t pass the second test (“does it represent value for money when judged against its peers?”) with anything like the same breeziness as it does the first. That this FiiO has a fistful of sonic talents is not up for question, but whether it’s the best-sounding device of its type and price must remain a live question.

Sound quality score: 4 / 5

FiiO QX13 review: Design

• Carbon-fiber or aluminum construction
• Magnetic leather case for ultimate iPhone convenience
• 64 x 31 x 13mm (HxWxD)

You’ve two choices where the finish of your QX13 is concerned: carbon-fiber or aluminum.

The former consists of 21 layers of material that adds up, according to FiiO, to a device that’s six times stronger than steel. This version of the QX13 weighs in at just 33.7g, whereas the aluminum alternative is a whole 39.2g, but it does feature a laser-engraved rear panel that, suggests FiiO, makes for an ‘elegant yet advanced’ appearance. Mind you, you won’t be seeing much of either material if you slip the QX13 into its protective leather case. FiiO has, in one of those ‘so simple it’s brilliant’ moments of inspiration, made the case magnetic - so it will cling to your iPhone in the manner of a MagSafe. If you’re an Android user, there’s a magnetic ring provided in the packaging to perform the same function.

The little 64 x 31 x 13mm (HxWxD) device is beautifully made, no matter the material you prefer, and the standard of finish is very good, too. FiiO is to be congratulated on its use of third-generation Corning high-strength glass for the majority of the front panel – its scratch-resistance is second to none.

Design score: 5 / 5

FiiO QX13 review: Usability & setup

• 50.5mm IPS screen
• Hybrid 3.5mm output
• 60- and 120-step volume adjustment scales

As far as setting up the QX13 goes, things couldn’t really be more straightforward. It features two USB-C sockets, one of which is for charging the battery and the other for data transfer – both can be connected simultaneously, and FiiO provides a short length of braided USB-C / USB-C cable to help.

There’s a switch to engage or disengage ‘desktop’ mode, and at the top of the device there are 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm output sockets. The smaller one can be specified as an SPDIF if you want to connect your QX13 to a larger system digitally, so it’s just a question of making the necessary connections and away you go.

Or, at least, away you go provided you have the required dexterity to get the FiiO set up to your satisfaction. The screen is bright and clear, most certainly - but it tries to include too much information in one go (file type, file size, volume level, mode confirmation, UAC type, EQ setting, you name it). The set-up menus themselves are typically FiiO in their thoroughness but the size of the font that’s been used is necessarily small, and the few physical buttons available to navigate them are small too.

Ideally you’ll have eyes like a hawk and fingers like cocktail sticks. Otherwise there could be a fair bit of back-and-forth to get what you want, and some squinting to ensure you’ve got it once the device is functioning.

Usability & setup score: 3.5 / 5

FiiO QX13 review: Value

You can’t judge the value for money of a product like this on the basis of the amount of stuff your money buys – a portable USB DAC/headphone amp needs to be small and light. No, you judge it on the way it’s made, the way it’s finished, the way it’s specified and, most importantly, the way it makes your USB-C device and headphones sound.

And in all these respects, it’s very decent value for money indeed, but the quirks of its audio character mean it’s not quite the no-brainer FiiO was undoubtedly hoping for.

Value score: 4 / 5

Should you buy FiiO QX13?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

FiiO QX13 review: Also consider

How I tested the FiiO QX 13

• Various headphones
• Various audio file types and sizes
• Various sources of music

I mostly used the FiiO QX13 with my Apple MacBook Pro, but I also tried it out with a Google Pixel 8 smartphone and a FiiO M15S. Two of these three products benefited no end from the QX13’s d-to-a conversion and headphone amplification.

I listened to plenty of music of various genres, various file sizes and types, and I listened for well in excess of a working week.

• Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2025

• The Snowsky Tiny is a Hi-Res USB-C DAC for $21.99 / £19.99
• Two versions with different connection options
• 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256; game console compatible

Fiio has launched a new and very small headphone DAC with Hi-Res Audio certification and options for both 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone connections – or USB-C if you prefer. Oh, and it only costs $22 / £20 (about AU$40).

The Snowsky Tiny comes in two versions: the Tiny A has a 3.5mm headphone output and a USB-C charging port, enabling simultaneous audio output and fast device charging.

The Tiny B swaps the USB-C charger for a 4.4mm headphone port, enabling you to output through both the 3.5mm and 4.4mm connectors simultaneously.

Both models support the USB Audio Class 1.0 and 2.0 protocols, so they're compatible with consoles including the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.

FiiO Snowsky Tiny: key features and dimensions

Both versions of the Tiny support hi-res playback up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 uncompressed, with a colored RGB indicator showing the quality of the music you're playing.

Fiio says that inside each model there's an "audiophile-grade" (but unspecified) processing chip, and you can use the companion phone or web app to adjust the on-board 10-frequency EQ.

Both models support in-line controls and call recording, and should work with a wide range of computers as well as smartphones and tablets.

Output power is up to 45mW in the Tiny A, and up to 45mW and 68mW from the Tiny B's 4.4mm and 3.5mm outputs respectively. The Tiny A's USB-C charger delivers power at up to 2A/20V.

The smaller Tiny A weighs around 7g and is 29 x 22 x 10mm in size, while the marginally beefier Tiny B is 10g and around 35 x 24 x 11mm.

Both versions are available in a choice of black, silver or gold – making them a good fit with tradition iPhone colors (though maybe not the bright orange of the iPhone 17 Pro).

Basically, if you want a way to connect the best wired headphones to your iPhone, with a DAC that'll treat your lossless music from Apple Music or Spotify's new lossless support properly, this looks like a pretty stunningly affordable option from a really reliable audiophile brand – we've rated a whole host of Fiio products highly.

The Fiio Tiny is available now from Amazon US, Amazon UK, and from specialist hi-fi retailers.

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• Resistor ladder decoding for more natural, organic audio
• Excellent connectivity both in and out
• £279 / $319 / €319 (about AU$570)

If you'd like to your music to take you higher, FiiO has just the thing: a ladder. Its new K13 R2R DAC contains resistor ladder decoding technology that promises to deliver a luxurious audio experience – and there's a porthole on top so you can take a peek at the electronics as you enjoy their output.

The resistor ladder is a "painstakingly designed" array of resistors that FiiO says decodes audio with a more natural and organic sound, and it's been paired with the firm's proprietary error correction algorithm to deliver precise matching and linearity with ultra-low distortion. FiiO reckons that the result combines sonic accuracy with warmth and natural flow.

FiiO K13 R2R DAC: key features and pricing

The K13 R2R features an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) + DSP system that takes care of the digital signal processing, oversampling and clocking, and it supports PCM up to 1,536kHz and DSD1024.

With 2,400mW of power, the K13 R2R can handle sensitive IEMs and full-powered planar headphones, and there are selectable gain levels capable of powering headphones with 600-ohm resistance.

There are balanced XLR and 4.4mm headphone outs, a single-ended 6.35mm headphone socket and balanced and single-ended line-outs for active monitors, making this a very flexible DAC indeed. FiiO says it's not just a DAC but a platform: it has a XMOS XU316 USB receiver and features USB, optical, co-ax and I²S inputs to deliver very wide connectivity and compatibility.

The new FiiO K13 R2R will go on sale this month, September 2025, with an RRP of $319 / £279 / €319 (about AU$570).

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• The iFi's Go Blu Air is a small battery-powered Bluetooth DAC
• Three-stage processing for optimal audio
• $129 / £129 / AU$229, available now

iFi has announced a new super-portable Bluetooth DAC, the iFi Go Blu Air. It's extremely small even by iFi's usual standards: if the firm's portable DACs get much smaller, they'll be able to sell them to ants.

The Go Blu Air may be small – it's only 5cm tall – but its specification isn't. It packs iFi's signature three-stage audio system and both 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm headphone outs, with iFi's anti-crosstalk system on the 3.5mm output. And it puts out a very respectable 256mW of power, to connect to a range of the best wired headphones and best wired earbuds.

There's also an integrated microphone for your calls and your phone's digital assistant, and for wireless connectivity to your phone or other device, there's LDAC and aptX Adaptive as well as regular Bluetooth.

iFi Go Blu Air: key features and pricing

iFi likes to keep the Bluetooth processing and the audio processing separate to deliver the best possible audio, and to achieve that the Qualcomm QCC5144 Bluetooth 5.2 chipset handles Bluetooth reception and nothing else.

The audio data is processed by a hi-res Cirrus Logic MasterHiFi DAC, which in turn passes the signal onto a dual-mono amplifier.

According to iFi the amp circuitry features "discrete, high-grade components to maximize sonic purity – from TDK C0G and muRata multilayer capacitors, to custom OV Series operational amplifiers with ultra-low distortion (0.0001%)."

In addition to the DAC, iFi has added its own analog XBass and XSpace systems and given them hardware controls so you don't have to reach for your phone. There's also a combined volume control and navigation dial for the same reason.

At just 30g in weight this is a real go-anywhere DAC, and in a nice touch it comes with a magnetic clip that you can use to attach it to your jacket, bag or belt. And according to iFi you can expect a decent 10 hours between charges.

The iFi Go Blu Air is available now (and to pre-order in Australia) with a recommended price of $129 / £129 / AU$229.

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Campfire Audio Relay: Two-minute review

Campfire Audio of Portland, Oregon is not, on the face of it, the most likely company to start competing in the portable USB headphone amp/DAC market. After all, this is a company that revels in doing things its own way, and with a product like this, there’s little scope for individualism.

So the Relay is an unremarkable-looking device by the company’s standards, but it’s certainly compact and well-made enough to compete. Between its AKM 4493 SEQ DAC chip with wide file and resolution compatibility, and its choice of balanced or unbalanced analog outputs, though, it’s specified to a high standard, too. Its basic user interface doesn’t give any indication of the resolution of the file that’s playing, though, which looks a bit remedial against its most obvious and most capable rivals.

In action, the Relay is a revealing, organized, nicely unified listen, one that’s endlessly forthright for better or for worse. Its upfront nature suits some recordings much more than it suits others, it must be said, and while there’s always a market for a hefty dose of sonic excitement it’s not the sort of attitude that automatically lends itself to long listening sessions.

One of the best portable DACs around? Maybe more 'best of the rest', but certainly one to consider if you can road test it first.

Campfire Audio Relay review: Price and release date

• Release date: July 2025
• Price: $229 / £229 / AU$399

The Campfire Audio Relay USB headphone amp/DAC is on sale now, and in the company's native United States it costs $229. In the United Kingdom it's £229, while in Australia it goes for AU$399.

Of course, it’s not as if the Relay is your only choice. We’ve heard and enjoyed alternatives from the likes of Audioquest, Helm and iFi lately, so the Campfire Audio has some stiff competition.

Campfire Audio Relay review: Features

• AKM 4493 SEQ DAC
• Balanced and unbalanced outputs
• DSD and PCM 32bit/768kHz

Products such as this tend to have quite a restricted feature-set. And while this is also true of the Relay, what it’s got is right on the money.

Digital audio information comes in via the USB-C 2.0 slot on the top of the device. From there it’s delivered to an AKM 4493 SEQ DAC chipset that Campfire Audio alighted on for its “analog warmth” and “incredible tonality”. It’s capable of dealing with DSD and PCM content of up to 32bit/768kHz resolution, which really should be plenty.

Once the AKM has converted it, the analog information is output via one of two low-noise, high-output drivers – one feeds a single-ended 3.5mm output, the other a 4.4mm balanced alternative, both of which are on the bottom of the Relay.

Features score: 5 / 5

Campfire Audio Relay review: Design

• 57 x 23 x 10mm (HxWxD)
• Aluminum casework
• Only one finish available

In an admirable show of restraint, Campfire Audio has delivered a portable USB headphone amp/DAC that’s identifiably a portable USB headphone amp/DAC. It can’t have been easy – remember, this is a company that takes every opportunity to go to town where the design of its products is concerned.

About the Relay's only flourish is a little bit of angularity and asymmetry to the anodized aluminum casework. Campfire Audio provides a microfiber cloth and padded pouch to keep the finish in tip-top condition.

The casework itself is a usefully tidy 57 x 23 x 10mm (HxWxD) and the rear panel (which is made of plastic) features a little window affording a glimpse of the AKM DAC chip.

Design score: 4.5 / 5

Campfire Audio review: Sound quality

• Forward, direct presentation
• Good tonal balance
• Endlessly upfront audio balance can be fatiguing

Connected to an Apple MacBook Pro via USB-C and with a pair of Sennheiser IE900 IEMs inserted to the 4.4mm output, the Campfire Audio Relay proves – not especially surprisingly – to offer a considerable improvement over the audio performance the laptop can muster by itself. In some ways, the upgrade is quite dramatic.

A 24bit/96kHz FLAC file of My Crud Princess by No Joy delivered by the Tidal app illustrates the point explicitly. The Relay is a forward, very positive listen that’s able to reveal a lot of detail in the recording – it has a good facility for giving even the more transient, fleeting occurrences the correct amount of weighting and puts them into convincing context. Its presentation is reasonably spacious (though its direct character means there’s not the greatest amount of ‘front/back’ space on the otherwise well-defined soundstage), and it ensures every element gets the sort of elbow room it needs in order to express itself.

The tonal balance is judicious, even if Campfire Audio’s suggestion that it’s “incredible” is stretching things a bit. Frequency response, too, is very nicely judged. From the top of the frequency range down to the bottom, the Relay is even-handed and plays no favorites. Low-frequency stuff is deep and solid, with good shape to bass sounds and sufficient control to attack that momentum levels are high and rhythms are described naturalistically.

The impressive control of attack and decay applies throughout the frequency range, in fact, which allows the Relay to present recordings of all types in a convincingly unified manner. It’s especially adept through the midrange, where voices in particular are packed with information regarding character and attitude as well as tone and texture.
Problems, such as they are, stem from the Campfire Audio’s default attitude of drive, attack and endless positivity. This direct and unequivocal nature is quite exciting on first acquaintance, and undeniably so when you’re listening to something like Da Funk by Daft Punk, but over time it’s a stance that can become quite wearying.

‘A good time all the time,’ can take its toll, and the Relay’s inability to relax or even ease back just a little, even when playing something as pastoral as Peter Broderick’s And It’s Alright, means you’re likely to become fatigued sooner rather than later.

Sound quality score: 4 / 5

Campfire Audio review: Usability & setup

• Wide compatibility with source players…
• Although earlier Windows devices will require a driver
• Rudimentary user interface

On the front panel there’s a company logo that glows red when the Relay is operating, and blinks in a shade of lilac when any changes are made via the control buttons.

There’s one button on the right edge of the Relay - it deals with ‘play/pause’, ‘skip forwards/backwards’ and can toggle between ‘high gain’ and ‘low gain’. Two buttons on the left edge handle ‘volume up’ and ‘volume down’ - press and hold both at the same time and the device begins to cycle through its six different filter settings.

Campfire Audio recommends filter #5 (super slow roll-off) for optimal performance, which does rather make me wonder what the point of the other five settings is. It also recommends setting the volume of your source device to ‘maximum’ and then using the Relay to control volume – it has 60 volume increments, so you shouldn’t have too much difficulty getting to exactly the output level you’d like.

The company includes a 6cm length of braided, branded USB-C to USB-C cable to connect the Relay to your laptop or smartphone. The Relay is compatible with Windows, Mac OS, Android and iOS devices, though Windows 7/8 will require a driver to be downloaded.

Usability & setup score: 4/5

Campfire Audio Relay review: Value

This is a lot of money for not much stuff, it’s true, but the effect this minimal amount of stuff can have on the music you’re listening to can be quite profound.

Value score: 4/5

Should you buy Campfire Audio Relay?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Campfire Audio Relay review: Also consider

How I tested the Campfire Audio Relay review:

• Various headphones
• Various audio file types and sizes
• Various sources of music

I didn’t use it all day every day, but I kept the Campfire Audio Relay connected to either my FiiO M15S Digital Audio Player or my Apple MacBook Pro for well over a week, which is more than enough time to establish what it’s capable of.

I listened to lots of different types of music, in various file types and of lots of different resolutions, and I listened both indoors and outdoors.

I used expensive IEMs via the 4.4mm balanced output and absolutely bog-standard over-ear headphones connected to the 3.5mm unbalanced output.

• Read more about how we test

First reviewed August 2025

iFi has launched two brand new products for people who are serious about sound: the new Zen Blue 3 DAC, and the Zen Can 3 headphone amp. And the DAC is a world first: iFi says it's the world's first wireless DAC to both receive and transmit lossless audio – which could make it a unique addition to our best portable DACs guide. 

The new ZEN Can 3 headphone amp is impressive too. It includes xMEMS solid state drivers, which are used by the Creative Aurvana Ace 2 and some of the newest in-ear monitors we tried at CES 2024, thanks to their super-speedy response times and precision. And it has new options for gamers and movie buffs to get even better audio.

No wires, no loss: the ZEN Blue 3 offers superior streaming

The Zen Blue 3 has Bluetooth 5.4 and the aptX Adaptive codec, which includes aptX Lossless. It delivers Hi-Res audio up to 96kHz via LDAC and LDHC/HWA, enabling you to stream hi-res audio from your phone or computer in lossless CD quality. And because it's two-way, it enables you to benefit from hi-res audio streaming to suitable earbuds and headphones too.

The Zen Blue 3 has a low latency mode that you can use when watching video or playing games to reduce the lag that can sometimes send audio out of sync with the visuals. 

It's not just for wireless use, though. The Zen Blue 3 also a normal wired DAC with USB-C and S/PDIF inputs and a balanced line out, and iFi stresses that it doesn't use a bought-in system on a chip; it has separately sourced Bluetooth, DAC and Op-Amp chips. The amplification stage boasts iFi/AMR’s own ‘OV’ (Operationsverstärker) series op-amps, which iFi says outperforms many commercial chips that use "low grade copper and inexpensive aluminum bond-wire".

When iFi talks DACs, we listen (quite literally) – just see the iFi xDSD Gryphon, iFi hip-dac 3 and iFi Uno for a small taster of what this company can do for your music on the fly. 

The Zen Blue 3 is available from 9 July with a price tag of $299 / £299 / AU$299.

iFi's headphone amp brings xMEMS for your IEMs

The headline feature of the new Zen Can 3 is the use of xMEMS speaker technology, which promises performance that's close to 150x faster than traditional drivers on compatible hardware. And there's improved power output too, with the Zen Can 3 delivering up to 2,000mW of continuous power to drive pretty much every wired headphone imaginable.

In addition to the existing XBass+ and XSace audio enhancements, the Zen Can 3 offers two new audio modes for gaming and movies respectively. Gaming mode ups the level of background sounds so you can better hear enemies approaching, while the movie mode boosts the clarity of dialog. 

Like the Zen Blue 3, the circuitry is cherry-picked from multiple suppliers and uses iFi/AMR's own OV op-amps. 

The Zen Can 3 is available now from ifi-audio.com for $229 / £229 / AU$229.

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• Confused about Flac, MQA and WAV? See our audio files explainer

It's a tough one: you want to upgrade your phone's sound with one of the best portable DACs going, but you're still on an iPhone with a Lightning connector and your plan's not due for an upgrade for a little while – so Apple's newest USB-C toting iPhone 15 is a possibility, rather than a certainty. 

That's OK. Astell & Kern's brutalist, easily pocketable new HB1 DAC (which could even be mistaken for a high-end lighter to the uninitiated) comes with USB-C to Lightning and USB-C to USB-C cables, but if you want to connect to your device wirelessly over Bluetooth, you can do that too!

The product is the HB1, it launched today (October 19), and had we known about it sooner, it most certainly would have featured in our 3 USB-C DACs to turn your iPhone 15 into a bona fide hi-res music player roundup (although A&K's lovely little HC3 does feature there) – and likely our mini selection of the 3 best wireless DACs to seriously upgrade music from your smartphone too. 

But I can certainly draw your attention to the AK HB1 now. It is a Bluetooth and USB Type-C DAC/Amp that's light, portable, and with a powerful built-in amplifier plus a premium microphone. 

And it's not just for your phone! You can connect it to PCs, tablets, game consoles, and more. Via wired USB, it supports Native DSD256 and 32-bit/384 kHz playback and it's equipped with a renderer function that supports MQA 8X (24-bit/384 kHz) too. 

Want to stick with Bluetooth? The AK HB1 accommodates an extensive selection of codecs to deliver smooth playback of high-resolution audio through LDAC and aptX HD codec support, as well as the more common AAC and SBC for PCs and smartphones. 

You'll still need a set of the best wired headphones ending in either a 3.5 mm unbalanced or 4.4 mm balanced jack (the wireless bit is from the DAC to your device) but this is always the case with such designs and considering the audio upgrades Astell & Kern is capable of, it's a small price to pay. 

Opinion: A&K hasn't forgotten gaming or in-car use either – and I predict a huge hit

And let's talk about leveling up your gaming experience, where IEMs and better quality audio are certainly having a moment – just see the Razer Moray or the Final VR2000 for starters.

The AK HB1 offers simultaneous Support for UAC 1.0 and UAC 2.0 for gaming. To clarify: while modern smartphones, tablets, and PCs support UAC 2.0 connections, many gaming devices still exclusively support UAC 1.0 connections (Sony PS5, I'm looking at you). The HB1 caters to both, so you could connect it to your Sony console or  Nintendo Switch, say, to enjoy low latency, enhanced sound in an immersive gaming session.

The high-quality mic should also ensure crystal-clear voice quality and stability for taking calls while working (or gaming) because it is equipped with Clear Voice Capture technology to suppress ambient noise while delivering clear vocals. 

And I haven't even touched upon the Car Mode! Activate AK HB1's dedicated Car Mode to enjoy high-quality sound at the wheel. Simply by connecting AK HB1 to your vehicle's AUX port, its power will automatically turn on/off based on your vehicle's ignition, thus allowing you to enjoy supercharged audio from your paired devices.

OK, it's a little more expensive than your standard plug'n'play DAC, at $250 / £259 / AU$489, but then it does so much more. And given its plethora of use scenarios and connectivity options, I reckon it'll be a huge hit. 

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Unless you've been marooned on a remote Caribbean island willingly or otherwise for the past few weeks (I'm jealous, by the way), you'll have noticed that Apple's latest clutch of iPhones has landed. Furthermore, our iPhone 15 review 15 is in and it's resoundingly good news. 

The headline-grabber is iPhone's new USB-C port, garnering a collective "Finally, one charger to rule them all!" response across your global TR team. 

For the quality-conscious music lover though, there's another bonus on offer. And that, friends, is access to hi-res audio (see Apple Music's top tier Hi-Res Lossless offering, available at no extra cost to regular Apple Music subscribers) without a fiddly, clunky white Apple adapter hooked up to one of the best portable DACs – and from there on to some of the best wired headphones. 

With your new iPhone, a simple USB-C DAC can go straight into the iPhone 15 (or iPhone 15 Pro; iPhone 15 Pro Max), and on to your chosen wired listening gear, thus giving you a digital-to-analog conversion far superior to that afforded by the tiny DAC squirrelled away in your shiny new handset. 

And the best part is, USB-C DACs don't cost much at all! Check out the three options I've selected, and get ready for clean hi-res audio on the fly from your iPhone 15. If you love music, you'll be glad of these little beauties – I promise you. 

iFi GO Link 

British audio specialist iFi has been on a mission to shrink traditional hi-fi separates for some time and its December 2022-issue affordable GO Link portable DAC is no exception, measuring the size of a regular USB stick.

This dongle-style headphone amp and DAC connects via USB-C with a 3.5mm headphone input at the other end and as well as levelling up your sonics to permit hi-res audio, the device doubles as a 3.5mm adaptor, making it particularly handy for those with tabets that aren’t blessed with a headphone output (tenth-generation iPad we're staring at you).

Despite its bijou proportions, it is a comprehensive offering with support for hi-res music files up to 32-bit/384kHz, DSD up to 11.2MHz (DSD256) and MQA, while that's still around, anyway…

Inside the GO Link's lightweight magnesium alloy case there’s a DAC chip from ESS Technology’s Sabre HiFi series, Quad DAC+ and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator tech, along with iFi’s dedicated clock circuitry for reduced distortion and enhanced dynamic range.

But perhaps even more remarkable is the GO Link’s decidedly diminutive price tag, with the unit costing a mere £59 / $59 /  AU$87. An ideal stocking filler for the budding audiophile and iPhone 15 owner in your life? I'll say. 

FiiO KA13

Announced barely a week ago, FiiO KA13's timing is perfect – as is the company's track record; see the excellent BTR7 DAC, FT3 over-ear headphones and M15S hi-res audio player for reference.

You might mistake the KA13 for a lighter until you see its USB-C port, but since iPhone 15's USB-C port is what we're focusing on here (and how it grants you much easier access to hi-res audio) the KA13 could soon be an ideal companion for your commute. 

Using dual CS43131 32-bit DACs and 8262 Op-Amps, FiiO's KA13 delivers full support for 32-bit/384kHz and native DSD256 hi-res audio files, making it suitable for wide range of sources aside from your new iPhone too, including Android, PCs and more.

Despite the KA13's portable size (a mere 56.3 x 22 x 10.5mm), FiiO's engineers have managed to fit both single-ended (3.5 mm) and balanced (4.4 mm) headphone outputs into its slender frame too, so you connect it to any cans or IEMs you want, really.

The FiiO KA13 also features a 'Desktop Mode' which can be manually selected to increase the power output to an impressive 550mW and the sleek metallic chassis features an ambient light window which changes colour to easily show the type and resolution of the audio file being played: PCM ≤48kHz will display light blue, PCM >48kHz will display yellow and DSD displays green. I personally love a visual representation of the file I'm streaming – and it's a perk more readily seen on much larger DACs. 

And again, it's affordable! The FiiO KA13 will be available from October – so enough time to get used to your shiny new iPhone 15 handset – priced $79, £69, €74 (which is around AU$123) – but you can also scroll down for the best deals in your region, at the end of this mini roundup. 

Astell & Kern HC3

Earlier in the year, when the iPhone 15 was just a glint in Tim Cook's eye, I wrote a feature entitled 'If this cheap USB-C DAC doesn't get you into hi-res audio on iPhone, nothing will'. This is that DAC. 

This little bobby dazzler offers access to Apple Music Classical and frankly, any hi-res file you can squirrel away in your iPhone. It could have you signing up for a Qobuz trial (one of the pioneers of hi-res streaming), just to see what your newly souped-up iPhone system can do with it. 

We did cover the Astell & Kern HC3 USB-C DAC upon its release as straight news too, if you want cold, hard specs. What I'd like you to know is that once I got hold of one, I never let it go. 

And at just £199 in the UK, it's another way to buy into hi-res audio without the high prices. Nobody wants an un-sexy audio setup sticking out of their pocket and that is not what you'll get here. This is Astell & Kern, the brutalist, unapologetic audio star best-known for making some of the best hi-res audio players on the planet – see the its A&ultima SP2000T and A&norma SR25 MKII for reference. With A&K, style is a given. 

The svelte unit boasts a pair of highly-regarded quad DAC ESS ES9219MQ chips, delivering support for audio files up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM, native DSD256, and full MQA rendering. The "final fold" of the MQA rendering makes the LED light glow magenta so you know you're getting the goods, plus it boasts a reassuringly wide frequency response of 20Hz to 70kHz.

There's no onboard battery and it will drain your iPhone 15's battery across the course of a day, but honestly? The musical clarity on your journey home will be worth it. 

As well as allowing hi-res playback, the HC3's USP is its built-in microphone connectivity, promising crystal clear talkback for online gaming. Note that it doesn't contain a mic, it just has a mic input. When using my iPhone, A&K also warns that the call function won't work – but who's taking calls when the hi-res audio is this good? 

OK, when lined up against seriously wallet-friendly options such as the two products listed above (or the iFi Uno for example), the HC3 is not ridiculously cheap, but I want you to know that it is emphatically worth it if you're wondering what portable hi-res audio can do for you – particularly if you've just treated yourself to a new iPhone 15. 

You might also like

• 3 of the best wireless DACs to seriously upgrade music from your smartphone
• This tiny Fiio DAC made me reconsider listening to Bluetooth audio on my iPhone
• If this cheap USB-C DAC doesn't get you into hi-res audio on iPhone, nothing will

So, you'd like better music than that which the tiny DAC (or digital-to-analog converter) squirrelled away in your phone can deliver, yes? Good call. 

But that means a complicated setup of wires, from the device to one of the best portables DACs – possibly via a separate headphone amp – and on to your ears via some of the best wired headphones, snagging on bag zippers, coat buttons and unsuspecting commuters all the way, right? 

Actually, no – and this trio of wireless DACs is proof. I didn't think I'd like them, but here we are. As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and I can tell you that these choices are seriously good for the money. 

We aren't doing away with wires entirely: one of these DACs sports 4.4mm and 3.5mm headphone jacks; one boasts a 2.5mm balanced port in addition to the 3.5mm; and the other totes just the "regular" 3.5mm in, to accept your chosen IEMs. And how many phones these days come with even a basic jack? (Answer: the Sony Xperia 1 V, which I believe to be the best smartphone for sound, and Nokia's latest inexpensive feature phones, but it's a dying breed.) 

The point is, when using your favorite wired earbuds to listen to tracks rather than their wire-free counterparts, you'll get a levelled up sonic presentation owing to the design, seal and fit – as I found when testing Sennheiser's custom ear tips with the IE600. 

However, you're also getting a DAC that levels up the sound from your phone without being physically tethered to it, even though it does use Bluetooth (including aptX, aptX Low Latency, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and Sony's proprietary LDAC) to get there. 

I love this solution because my phone can stay safely in my bag while my little DAC can control volume and, in most cases, playback. Mostly, though, it offers a serious step up on even the best wireless earbuds paired straight to my phone. 

1. FiiO BTR7

The FiiO BTR7 sports a 3.5mm and a 4.4mm Pentaconn headphone output and basically, the budding audiophile in your life needs it. It was unveiled just over a year ago and can be picked up now for around $200 / £175 / AU$279, including cables and a premium-looking protective gray case. 

I've never heard audio this good from my iPhone without a weak-point wiring situation protruding from its Lightning port. Also, it has a mic for calls, shows me what's going on in terms of codec and resolution on a lovely, bright 1.3-inch IPS color screen and is the size of an elongated matchbox. 

Although it doesn't feature in this list, the similarly priced iFi Go Blu (which I helped review for TechRadar's sister publication, What Hi-Fi?) is a little smaller, at 26g versus 45g. Nevertheless, I found the sound of the BTR7 more neutral and noise-free.

Also, the FiiO Control app, which offers adjustable EQ settings with a full parametric equalizer – you can have a total of eight presets here – is easy to understand and allows you to manually select Bluetooth codecs, of which there are zero hi-res heavy-hitter absentees.

It uses dual ESS ES9219C DAC chips and an XMOS XUF208 processor to deliver up to 32-bit/384kHz audio, DSD256, and MQA 8x decoding for Tidal’s top-tier Master Quality tracks – although Tidal's hi-res FLAC update has now landed, too. Then, there's a pair of THX AAA-28 amps to boast up to 160mW of power through the single-ended 3.5mm output or 320mW through the balanced 4.4mm Pentaconn connection. 

As I've previously mentioned, I used some of the best over-ear headphones we've tested, namely the Edifier Stax Spirit S3 planar magnetic headphones, Sivga Oriole and the Focal Bathys, using an unbalanced connection to better test the oomph. The FiiO BTR7 exceeded my expectations considerably – this device is powerful. I never needed to crank up the volume beyond 45 of its 60 increments to get punchy, immersive audio. 

The Bluetooth chip is the QCC5124, so you're getting Bluetooth 5.1. It isn't the cheapest option on the market, and this shouldn't be viewed as a dedicated review (although if you're willing to translate it, our Swiss contingent has written a glowing FiiO BTR7 review), but I think the FiiO BTR7 makes much sense. 

2. Audiolab M-DAC Nano

One of my favorite things about this simple pair-and-play DAC is the lovely 64-step digital volume dial built into the left corner of its little square design – which feels more like a solo eyeshadow cosmetics case than a piece of hi-fi. 

But don’t be fooled by its bijou dimensions; the M-DAC Nano is a powerful, pocketable DAC. It’s about as simple as a gadget such as this can be: just connect the Audiolab to your smartphone or DAP (or "digital audio player") wirelessly, plug in a pair of wired headphones and away you go.

The ace up Audiolab's sleeve is a sly "F" button on the other top corner of the unit to enable 32bit/384kHz upscaling. There's no visual indication of your file type or resolution otherwise, but if you simply relax and let your ears do their good work, you'll hear that this DAC's doing its part. 

It's a slightly older proposition, having launched in late 2018 (for most of us) and thus it supports Bluetooth 4.2 (with aptX, aptX Low Latency and AAC codecs covered); but for the money, I truly believe you can't go wrong. 

My iPhone sounds far better with it than without it – and without being physically tethered to a Lightning to USB adapter, or a wired DAC (such as the splendid Astell & Kern HC3) in an elaborate and easy-to-break configuration. It's also by far the lightest option in this mini roundup, at only 28g.

3. Hidizs AP80 Pro-X

I must caveat what I'm about to say with this: if you're buying this device, I urge you to buy the corresponding MS3 wired headphones, too; for the money, it's an excellent little system. 

And although I'm focusing on this little box's credentials purely as a wireless DAC to handle and celebrate music from your phone (it does a fine job of it too), the Hidizs AP80 Pro-X is actually a dedicated hi-res player in its own right, albeit one you need a microSD card to actually store any music files on.

For a sub-$300 fee (roughly £348 or around AU$440), this player and in-ear headphones will give you up to 11 hours of playback on a single charge. For reference, Astell & Kern's excellent A&norma SR25 MKII offer up to 20 hours, but the company's flagship A&ultima SP2000T promise only nine – so the humbly priced Hidizs is holding its own against much pricier rivals.

The AP80 Pro-X features dual DAC chips and supports hi-res PCM, DSD and MQA files, as well as Bluetooth connectivity including Sony’s LDAC codec and HiBy UAT (Ultra Audio Transmission), which promises 192kHz passthrough with a maximum 1.2Mbps data rate.

And when simply paired to your phone, the Hidizs' little 2.45-inch 480 x 360 touchscreen is responsive, clear and remarkably colorful in any light, displaying the higher-res specs you love to see – and you can select the Bluetooth codec section in Settings on the player itself. 

The Hidizs feels so much more expensive than it is – and it may even prove to be the conversation starter your commute needs. Of course, if you'd rather not pass the time with chatter, simply hide it in a pocket and get back to enjoying those glorious LDAC tracks. 

I'm quitting the dropped intro and coming right out with it: this little portable Bluetooth receiver, headphone amplifier and DAC is a game-changer. 

Why? A few reasons, the biggest of which is that I thought Bluetooth DACs were a weird idea until I tried it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should tell you what it is first – the Fiio BTR7, unveiled just over a year ago, and now available for around $200 / £175 / AU$279, including cables and a premium-looking protective gray case. At the end of this piece, I'll list the best prices in your region. What you need to know is that it differs from most of the best portable DACs we've tested in that it aims to level up the Bluetooth audio from your phone to your chosen wired headphones rather than forcing you to go wired all the way. 

I have never heard audio this good from my iPhone without a weak-point wiring situation protruding from its Lightning port – and by that, I mean right now, my iPhone is tucked safely in my bag, away from potential thieving fingers on London's transport network. But I'm still streaming Qobuz tracks from said phone on wired audiophile cans (no 3.5mm headphone jack on most phones these days as I'm sure you know, although the Sony Xperia 1 V bucks the trend), and the item my headphones are physically hooked up to can control playback and volume, has a mic for calls, shows me what's going on in terms of codec and resolution with a lovely bright 1.3-inch IPS color screen and is as big as an elongated matchbox. 

Anyone familiar with the similarly priced iFi Go Blu (which I reviewed for TechRadar's sister publication, What Hi-Fi?) should note that the BTR7 is just a little bigger and heavier at 45g versus 26g. And I found the sound of the BTR7 more neutral and noise-free. Now, you may like the added warmth of the Go Blu and that XBass button, but the beauty is that thanks to the Fiio's new EQ features, you can add your own special sauce here should you wish. 

Good things come in small packages

The BTR7 isn't just a wireless DAC, though it's emphatically one of the best such devices I've heard at this level. You can choose between a USB-C to Lightning cable or USB-C to USB-A connector, in addition to the USB-C to USB-C supplied as standard. Now, although this USB-C port is used for charging, there's a switch on the lower-right edge of the unit called 'Charge', which must be switched on to charge it. Crucially, you can turn it off to prevent it from draining your phone battery when connected and playing music via USB-C. That's right, you get USB-C audio here too, so it also functions like a regular USB-C dongle, like the iFi Go Link.

Also, the FiiO Control app, which offers adjustable EQ settings with a full parametric equalizer ( I like to alter it for various cans; you can have a total of eight presets here), is easy to understand and lets users manually select Bluetooth codes, of which there are zero hi-res heavy hitter absentees.

This might be all you need to know in terms of specs. It shouldn't really have come as such a surprise to me that this thing quickly became a daily necessity whether driving or walking (did I mention there's an excellent car mode to ping audio to your car's speakers?) given that I recently tried and loved Fiio's M15S hi-res audio player, and the Fiio M11S is another winner. But come on, we want to get granular about specs, resolution and such, don't we? Let's go. 

Excellent EQ features and super-reliability

Right: the Fiio BTR7 supports wired and wireless charging, but juicing up from flat to full will take around three hours using a Qi wireless charger or 90 minutes via USB-C. It uses dual ESS ES9219C DAC chips and an XMOS XUF208 processor to deliver up to 32-bit/384kHz audio, DSD256, and MQA 8x decoding for Tidal’s top-tier Master Quality tracks. Then, there's a pair of THX AAA-28 amps to boast up to 160mW of power through the single-ended 3.5mm output or 320mW through the balanced 4.4mm Pentaconn connection. 

The theory goes that splitting the audio thus – ie. a dual-DAC, dual-amp design – reduces distortion and crosstalk while increasing dynamic range. However it's been achieved, this is the cleanest-sounding Bluetooth audio I've heard from my cans. I used some of the best over-ear headphones we've tested, namely the Edifier Stax Spirit S3 planar magnetic headphones, Sivga Oriole and the Focal Bathys, using an unbalanced connection to glean how much oomph I got. The Fiio BTR7 exceeded my expectations considerably – this thing is powerful. I never needed to crank the volume beyond 45 of 60 increments to get punchy, immersive audio. 

The Bluetooth chip is the QCC5124, so you're getting Bluetooth 5.1. Your audio format support is comprehensive, with SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX Low Latency, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and Sony's proprietary LDAC all on the menu. 

Any minor downsides? Two: the 880mAh battery is supposedly good for nine hours of wireless listening, but that depends on what you're listening to. LDAC is a bit of a battery drainer and listening to tracks via Sony's proprietary audio coding technology gave me just over seven hours of use with my Sivga Orioles. 

And it'd be nice to be able to name each of the eight saved EQ presets. I might name them after each set of headphones so I don't have to scroll and try to remember which ones I added more warmth to or augmented the treble. But look, this is audiophile territory, where products often leave you scratching your head by having what I like to call "a temporary peak hi-fi wobble." In truth, the Fiio has yet to let me down. And it's such good fun. 

The budding audiophile in your life needs this

When the fun centers around tweaking the music, it's a sure sign of humble talent in a product. I'll be honest, my thinking before trying out this lovely little thing was that you can buy a portable DAC dongle and stay wired, or you can go Bluetooth and take a hit on audio quality for the benefit of convenience. So why do we need this halfway house? 

All I can say is that my iPhone sounds so much better with it than without it – and now it needn't be physically tethered to an elaborate setup involving a Lightning to USB adapter or a DAC such as the splendid Astell & Kern HC3. 

Trumpets and drums in John Coltrane's Blue Train are textured, directional and vibrant. The walking bass is exposed and given ample space to sign, even alongside the sparkling treble registers of complicated piano passages. But give it something more raucous, like Lethal Bizzle's Fester Skank, and it won't shy away from celebrating the juicy grime riff with accuracy and oodles of clout. My playlist continues to Krept & Konan/Jeremih's Freak of the Week, and the "yeah" yelps dart between each ear in ways I'd yet to discover in this regular-rotation track, underpinned by an admirably neutral presentation. 

In summary, it's not the cheapest option on the market, and this should not be viewed as a full star-rated review (although if you're willing to translate it, our Swiss contingent has written a glowing Fiio BTR7 review), but I think the Fiio BTR7 makes an awful lot of sense and represents serious sound-per-pound value for the budding audiophile or even the seasoned veteran. My take? Someone's Father's Day gift may just have been sorted. 

Our team of audio experts has tested all of the best DACs you can buy. Every option in this guide has been rigorously reviewed using high quality audio sources and premium headphones to ensure true audiophile performance. That's why you can trust this list, it features only the very best. Any DAC here will significantly upgrade your setup, whether you're listening on smartphone or home hi-fi system.

A DAC (digital-to-analog converter) transforms digital audio files into the analog sound we can hear. Every digital music source has one built in, but they're often basic and not optimized for high-fidelity sound.

That’s where dedicated desktops and portable DACs come in. They deliver superior conversion and handle high-resolution audio formats far better than the DACs inside most smartphones and laptops. The result is clearer, more detailed, and dynamic sound. If you're unsure why that matters, read our hi-res audio explainer.

For the best experience, pair a DAC with one of the best wired headphones and one of the best music streaming services. Whether you're chasing the best sound with the best headphones or simply want a cleaner, more immersive listen, every DAC in this guide offers a serious step up.

Best portable DACs

The best budget portable USB-C DAC

The iFi GO Link Max is a newer addition to our guide and instantly takes the top spot, as it's an accomplished little device that makes a hi-res audio player using your average smartphone for a very affordable and great value price.

It's similar to other GO Link models before it from the iFi brand, but this version also adds a 4.4mm headphone out and gets rid of MQA (the Master Quality Authenticated audio format) compatibility, which we said in our review is no major loss for most people.

This Max version is a little larger and more expensive than the iFi GO Link USB DAC but c'mon, it's not like it's big – it'll still slip into a pocket nicely. We also noted during our testing that any added bulk here isn't really noticeable thanks to the sleek-looking metal casing. The only design downside is the exposed braided cable that connects the DAC to the part that then plugs into a source device, which felt a little vulnerable. We're not saying it'll break, but we wouldn't class this as a durable device.

The iFi GO Link Max performed incredibly well throughout our testing, you'll just need a decent pair of headphones to get the most from it. It's positive and punchy, revealing impressive levels of detail and dynamism.

The (extra) good news is, it offers significant value for money and, by DAC standards, is an affordable pick that won't disappoint anyone looking to seriously upgrade the sound of their computer of phone. In our review, we called the difference "remarkable", which pretty much says it all. Not bad for something that comes in under $80 / £80, eh?

Read the full iFi GO Link Max review

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The best budget desktop portable DAC

The iFi Uno DAC is one of the most affordable options on our list, but during our testing we were surprised to find that the improvements it makes to your sound experience are massive.

We learned that, as long as you don’t intend to listen at either very quiet or very loud volume levels, the sound of your laptop once the Uno is plugged in is improved dramatically. We think even those who don't consider themselves audiophiles will recognize the improvement and agree that it's up there with the best portable DACs.

In our iFi Uno review we commended this portable DAC for its detail retrieval, low-frequency extension, sound staging, transient response and stereo focus. These are all essential qualities that go towards delivering a genuinely enjoyable and convincing sound reproduction.

Read our full iFi Uno review

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The best premium portable DAC

The iFi xDSD Gryphon widens the operability and relevance of audio company iFi's DAC and headphone amp range by offering wireless, as well as wired, connectivity in a design that's small, light and portable. No, the xDSD Gryphon is not cheap, but the way it performs justifies the price and means it's our top premium portable pick.

The iFi xDSD Gryphon brings you major flexibility in terms of connectivity and digital audio content. It'll happy work with digital files of many types. In fact, we bet there’s no chance it can’t deal with what you give it. From there, it delivers what we described as "a completely confident and convincing sonic attitude" in our review – just make sure you use headphones that are up to the iFi xDSD Gryphon's high standards.

If you're looking for a device that’s more than capable of doing the audio business, regardless of which digital film you're using and whether you want desktop or portable listening, it’s a no-brainer.

Read our full iFi xDSD Gryphon review

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The best wireless portable DAC

The FiiO BTR17 might be a tiny DAC, but trust us – it’s packed with functionality that feels far beyond its dinky physical confines.

You can get your digital audio on board via either USB-C or Bluetooth 5.4 with top-tier codec compatibility including LDAC and aptX Lossless, which is why it’s our top wireless pick. Sure, Bluetooth has its limitations when it comes to true hi-res playback, but if you want to use your wired IEMs wirelessly (at least, only wired to the DAC itself, not your source device), this is one of the best ways to do it.

Inside are a pair of ESS ES9069Q DACs that are capable of handling files up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512 resolution, plus the option of balanced or unbalanced headphone outputs. The battery life is solid, and when used as a desktop amp, it delivers a surprisingly powerful 650mW + 650mW output.

The BTR17’s detailed, agile sound has plenty of clarity and drive, though the bass may not satisfy those craving serious low-end power. And it is worth mentioning that while its small size is great for portability, it does make the screen and controls a bit fiddly.

Considering there are pricier rivals that aren’t this well specified, the FiiO BTR17 offers outstanding value for money. If you’re curious about another wireless route, do check out the iFi Go Pods, which give your wired IEMs a high-quality Bluetooth upgrade direct to the earpieces and without a standalone DAC.

Read our full FiiO BTR17 review

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The best mid-range desktop portable DAC

Our best mid-range desktop DAC is the Topping DX5 II, a versatile unit that can turn your laptop or phone into a proper hi-fi system.

It offers a wide selection of digital inputs and an even broader choice of balanced and unbalanced outputs, which means it can function as both a DAC and headphone amp. It can also serve as a preamp for a traditional stereo system or powered speakers, which is something not every desktop DAC at this level can manage.

This is a high-resolution device, featuring ESS Sabre digital-to-analogue conversion with support up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512. Topping has also included several of its proprietary desktop technologies to maximise sonic performance. Build quality is excellent, with a premium finish and a choice of finishes that will smarten up any desk setup.

As for sound, it’s outstanding. In our review, we wrote that it “creates a big, open soundstage and organises it carefully.” It’s detailed and dynamic, with impressive low-frequency control, an expressive midrange and a smooth presentation from top to bottom. There’s a slight hint of brightness in the treble, but that’s the only minor caveat here. If you’re looking for a mid-priced desktop DAC, the Topping DX5 II is an easy recommendation.

Read our full Topping DX5 II review

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The best premium desktop portable DAC

The original Chord Mojo DAC was at the top of our best portable DAC list for a long time, but it's been replaced by the Chord Mojo DAC 2, which is our top premium pick for desktop listening. Replacing a product that’s borderline iconic can’t be easy - which is maybe why it’s taken Chord Electronics seven years to replace its original Mojo DAC / headphone amp.

The Chord Mojo DAC 2 is very easy to use. All you need to do is hook a digital source into one end of the device, and some wired headphones into the other.

During testing, we found this to be a brilliantly accomplished device, able to deliver all the musicality, all the detail, all the refinement and all the excitement hidden in what previously sounded like quite humdrum digital audio files. In pure performance terms, the Chord Mojo 2 almost constitutes a bargain.

But there are several drawbacks, too. The Mojo 2 is bulky (the same size and weight as the original it's replacing) and it doesn't have wireless connectivity. What's more, its control interface can be confusing. Given its size, we'd recommend it as a desktop option and given its high price tag, it's our premium pick.

Read our full Chord Mojo 2 review

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The best portable DAC for design

If want want a DAC that doesn't just sound good, but looks great too, then meet the FiiO KA15. It looks like a tiny teal-colored cassette Walkman, but it's actually a very serious performer too.

It has a high power output in desktop mode, capable of delivering up to 2 x 560mW. This enables it to drive even fairly demanding headphones, and it has both 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm headphone outputs. The 3.5mm can also be used as an audio output.

With dual DACs and dual op-amps it delivers great sound and huge flexibility across smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop PCs and handheld games consoles. Although FiiO's iPhone app doesn't work with the KA15, but that's one of the only drawbacks here.

How does it sound? Very enjoyable indeed. In our review, we wrote: "it has a wide soundstage and delivers plenty of detail." Sound is warm and there are lots of options to try too, like switchable amplification modes and digital filtering. If you want a well-designed DAC that's portable, tiny and will make you smile thanks to its cute aesthetic, then this one is for you.

Read our full FiiO KA15 review

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The best portable DAC if money is no object

The iFi iDSD Valkyrie isn’t cheap, or particularly portable either, but it’s a knockout desktop (or as iFI calls it, “transportable”) DAC/amp that delivers a staggeringly complete, musical sound.

In testing, what stood out most was its detail and agility. Vocals are lifelike, staging is spacious and bass is dynamic. With quad Burr-Brown PCM1793 DACs, an FPGA for extensive filtering and upscaling (including DSD512/1024), and Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Lossless, the Valkyrie gives you huge scope to shape the performance you get. And 18 hours of battery life from four batteries keeps it going for long listening sessions.

However, there are caveats. With so many modes, it’s easy to over-process the sound if you push things too far. What’s more, the multi-function buttons and labels make ergonomics fussy. It’s also far larger than most “portable” rivals.

If you can stomach the price and want fantastic performance with serious tweakability, the Valkyrie is controlled, insightful and engaging.

Read our full iFi iDSD Valkyrie DAC review

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The best USB-C DAC for phones

Want a relatively cheap DAC for your phone that delivers punchy performance that belies its price? That's what the iFi GO Link 2 exists for. It's not as beefy as its bigger sibling, the GO Link Max, and doesn't quite match it on power output, but those on a stricter budget will still find much to love about the Link 2.

For one, the thing is practically weightless, coming in at less than 8g. It's the very definition of portable, and can be stored practically anywhere when not in use, be that your pocket, backpack, or a desk drawer.

If you're strictly looking for a cheaper way to access high-res audio, the Link 2 delivers. The device offers a crisp, open soundstage with fantastic bass and depth. As a result, you'll get the best results from the Link 2 with relatively low impedance headphones.

On the features front, it's not quite as rich as the GO Link Max; the Link 2 only offers support for 3.5mm headphones. And while it's USB-C by default, it does come with USB-A and Lightning port adapters in the box, making this a very robust portable DAC.

Read the full iFi GO Link 2 review

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Other portable DACs to consider

Campfire Audio Relay: We liked this DAC during testing. It's upfront and informative. However, like so much of what the Campfire Audio brand does, the sound won't be for everyone. It's a very specific sonic flavor. Read our full Campfire Audio Relay review for all of the details.

FiiO QX13: Take a look at our FiiO QX13 review and you'll see there's a lot to love here, expect open and detailed sound from a very well-specified little DAC option. The only problem? There are just so many fantastic rivals on the market now. Which means you can do better for the money.

Hidizs S8 Pro Robin: Hidizs launched this DAC with a shockingly low price tag of just $99 in the US and £79 in the UK. Could the S8 PRO Robin knock the iFi Uno off as our top budget buy recommendation, given that it has the same hi-res support – PCM files of up to 32bit/384kHz resolution and DSD256? Well, you've seen the list, you know it didn't. The iFi Uno is simply a better-sounding, better-value buy all round, as you can read in our full Hidizs S8 Pro Robin review. Looks like Robin will remain a sidekick a little longer, at least.

iFi GO Bar Kensei: This is a beautiful steel swordsman of a DAC, but there were just a few issues with it through the top end, for us. We tested a second unit to make sure, but this turned out to be a disappointment by iFi's high standards, as our iFi GO Bar Kensei review digs into.

iFi Go Blu Air: This DAC is cheap and ultra tiny, but that means no screen. There's also no USB-C audio here and it's a bit of a plasticky design too, to be honest. Read our full iFi Go Blu Air review to find out more.

iFi hip-dac 3: Read our iFi hip-dac 3 review and you'll see this DAC is still a top performer in our books. The only reason it's not in the guide anymore is it's a little old now compared to newer rivals. But we still rate its refined sound, features and lovely design.

iFi iDSD Diablo: Elsewhere in iFi-land, the excellent iFi iDSD Diablo was superseded by the newer iFi iDSD Diablo 2, so while both are excellent, we swapped in the newer model as a worthy replacement in this guide. But this means that if you see a deal on the original, it might be a great little bargain, so we've given it a place in this little section.

iFi iDSD Diablo 2: Even better than the original Diablo above, this one delivers a neutral and direct sound when paired with some seriously high-quality headphones. Take a look at our iFi iDSD Diablo 2 review and you'll see it's a top pick if you're willing to pay top prices. It only leaves our guide because it's been replaced by another newer and slightly more impressive device from iFi, the Valkyrie.

iFi Zen DAC 3: This DAC was our former 'best mid-range desktop' pick before being nudged out by the Topping DX5 II. We still recommend it, but DX5 II simply delivers stronger overall performance. If you're weighing up alternatives, read our iFi Zen DAC 3 review. It remains a top choice with excellent sound, a solid feature set and impressive build quality.

How to choose the best portable DAC for you

OK, we'll level with you. This isn’t the most glamorous tech purchase you'll ever make. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t demand for it and that you shouldn't buy one. Au contraire, if you care about the quality of your music, you should!

New DACs are released all the time – large devices, smaller ones, those that are mains-powered and others that are battery-powered. You can get DACS for iPhones, as well as models with wired or wireless connectivity, too. We've explained all below, because we want you to make the right purchase for you and one you'll love for years to come.

In this guide we’re focusing on the best of the most portable DACs around. If you give any one of these fine items a listen, then we guarantee your ears will thank you.

Latest Updates

March 2, 2026
Refreshed and condensed the introduction. Switched the 'best for design' option to the FiiO KA15 from the iFi hip-dac 3. Also replaced the iFi Zen DAC 3 with the Topping DX5 II as our 'best mid-range desktop DAC'. Added the iFi Zen DAC 3 and iFi Go Blu Air to our 'Also consider' section.

October 23, 2025
Refreshed the introduction. Added the FiiO BTR17 as a new entry , our 'best wireless option' pick. Switch the iFi iDSD Diablo 2 out as our 'money no object' entry for the iFi iDSD Valkyrie. Added several new options to the 'also consider' section, including the FiiO QX13, Campfire Audio Relay and that Diablo 2, as it's still well worth considering.

March 27, 2025
Refreshed the introduction. Added some links to our hi-res audio explainer, so readers can fully get to grips with why audiophile-grade sound matters, and to news about our upcoming iFi iDSD Valkyrie DAC review.

January 30, 2025
Refreshed the introduction. Added the iFi Go Link Max as our 'Best budget portable USB-C DAC' pick in the no. 1 spot. Moved the Helm Audio Bolt, which was previously in that top position, to the no. 8 pick as our 'best step-up portable USB-C' DAC option. Added a gallery of images to each entry so readers can get a better look at our recommendations before they decide.

December 3, 2024
Rewrote the introduction to this guide. Added 'buy it if/don't buy it if' advice blocks to each of our best DAC player entries to give readers a quick insight into which of the options might be best for them – as well as which to avoid. Edited our 'how to choose' advice in the Q&A section of the guide to make it easier to read and more helpful for anyone considering buying a DAC player.

August 2, 2024
Overhauled this guide to better tailor our recommendations based on specific DAC types, where you'd use them, and how affordable they are. Also added the iFi Zen DAC 3 as our best mid-range desktop option.

June 3, 2024
Added both this update log, an author block and updated our 'Also consider' section where I highlighted why the iFi GO Bar Kensei isn't on this list – yet. Swapped in the recently-reviewed iFi iDSD Diablo 2 for the original Diablo (which it has superseded).

April 4, 2024
Checked availability of current listings, all of which are in stock in the US, UK and Australia. Added in two new sections about recent DAC releases to consider and what a DAC is.

December 8, 2023
Added the iFi xDSD Gryphon, iFi Uno, Helm Audio Bolt to our rankings. Removed the iFi Zen and iFi hip-DAC, replacing it with its successor the iFi hip-DAC 3, and adjusted the format of this guide to include more easy navigation elements like the quick menu.

If you want to make the most of your digital music collection, it makes sense to invest in a decent DAC (Digital Analogue Converter). 

While DACs are commonplace - you’ll find them in any digital audio device with an analogue output - most aren't up to the challenge of procuring the best audio. The majority sound perfectly adequate, but there can be big sonic gains to be had when using a standalone DAC purpose built to restore digital music to something akin to its original analogue waveform.

UK Hi-Fi outfit Chord Electronics is renowned for its innovative DACs. This is because the company doesn’t buy off-the-shelf solutions; it designs its own from the ground up.  

The Qutest can be found at the higher end of the DAC market, and as part of Chord’s Hugo range is a direct replacement for the 2Cute. It's expensive, certainly, but as it mirrors tech found in the brand’s step-up Hugo 2 which sells for twice as much, it can genuinely be construed as one of the best bargains in high-end audio.

Design

Rather compact, the Qutest measures a convenient 41 x 160 x 72mm (H/W/D) and features a beautiful brushed aluminium case, with characteristic Infinity Stone-style LED selectors. The quality of finish is dreamy. 

Up top is a glass porthole with a color coded sample rate indicator. Red indicates 44.1kHz PCM data, with colors cycling as the sample rate rises. This rainbow interface may look fun but it’s not particularly intuitive. 

Input selection is also color coded, with the polycarbonate input selection button glowing white for USB, yellow and red for the two BNC coaxials, and green for optical. The brightness of its LEDs can be altered between ‘high’ and ‘low’ by pressing the ‘filter’ and ‘input’ buttons simultaneously; just as well, as in a dark room it’s as festive as a Christmas tree.

Thankfully, despite its high-end aspirations, there’s really not much involved in setting up. Once powered, the Qutest goes through a short initialization routine, and then you’re good to go. 

Features

The Qutest offers wide-ranging sample support: A USB type-B handles PCM up to 32-bit 768kHz, or DSD 512; there’s a 24-bit 192kHz optical digital audio input, plus two BNC coaxials, which stretch to 24-bit 384kHz, or 768kHz in parallel dual-data mode. The latter can be used with Chord’s M-Scaler CD upscaler, which has a matching dual-data output. Useful, but we would've liked a convenient standard coaxial input.

Analogue output is via unbalanced phonos, suitable for use with integrated amps, preamps and headphone amps, and source components might typically include CD transports, players, streaming devices, set top boxes and laptops. 

The Qutest is compatible with Mac OS X, Linux and Windows. The Chord website is the place for Windows drivers.

Unfortunately, there’s no support for MQA decoding. Sorry Tidal fans.

Performance

The only reason to invest in a high calibre DAC like this is to extract more detail from your digital recordings - and there’s no question that the Qutest succeeds in that regard as it lifted a veil on David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs (a Japanese SHM-CD release).  

During the opening of Future Legend, just before the band crash in the album’s title track, we found ourselves able to isolate hubbub in the faux crowd that we’ve not pinpointed before in umpteen listens. Similarly, the lilting piano refrain in Sweet Thing found itself elevated above that track’s improvised chaos. Using the Qutest was like hearing the song again for the first time.

But a good DAC isn’t just defined by detail. It’s also about creating an intangible, heightened emotional connection to your music.

Queen Live at the Rainbow ‘74 (CD), painstakingly restored and remastered, punched us in the chest. Freddy teasing ‘Here I stand’ before the band thunder into Now I’m Here, seemed almost three dimensional via this Chord.

Moving from 16-bit to 24-bit files proves equally entertaining. Fritz Kreisler’s Viennese Caprice, a delightful dance for violin and orchestra, confirms a wonderful lightness of touch, while Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B Major is deliciously evocative. Shut your eyes and you could almost be walking alongside the composer to the Maria Prain church on the outskirts of Salzburg. 

How is it doing that?

While there's a lot happening under the hood, four frequency-shaping filters are available which tailor the tonal characteristic of the DAC. They comprise Incisive Neutral, Incisive Neutral with an HF roll-off, Warm and the same with an HF roll-off. It’s best to take the labelling of these with a pinch of salt. The differences between them are far more subtle than their tags might suggest.

According to notes supplied by Chord, the Incisive Neutral filter offers a full, unexpurgated sound spectrum, regardless of sample rate, while the HF roll-off edition is for use with high sample rate PCM. The Warm filter aims to do what it says on the tin, again with an HF roll-off filter for high resolution PCM playback.

If this all sounds a bit familiar, it’s because it is. The Qutest shares the same DAC design and frequency filter set as that much more expensive Hugo 2 (£1800). The difference is there’s no headphone amplifier or rechargeable battery here. Despite its handy size, the Qutest is unapologetically a desktop design. Perhaps as a consequence, there’s no Bluetooth on-board either. 

Of the four filters, our default was the Incisive Neutral, simply because of its stunning clarity, offering almost seismic definition between instruments and vocals and inviting you to dissect familiar songs.

Final verdict

While the proprietary FPGA technology behind the Qutest may be mind-meltingly complex, you don’t need to understand how it works to appreciate the nuance and detail it reveals. That being said, offering gloriously detailed sound and exhilarating to listen to, the Qutest is a fabulous desktop DAC. 

There are minor caveats, like the lack of MQA support and Bluetooth - and the design is definitely idiosyncratic - but there’s no question that it’s an immaculate musical performer. The Chord Qutest is a perfect fusion of science and art.

• Want to up your audio game? Don't miss our round-ups of the best over-ear headphones and best portable DACs

The NuForce DAC9 isn't the only DAC to include a headphone output, but it makes more of a point of it than most, and fair enough, adding as it does a dedicated volume control and both flavours of headphone jack, 6.3mm (quarter-inch) and 3.5mm.

The latter, incidentally, also functions as an input, an optical digital input to be precise, in similar manner to some computer sound cards and portable audio devices.

The total input count runs to six, with a further (TOSLINK) optical socket at the rear, alongside AES/ EBU, USB and three electrical S/PDIF sockets, two phono and one BNC; one of the phonos is effectively the same input at the BNC so you can only connect one or the other.

Selection between the inputs is achieved at the front of the unit by a touch-panel, which we found occasionally reluctant to accept commands. The remote control is less fussy and is invaluable in adjusting line-output volume, which changes in 0.5dB steps.

From the front panel, it is necessary to touch and release for each step, waiting more than a second before the next step can be made.

It's just as well that output level is adjustable, though, because at maximum output the DAC9 produces four volts, enough to overload the inputs of a few amplifiers we've seen.

NuForce mentions in its promotional literature that neither sample-rate conversion nor negative feedback is used in the DAC9, which strikes us as a little perverse as the DAC chip (like all current examples of its breed) uses internal sample-rate conversion to implement digital filtering and the analogue circuits include op-amps, which are never used without feedback. They are all high-quality parts, as are the drivers for the balanced output and the analogue volume-control chip.

The power supply employs a very large toroidal transformer. 96kHz digital sources are accepted at the USB input, which is upgradeable to even high sample rates by swapping an internal module.

Sound quality

Comments on this DAC varied between listeners, their reactions depending on personal priorities. It seems that if you value an ultra-clean, high-resolution sound this may not be the best option around, but it has very good drive and dynamics, and possibly the best timing.

The listener who liked it least pointed to a degree of 'grunge' in its sound as his main reservation, but despite that there is still some good detail to be heard.

Midrange is generally neutral, though we came to suspect that the comments about 'grunge' may actually reflect a small degree of subjective upper-midrange lift, which does seem to dirty the sound a little on many recordings.

This is all quite minor stuff, though and while it's easy to be critical in comparisons like this we felt the sound over the longer term is more than acceptable. It would be unkind to close without commending the headphone output, which is particularly revealing and proved worthy of the finest cans we plugged in to it.

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There's seldom much about Moon products that stands out a mile externally – which is not to deny them their smart and individual appearance.

The Moon 300D has a largely typical specification, with two coaxial and one optical S/PDIF inputs and a USB socket, while analogue output is available both balanced and unbalanced.

Differences are more apparent inside the unit, where Moon has carefully separated analogue and digital parts of the equation. A digital circuit board, largely populated with surface-mounted components, receives the digital input, applies digital filtering and converts it to analogue, forwarding the output to an analogue board beneath.

Here, components are all through-hole parts, remarkably few of them for a balanced-output circuit, with passive components evidently having been carefully selected for their specific application.

The power supply is unusually generous too, with a large bank of smoothing capacitors. Most of the integrated circuits that look after functions like digital input reception and D-A conversion are familiar parts, including the USB input chip, which limits operation to 48kHz.

A footnote about this on Moon's website hints that the company doesn't much rate USB as a digital audio interface and suggests that the serious computer audiophile should use an aftermarket soundcard with S/PDIF output, a perfectly valid point.

Sound quality

It wasn't quite plain sailing for the 300D as far as our blind-listening panel was concerned: the odd note of criticism sneaked in, but the general tenor of comments was once again favourable.

They were in agreement that treble is a little more present than bass – we're choosing words carefully here because different listeners expressed that in different ways. One found the treble clearer than most, well defined and more precise than the bass. Another thought the bass was fine but found the treble on the bright side, even (in one track) 'splashy'.

This kind of difference of opinion is not uncommon in a case like this of subtle tonal imbalance and merely illustrates why no one product can provide all the answers. The trouble is, though, that even in a blind test like this such things can colour a listener's judgement.

It's no surprise that the listener who disliked the treble found fault also with detail and imaging, but the others were much more complimentary about these aspects, especially detail. It's the kind of detail which doesn't rip a piece apart into its constituent strands, but allows the listener to hear what's going on at the top, in the middle and into the bass.

The deepest bass is, perhaps, a little general here, with good extension but slightly less precision than some can muster. Dynamics were well liked too. Our large-scale orchestral track benefitted particularly from this, with quiet passages having a degree of definition and solidity to them that's not often heard.

It's easy to overlook low-level performance of audio equipment, or take it for granted, but the 300D really does achieve quite an unusual level of performance with both detail and imaging consistent from loud to soft and back. With pace, rhythm and timing also good, though never over-emphasised, it's an easy DAC to like.

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Lavry is a pro-audio company which shows little (if indeed any) sign of interest in the audiophile world, but that doesn't stop the audiophile world being interested in Lavry. The company's DA10 DAC became something of a cult success and the DA11 builds on that success by adding a couple more features.

The most immediately useful of those for most Hi-Fi Choice readers, we suspect, will be the USB input. It's actually good for 96kHz sampling, though it may not work that way straight out of the box and Lavry's recommendations for computer set up are worth following. (Indeed, we'd recommend a little such care to any greater-than-48kHz USB set up.)

The unit is remote-control compatible, though it doesn't come with one: again, Lavry provides instructions for setting up programmable remotes. And then there's the 'Playback Image Control', which allows for widening and narrowing, asymmetrically if desired, of stereo images.

You get one each of the usual flavours of digital input, including AES/EBU on an XLR socket, while analogue is put out only on XLR connectors, but XLR-phono adaptors are provided and you can configure the output to drive these correctly, unbalanced.

Like other settings, including source and volume (adjustable in rather coarse steps), this is done from the front panel via centre-biased toggle switches, which frankly is an arcane process which we hated from start to finish.

Internal circuitry uses familiar parts of good quality and a switch-mode power supply.

Sound quality

A little bit like the Electrocompaniet PD1, this DAC is relatively undemonstrative, but still manages to pack a punch when it needs to.

In fact, it can really be quite dramatic at climaxes, a characteristic which makes it a good match to highly dynamic classical music recordings.At the same time, it retains a believably solid sound and image when the music is quiet.

Our listeners did feel, however, that a trace of detail was lost by the DA11. This seemed to be equally true in different styles of music and was also consistent across the USB and S/PDIF inputs. It's not a serious loss and didn't stop anyone enjoying the bigger picture, something this DAC is indeed good at preserving. All the same, the ability to hear a little deeper inside a mix could be useful and welcome now and then.

Tonally the balance is excellent, with good extension at both ends of the spectrum and no sign of favouritism across the midrange. A remarkably clean treble will certainly endear this DAC to many listeners and it proved quite impossible to fluster it with even the busiest and brightest of recordings.

General musical flow was specifically praised and its handling of dynamics on both short and long timescales is assured and lifelike.

Lots to like, then, but the detail proved a minor, though persistent, niggle. The texture of a multi-layered piece of music is not as clear as one might wish and images seem to lose a little depth, a frequent companion to mild detail loss.

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Cyrus currently offers two Digital to Analogue Converters, the DAC X+ we have here and the DAC XP+ (the latter also includes a preamplifier).

You might think this one has some preamp functionality, given the presence of what looks remarkably like a volume control on the front, but the rotary knob is actually used for set up functions, including the rather appealing option to name the inputs to something relevant.

And if you hanker after a built-in preamp later, you can always return your DAC X+ to the Cyrus factory for an upgrade to XP+ status. Cyrus has always been good at this upgrade thing, of course.

One of its most successful optional extras is the PSX-R power supply, a stonking great transformer in a Cyrus box, alongside some very high-performance supply regulation circuits. The transformer built into the X+ is followed by several regulators and these supply juice to a pair of DAC boards, each one sporting a good-quality DAC chip and a handful of op-amps plus decent quality plastic-film capacitors.

There's actually quite a lot of analogue circuitry, not least because of the requirement to drive balanced outputs, two sets of which grace the rear of the unit.

As for inputs, there are six in total, all S/PDIF – two optical and four electrical. There's also an optical digital output which simply relays the chosen source for recording or multichannel decoding purposes.

The lack of a USB input slightly dates this unit, though one can pick up USB-S/PDIF convertors for well under £100.

Sound quality

An arguably more serious indictment of this DAC's age (it's one of the longest-serving here) came in terms of comments on its sound. Criticism wasn't strong, but our blind listeners would have liked some more detail and insight, especially in musical lines below the top one.

As one listener pointed out, there seems to be a consistent dullness in voices and instruments, making the music quite forthright, but ultimately less engaging. Conversely, brighter-sounding melody instruments seem even more cutting than usual – hard-played lead guitar, for example, which developed a degree of 'fizz' in our Led Zeppelin track.

To some extent this is ameliorated by a strong and well-placed bass, but the balance does seem a little treble-heavy on average. In fact, the business about dullness of accompaniment is a complex one.

When, as happens from time to time, the melody is in a low-ish register it still seems to be unduly prominent, so clearly the issue is not simply tonal imbalance. Rather, it's the lack of detail that's the crucial issue, with foreground material grabbing more than its fair share of attention. The background doesn't so much recede as lose the listener's focus – one is less aware of it and interesting little details slip by unnoticed. A similar thing happens with stereo imaging.

On the positive side, we found this DAC to be quite unfussy about digital sources. Overall, though, it just doesn't quite have the resolution we'd hope to find in an upmarket digital-to-analogue convertor.

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Diminutive DACs are very much the flavour of the moment – just look at the widely varying models from Cambridge Audio, Arcam, Lavry, Benchmark and so on.

Many of these are aimed fair and square at the computer audio world, with hi-fi -flavour inputs (S/PDIF etc.) almost an afterthought and indeed the idea of adding quality to computer audio via a USB digital audio interface is thoroughly sensible. The Matrix Mini-i DAC is no different.

Not the same old

Except that in some ways it is. It takes audiophile details unusually seriously, with pro-style AES/EBU digital input and also balanced audio outputs alongside the usual phono sockets. It also features a headphone output and a volume control, operative on headphone and line outputs. And a digital output. And... (drum roll) a remote control!

This puts it in a class of about one: granted, a remote is not the most essential accessory for a DAC, but it has its uses and as such is astonishingly rare. It's a rather sexy metal remote control too, a very nice touch.

No sign of scrimping

If you use the 'traditional' digital inputs you can take advantage of the Mini-i's 24-bit/192kHz capability. Via USB it's limited to 48kHz sampling. The electrical S/PDIF input is on a BNC socket, while the output is on a phono – at least that reduces the chances of mixing them up.

Inside the case there's a generous helping of circuitry including a good quality modern DAC chip (in fact two of them) and decent op-amps. The mains transformer is internal so there's no 'wall wart' needed.

Operation is straightforward thanks to the informative display and intelligent push'n'twist control – twiddle for volume, press briefly to change input, press and hold to switch off.

There's quite a bit of circuitry inside the case, including two high-performance DAC chips (each capable of stereo operation, so presumably operating in tandem to lower noise and distortion). Op-amps are good parts too and in general there's no obvious sign of scrimping anywhere.

A spring in its step

We've had some impressive audiophile results from a few budget DACs recently, so our expectations of the Mini-i were high. For reasons of convenience as much as anything else, we began our listening with a CD player as source, connected via electrical S/PDIF and this turned out to give very good results.

What we most enjoyed about the sound was the light and agile character that this DAC seems to manage so well: it's not short of bass when needed, but it has great energy and clarity in the midrange and treble which can really make music skip along with joy and verve.

In prosaic technical terms, this is basically down to its good resolution and extended treble – possibly ever so slightly bright, but certainly not in a disturbing way.

We felt that USB sounds a touch less assured, with slightly less insight in the upper octaves and also a bass register that could use a touch more precision. This is being picky, though, and had the S/PDIF performance not provided such a classy comparison we would doubtless have been quite impressed by USB. There's no question, but that it will provide a clear and obvious upgrade over most onboard computer analogue outputs.

Great with 'phones too

The headphone output deserves special praise. It is capable of driving headphones loud very cleanly, but at any volume level there is a real sense of assurance that makes the whole experience very involving.

Headphones may not need as much hard driving as loudspeakers, but a good source like this makes one realise that a tight rein is still beneficial. Given that digital volume controls still have a dodgy reputation in some quarters, it's also worth mentioning that we were never aware of this one having any adverse effect.

Using it as an alternative to the traditional control on our day-to-day amp produced no audible side effects that we could hear. For ultimate sound quality with a USB source, this may not quite beat the Cambridge DacMagic, but it is certainly a very capable DAC and the flexibility of remote, headphone output and volume control make it exceptionally attractive value.

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Stello is part of Korean company April Music's roster and we've seen a variant of the DA100 DAC before when Russ Andrews modified it and sold it as the DA-1 alongside a matching pre/headphone amp and power amp.

The solid, half-size brick construction remains with this pairing, the Stello CDT100 CD Player and DA100 DAC, which by virtue of its two-box nature has a varied array of socketry.

The CDT100 must be the most affordable top-loading transport in the game; it's well-built, with a shiny magnetic clamp and acrylic cover that doesn't need to be in place in use. What differentiates it is the provision of an I 2S digital output on a mini DIN socket. This allows the transport to send a separate clock-sync signal to suitably equipped DACs alongside the digital bitstream.

In the days before re-clocking DACs, this was a good system for reducing jitter, but it's very rare nowadays. The CDT100 can't tell when you've put a new disc on so you have to inspire it to read the thing by pressing 'disc' before it will play.

The DA100 Signature convertor naturally has an appropriate input for I 2S and accommodates all the more popular digital interfaces as well. It can't tell you what the incoming bit rate is but it can upsample to 96kHz or 192kHz, and it will accept up to 96kHz on all but its USB input, which is restricted to 48kHz.

Lab report

By a small margin, the best measurements were taken with no 'upsampling' on the DA 100. Jitter became a factor with the upsampling engaged at 1363.5ps at 24-bit/96kHz and 1683.5ps at 24/192.

Distortion also rose to 0.08 per cent with the unit in it's 24/192 setting and the dynamic range fell by 0.3dB. These figures don't look or, perhaps, amount to much, but you would be forgiven to expect them to go up.

We measured a +14dBr gain above standard line level from the DAC when injecting a 0dBFS test tone from the generator and receiving +14dBr on the balanced analogue outputs; +7.6dBr unbalanced. This could potentially generate when connected to a sensitive power amplifier stage.

The CDT100 delivered textbook results for a CD transporter when measuring it's digital output. Test tones and sweeps all tracked perfectly.

Sound quality

One unusual finding was that the upsampled output was notably darker than the standard result, such changes don't usually elicit an obvious tonal change. Overall, the panel preferred the non o/s result, which has some vivacity to it. In all instances we used the supplied mini-DIN I 2S cable as digital interconnect for listening.

This pairing got a mixed reception from the blind-listening panel; one thought it rather timid and reserved with slight sibiliance in the high frequencies, whereas another enjoyed the quality of image, strength of ambiance and timing on Walk on the Wild Side.

Our third listener was less impressed noting a "lack of perception of the instruments" with a La Folia piece and a lack of 'air' in the highs of a Sarah McLachlan track.

Further listening did not greatly enhance these impressions; there is a lack of transparency to the midrange and in timing terms, it likes to take its time; this works with some material but can seem a bit lugubrious with more sedate pieces. It's a pity because the build quality is excellent and you get a lot for your money.

We suspect that the DAC, at least, is beginning to show its age and might not be helping matters. The Stello transport, however, is something of a rare find.

A well-equipped transport combined with an equally well-made DAC that has a powerful, but slightly dark sound.

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There are a lot of good DACs around, but few of them really stand out on technical grounds. Just recently, a few have appeared which support high-sampling-rate USB operation (previously limited to 48kHz) and that's obviously a good thing.

M2Tech, however, has upped the ante by introducing a feature that was previously the sole preserve of some rare and expensive ultra-high-end kit, in the shape of 384kHz sampling. Yes, that's eight times 48kHz (and yes, eight times 44.1kHz, or 352.8kHz, is supported too).

This means that a full three octaves of frequency response is now, in principle, available above CD's regular 20kHz limit. No one is suggesting we can hear as high as 160kHz, but ever since the dawn of digital audio there have been voices arguing that that much bandwidth headroom, if one can call it that, is necessary to reproduce sound in its full glory to the full satisfaction of a critical human ear.

New ear's resolution

What's more, 32-bit resolution is supported. CD, of course, uses 16-bit to give resolution of one part in 65,536, or just under 100dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in more familiar audio terms.

32-bit increases that by a factor of 65,536, giving a theoretical SNR of about 194dB. That's a completely unrealisable figure in practice, equivalent to about 100 microvolts of noise on the national grid 400kV supply network, but it does, at least, mean that the digital part of the system is not a limiting factor in any sense.

Noise in a 32-bit system is down to good old analogue sources. One slight drawback with a product like this is the availability of software to play through it that will really tax it. If you search the internet you'll find plenty of high-res material, but it's mostly only 96kHz, 24-bit stuff. Even 192kHz sampling is hard to find and either 384kHz or 32-bit, never mind both together, is basically unavailable.

What's more, at typical UK internet connection speeds you'd have to leave a download running all night to get a couple of hours' material. Future-proofing is a great thing, though, and indeed we're delighted to see a bit of forward-thinking in practice as it can only help to kick-start ultra-high-res recording and replay as an everyday reality rather than audiophile pipe dreams.

In the mean time, it's good to know that more mundane digital standards are also catered for. If one can call 24-bit/192kHz 'mundane'.

You might expect some deeply arcane technology inside such a DAC, but M2Tech has employed some surprisingly familiar parts. The allimportant DAC chip is one we've seen before in a few products and although it's usually used with its own digital filter, it can also be fed a signal via a different route, bypassing internal filters and increasing the maximum sampling rate.

In fact, a handful of chips offer this possibility and we first saw it employed in the Cambridge Audio Azur 840C CD player, which rather impressively has 384kHz upsampling built-in.

Freshly filtered

As with the 840C, M2Tech has built a custom oversampling filter, implemented here on a large gate array chip. That, in fact, is the fanciest part of the Young DAC's internal technology and in day-to-day terms the part that most clearly marks it out from the competition.

Digital filters are only now coming to be appreciated as defining components within digital-to-analogue conversion circuits, but they can make quite a difference. This one has a 'minimum phase' response, which lacks the pre-ringing of more conventional 'linear phase' filters.

For the rest, analogue circuits use familiar high-performance op-amp chips and good-quality passive components, while the power supply is an external unit. Digital inputs include one of each kind, while analogue output is unbalanced only.

The front panel display is unusual but tells you what you need to know. Lacking native 384kHz source material and conscious that few users would even have access to 192kHz recordings (we had a few in-house ones to call on), we did most of our listening to the Young at 44.1 and 96kHz sampling rates, via both S/PDIF and USB.

It's worth mentioning at the outset that we didn't reckon we could reliably tell a difference between the two: USB did sound worse fed from a desktop PC, but that's probably a conducted interference issue as a small laptop gave results practically indistinguishable from S/PDIF.

Our comments, therefore, can be taken as representative of the DAC rather than of its connection mode.

High-end is as high-end does

The first thing to make clear is that the sound is certainly of high-end breeding. We would have been most disappointed had it lacked anything significant in terms of resolution or neutrality and, indeed, it scored highly for both of those.

It's actually exceptionally revealing and brought out details we had forgotten about in some of our own recordings – things we remembered from the recording session but hadn't heard in a while via more prosaic replay equipment.

At least, we'd probably heard them, but not been made aware of them. It's a subtle difference but in some ways it's a nutshell definition of high end: little details don't just exist, they practically reach out and tap you on the shoulder. If there were nothing but little details the sound could soon become tiresomely fussy, but here they are kept in context as part of a structured, cohesive whole.

A concrete example may help illustrate this. One recording we've used a few times with high-res kit is of two voices and piano, a technically fine minimalist recording which sadly we can't recommend as it never got issued commercially.

At one point the singers change places in front of the piano, one moving forward and to the right as the other joins in. On most systems this is audible if one listens out for it, but just occasionally a system will show it up sufficiently clearly that it really captures the attention, as was in fact intended at the time.

With excellent amps and speakers in its train, the M2Tech DAC had no trouble at all pointing up this little bit of choreography, but at the same time kept the piano stable and the tonal nature of each voice unaltered.

Familiar commercial recordings were similarly flattered, with insights popping up in all sorts of unlikely places. Hearing a recording completely afresh might be slightly overstating it, but things like appreciating a subtle change in a vocalist's inflection, or a slightly different sound from a drummer, can add new meaning and interest to a well-loved track.

If we have any criticism, it's of the very low bass. Now and then, in recordings which really plumb the depths, we were convinced we missed just a little clarity of pitch in the bass. There's plenty of impact, and extension, as such, is pretty much peerless, but tuned low frequencies (church organ, upright bass, orchestral timpani and so on) don't always quite seem as certain of their tuning as can sometimes be the case.

That's quite a minor point, though, and we have found over the years that getting extension, attack, and tuning in the bass all just so is one of the hardest tricks in audio – one largely confined to equipment in the high reaches of the high end.

There's also something of an irony in the treble, which is beautifully pure and open, even with CD-format source material. That could somewhat undermine the case for high sampling rates, were it not for the fact that at 96kHz and upward it gets even better.

Roll your own upsampler!

We'll close by suggesting a shorter term use for the 384kHz sampling capability. Having set that up, it's possible to implement customised upsampling on a home computer, getting one more (small) step up with 'standard' digital source recordings.

Treat computer-based upsampling with caution as some of it is frankly dodgy, but our experiment with the upsampling provided within Izotope products (by consent of most users, just about the best upsampling on the planet, and flexible in operation, too) suggested that this is a worthwhile tweak.

This isn't the first 384kHz DAC, though it's the first affordable one. It won't be the last, either. But kudos to M2Tech for doing it and huge respect and admiration for doing it so well.

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A decade or more back, the rationale for buying an outboard DAC was to upgrade the performance of an older CD player or transport with the latest digital technology. However, now that many current CD players offer upsampling to 24-bit/196kHz as standard, such reasons no longer seem convincing.

But, wait; what about a DAC that has balanced analogue outputs, plus the ability to access and play music stored on a hard drive? Not only do you get the promise of improved sound, you can now link your ripped music to the hi-fi .

The stylish Electrocompaniet PD 1 DAC delivers just such an upgrade. Interested?

High-precision

Like many recent digital products, the PD 1 is based around a 24-bit/192kHz digital-to-analogue convertor. The incoming digital signal (say, 16-bit/44.1kHz from Red Book CD) is converted to this higher specification by something Electrocompaniet dubs ASRC (Asynchronous Sample Rate Convertor).

A high-precision master clock is used which it's claimed, virtually eliminates jitter at the output – so, even if your sources contain timedomain errors, they're quickly zapped.

Prior to processing, the USB input is likewise converted into standard S/PDIF format by the sampling-rate convertor – so it's similar to the other inputs. Audio information from the USB data stream is extracted using low-jitter PLLs (phase-locked loops) and output to S/PDIF.

With the sample-rate convertor being 'clocked' by an ultra-accurate reference device any remaining timing errors are further reduced, resulting in an output that is accurate and jitter-free.

The analogue output stage employs discrete transistors running in a pure Class A configuration with no negative feedback. A carefully designed 2-pole linear-phase, anti-aliasing filter further removes any delta-sigma conversion artefacts.

Analogue and digital sections feature individual power supplies for reduced interference. The power supplies for the analogue output stage and DAC employ ultra low-noise tight-shunt regulators, which the maker claims results in a more open and transparent sound, due to reductions in spurious noise. As a result of these measures, the PD 1 effectively 'cleanses' all digital signals that pass through it.

Digital inputs include: 2x S/PDIF (coax via an RCA phono plug); 1x S/PDIF TOSLink optical; 1x USB Type 2; and an RF wireless link for use with the optional EMS 1 music streamer. The S/PDIF inputs support 24-bit/192kHz sampling, while the USB and RF options are 16-bit/48kHz.

There are two sets of analogue outputs: unbalanced (single-ended, RCA phono plugs) giving 1.7-volt output and balanced (XLR) giving 3.4-volt output. This output is variable. The maker claims distortion is less than 0.003 per cent from 20Hz to 20kHz, with noise levels 140dB below peak output over the same bandwidth.

The unit is supplied with an infra-red remote control handset that allows input switching and volume adjustment, plus mute and standby. There are additional Play, Pause, Stop and Fast Search buttons for those using their PD 1 with an Electrocompaniet CD player.

The illuminated front panel keeps you informed regarding the input selected and the volume level set. You've a choice of two brightness settings and there's an 'off' position if the glare of blue LEDs becomes distracting.

It might be imagination, but the sound seems a tad cleaner with the display off – though, the difference is very small!

Neat and tidy

The PD 1 is a solidly made unit that's nicely styled. The front panel is made from alloy, while the casework is steel. All the various controls are touch-sensitive types, so it's not really possible to talk about the 'feel' of the unit as such.

Internal circuits look neat and tidy. There's nothing here to make you gasp with astonishment, yet neither is there anything to cause concern or disquiet. There's no undue emphasis on cosmetic appearance, or extravagant 'luxury' build; you'll choose this unit for its performance and features, not its facade!

Mechanically, the unit is virtually silent. Put your ear up close and there's a barely audible hint of transformer buzz, but you have to be right on top of the unit to hear anything. There are no switching thumps to worry about, either; when using the RF Link the unit mutes if no signal is detected.

Purposeful momentum

We connected our review sample to a Shanling SCD-T2000 SACD player. This features a 24-bit/192kHz Burr-Brown PCM 1738 DAC and should, therefore, be quite close to the PD 1 in digital terms.

However, we heard an immediate difference: essentially, the Electrocompaniet delivers a cleaner, more detailed sound. While the tonal balance hardly seems to alter, the PD 1 definitely produces a tauter, more focused sound that seems to project the music with greater presence and immediacy.

On solo piano, for example, there's definitely an enhanced sense of space and separation, so subjectively the notes start and stop with increased alacrity. Although the PD 1's unbalanced analogue output is slightly lower than the Shanling's – around 1.7V compared to 2V – the PD 1 actually sounds bigger and better-able to project the music, thereby creating a more holographic 'out of the boxes' sort of result.

The PD 1 focuses your attention on the music and performance. It enhances the impression of commitment – making it sound as though the players are involved and concentrating. Used alone, the Shanling seems a tad less disciplined musically. With the PD 1, everything suddenly becomes keener and more precisely focused; more alive and awake. Brass rasps; cymbals shimmer; voices sing out and rock bands rock.

All early comparisons were made using unbalanced analogue outputs, as the Shanling does not offer balanced. Via the PD 1's balanced outputs, the sound grows dimensionally. It's bigger; bolder; with increased separation; a palpably heightened sense of scale. Yet the end-result feels natural too; it's not pumped up or inflated.

Of course, with balanced, the output level increases by between 3dB to 6dB, which is significant in itself. But, even after you've reduced volume levels to bring things back to an equal footing, the sound is still bigger and bolder. It's definitely more assertive and displays increased depth and separation.

Essentially then, the PD 1 offers a two-pronged improvement. Its low-jitter digital conversion and high-performance DAC results in a cleaner more focused sound, while balanced analogue outputs deliver increased scale and dimensionality. The result is a very worthwhile sonic improvement – even over a good one-box player.

There's more. Add the EMS 1 music streamer (£250) and via iTunes you can access music stored on your computer hard drive. Connection is made wirelessly to the PD 1 and currently digital conversion is at 16-bit/48kHz – though it's possible that 24-bit/192kHz conversion may be offered at some future point.

The quality of sound from CDs ripped to a hard drive and conveyed to the PD 1 via the EMS 1 is fine – clear, open, lively and detailed. However, you need to save the disc in a high-quality format like WAV for best results. Saved as AAC, the sound is still good, but seems thinner and slightly lacking in richness and refinement.

Without doubt, the facility to play music stored on your computer hard drive – with a lack of fuss and drama – is alone as persuasive a reason as any to invest in a PD 1.

Compelling package

The PD 1 is an excellent product, delivering worthwhile upgrades in sound quality and user-convenience that many users will appreciate.

As a DAC, it should provide an audibly cleaner, more detailed sound over most one-box CD players. And, if you're able to utilise those balanced outputs, the improvement will be even greater.

Then there's the added benefit of being able to access music stored on hard-drives via the PD 1's USB socket – with the advantage of a wireless interface using the optional EMS 1 music streamer.

It all adds up to a compelling package at a realistic price – indeed, we're sorely tempted to buy one; it's that good!

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Musical Fidelity has returned from its latest period of reinvention on something of a roll and the rapid release of new products shows no signs of abating. Following on from the headphone and integrated amps, this is our first experience of the new range of digital products from the company.

The M1 DAC has been on sale for a few months now, but has recently been joined by the partnering M1 CDT. This is a brand new product and is, perhaps, the more unusual one of the two.

With the general consensus apparently being that all DACs being sold are for a future of computer and streamed audio, the release of a dedicated CD transport into the market might seem an unusual one. Together, the two products make a £1,000 CD player so naturally we elected to review them as a pair to see if the two-box approach still brings something to CD replay that one box players do not.

Neat touches

The £400 M1 DAC is, at first glance, relatively conventional, but proves to contain some neat touches. The half-width chassis contains four inputs selectable from the front panel. The optical, coaxial and USB inputs are expected, but the fourth, an AES balanced input, is more unusual at the price.

This, combined with the matching balanced analogue output, allows the M1 DAC to operate in a balanced mode which, if not an absolute guarantee of good performance, is usually a sign that the internals are of reasonable quality.

The internals comprise a Burr-Brown DSD1796 DAC chip (supported by a SRC4392 chip) that allows all digital material the M1 DAC receives to be upsampled to 24-bit/192kHz. Another positive feature is that the rear panel features a full-size IEC mains input, rather than relying on a wall wart power supply.

While the internal PSU of the M1 isn't especially large (not that it needs to be), the result is neater for installation and the unit proves totally silent in use.

The £600 M1 CDT is an identical size to the DAC and together the units are the equivalent of a single full-width component.

Its rear panel is conventional enough, but features the matching AES output to feed the DAC as well as more conventional optical and coaxial feeds for other DACs. The mechanism is an inhaler-type drive and is the same specification to the M3 CD, although the mechanisms for the transport are apparently handpicked for the purpose.

The result is an elegant-looking unit, although like all drives of this type the M1 CDT will 're-inhale' a CD partially ejected and left poking out of the front if you do not remove it relatively quickly – which can be an annoyance if you have mislaid the box.

Like the DAC, the CDT also features a full-size mains input on the rear panel. A remote handset borrowed from the M3i allows for track selection and volume control of Musical Fidelity amps.

Impressively solid

The fit and finish of both units is good. The front panels are attractive and well laid out, and they both feel impressively solid. They make an interesting comparison to the current crop of CD players fitted with digital inputs.

Combining the DAC and CDT via their AES connection gives you a CD player that is fitted with optical, coaxial and USB inputs for additional sources. In addition, the two boxes can live side-by-side on a shelf, be stacked, or indeed be placed a considerable distance from one another.

Come the need to upgrade, the two-box layout allows for one box to be upgraded at a time. The only downside to this is that two mains sockets will be required, but otherwise, the combination exhibits considerable flexibility as a pairing and has to be considered good value at £1,000.

Listening to the units connected via the AES connection and via the balanced output of the DAC show that the pairing is sonically competitive as well. The overall impression is one of even-handedness and there is a sense that the M1's main ability is to get out of the way of the music and let the disc speak for itself.

This seems to be largely down to a flat presentation with no discernable lift at any part in the frequency. This may not sound desperately exciting, but the ability of the duo to bring as little of themselves as possible is great for anyone seeking either a neutral system or wanting to introduce colouration via their amplification or speakers – in other words, at a point where all sources would benefit.

Low-end weight

The bass and mid bass reproduction is extremely adept. There is considerable low-end weight to proceedings, but the bass avoids any sense of being overblown or overbearing.

Orchestral pieces, in particular, benefit from a fabulously natural low-end presence that greatly aids realism. Tonality with vocals and instruments is also very good with excellent decay to plucked strings and piano notes.

This is further helped by an excellent and convincing soundstage that usually gives performers space to breathe. The unforced naturalness that results makes this a very easy source to listen to for long periods.

When compared to competitors such as Audiolab's extremely advanced 8200CD, the Musical Fidelity combination is less detailed and revealing, but in many ways more natural, as well as being more forgiving of poor recordings.

Timing is assured, but the pairing does not inject additional vitality into recordings; this is because Musical Fidelity amps need no help in this regard; but if you are partnering with another amp that is equally neutral, you may find the pairing lacks a sense of excitement. Others will appreciate the extremely even-handed nature of the performance.

Main influence

Listening to other inputs on the DAC, via other CD and DVD players, as well as USB from PC, reveals that the M1 DAC is the main influence of the sonic signature and has to be considered something of a star for the £400 asking price.

The same natural, unforced presentation comes through from all inputs and the DAC treads a fine line between being revealing enough to bring details to the forefront, while ensuring that compressed material stays listenable.

The unbalanced RCA output of the DAC – once you have adjusted the levels – has the same qualities as the XLR output; although, we preferred the balanced one, if only because both amplifiers we tried it with also work better over XLR.

The M1 pairing impressed us greatly. This is a well-thought-out and capable duo that stands comparison to any £1,000 CD player we have tested recently.

The performance with CD via the CDT is excellent and the performance of other equipment connected to the M1 DAC is equally strong. The DAC is the more cost-effective component of the two takes some beating for £400. As a £1,000 CD player, the addition of the CDT makes for an engaging combination with considerable flexibility in performance.

There is no shortage of competition at or around the £1,000 price point and there will be people who prefer to buy a single box and be done with it, but if you are looking for a player which artfully combines a very natural presentation and brings very little of the character of the electronics to the performance, the M1 system demand an audition.

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It's always hard to resist a sense of humour. When we opened up the Rega DAC the first thing we noticed was the large and clear text on the circuit board, saying, 'Best used with EL84 valves'.

Given that Rega has never made a single valve product in its several decades in business, this is clearly tongue-in-cheek. But then the whole idea of a Rega DAC was something of a surprise at first; the company having previously been in favour of keeping CD transport and DAC all together as one product.

Bit buckets

Still, it's not just, or even principally, CD that's the intended source for the DAC. With digital audio increasingly coming from computer-type sources, often at higher resolution than CD's 16-bit/44kHz sampling, Rega sees this more as an adjunct to non-audiophile 'bit buckets' including computers, servers and so on.

Accordingly, it has a USB input alongside the usual electrical and optical S/PDIF and is fully compatible with high sample rates, up to and including 192kHz. At least it is via S/PDIF, as the USB input only handles sample rates up to 48kHz.

Five filter fun

Front-panel buttons select between the five inputs and also the five filters. User-selectable filters are a popular option these days, not least because many DAC chips offer this internally. The Wolfson part chosen by Rega is such a device and the company has opted to make all its offerings available.

These are actually slightly different depending on sample frequency, but include as Option One the classic linear-phase filter typical of most CD players and also minimum-phase implementations. Filters Four and Five are non-aliasing types, which we would recommend as other filter slopes allow some aliasing distortion to occur.

We ended up using Filter Four for most of the listening. There's no 'upsampling' – except that there is, of course, because digital filtering in a DAC intrinsically involves upsampling and has done since the first Philips CD players in about 1983.

This is a well-made and efficiently assembled product. The back panel is neatly laid out and the insides contain few 'brand name' components. It locks almost instantly to an input and gave us no trouble at all in use.

Life and subtlety

Rega is one of those brands strongly associated in the general hi-fi consciousness with a certain 'house sound': pretty much the sound of the Planar turntables, which was always lively and rhythmic, if not necessarily always the most subtle.

Based on our experience with the company's audio electronics, we'd urge caution over making assumptions like that and this DAC certainly doesn't do anything to support them. Not that rhythm is slack, nor is life missing from the sound – quite the opposite, both are admirable.

It's just that they are very much in proportion with less 'Rega-ish' traits such as detail and finesse, silky-smooth upper midrange and treble and a generally delightful all-round confidence that we adored.

There's also a lack of hi-fi showoff tendencies; so no super-analytical detail or implausibly punchy bass. Instead, there's the kind of detail that's there when you want it, but not obtrusive when you don't.

Plus bass which may not always seem dramatic, but packs a serious punch when required. Treble extension is similarly effortless and unforced.

Distant images

If there's a weakness in the DAC's performance, it's a minor one and concerns imaging. It seemed to us, using CD sources and also high-res ones (some of them made by us), that images are just a little further away than we're used to. That's preferable to having them too close, which can be quite unsettling, but deserves mention.

We soon got used to it, though and came to ignore it. That apart, it's hard to find anything to criticise. The technical performance is as assured as the subjective and for the very modest price, this seems to be very much the product to beat just now.

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Antelope Audio is putting Bulgaria on the hi-fi audio map with a new cutting-edge DAC/preamp built for the Pro World. The Zodiac Plus is an innovative compact cube that has digital, analogue and USB inputs, a volume control on the outside and a 24-bit/192kHz convertor inside.

But what separates it from the pack is the company's expertise in digital clocking. Antelope's Pro heritage also shows in the dual headphone sockets on the front panel and the full range of XLR sockets on the back.

Auto-detect

The Zodiac Plus is the middle model of three Zodiac DACs, the base model is due this spring and the Zodiac Gold sits at the top of the tree at £500 more than the Plus.

All three inhabit a squat 110mm-high case, yet each is generously equipped with a well-featured array of rear sockets, including the usual S/PDIF options on coax and optical, as well as XLR sockets for the Pro-grade AES/EBU connection system with inputs and de-jittered outputs.

Analogue outputs are provided in both balanced and single-ended varieties and there are two analogue inputs, one standard RCA phono pair and one called TRS balanced – this is a 6mm jack connection for patch cables in the studio and not one we've seen on domestic audio before.

As already stated, there is also a pair of 6mm headphone jacks on the front panel next to the volume and balance controls – the former is of the analogue variety and so does not have the potential to drop bits in the way that certain digital ones do.

Input selection is via a single button, which scrolls through the auto-detected inputs whose abbreviated names are shown in the LED. When the Zodiac locks onto the source it displays the sample rate on offer, which is useful if you are using a PC with high bit rate files and want to be sure that the computer is outputting the correct sample rate.

This display also shows output level while the control is being used and briefly thereafter, which is a nice touch.

The only obvious omission is of a remote control for volume and input. You get one of these in machined aluminium with the Zodiac Gold and it would certainly have been handy if a more affordable handset had been included here.

Word clock inputs are pretty scarce in domestic audio, but pretty much the norm in the studio where they are considered pretty fundamental. In our world, only Esoteric and dCS have this feature and their prices are dramatically higher.

The Zodiac Plus has its own onboard clock, a shielded, 'oven controlled' one at that. This means that it's kept at a constant temperature, improving stability and, according to Antelope, brings significant sonic benefits in turn.

The USB will accept signals up to 192kHz, but the use of a mini B socket is slightly odd and limits the array of good-quality USB leads that can be used, one is supplied in the box (albeit rather a long one for best results). Item Audio supplied a high-end alternative from Polestar, but that takes things to the opposite extremes by being unduly short.

Signs of the Zodiac

Whilst the Zodiac is not a big box for the money it clearly doesn't scrimp on socketry and features, things like mute and mono buttons are very handy. Build quality is good, rather than impressive and the case is aluminium, as are the control knobs, both of which are very smooth in operation.

If the sound quality is anything to go by then the money appears to have been spent where it counts, on the circuitry. It has separate power supplies and PCBs for the analogue and digital sections and a Burr- Brown 1792A 24/192 convertor at its heart.

There's no shortage of decent DACs at this price point, but few of them have a volume control, let alone the array of in-and output options.

The convertor that comes closest to the Zodiac Plus in respect of features is the Benchmark DAC1 Pre HDR (£1,595). It also has volume, twin headphone sockets and USB, alongside analogue inputs, but no AES/EBU. The Cyrus DAC XP is more expensive and devoid of USB, but can be very revealing. However, we wouldn't expect it to give the Zodiac too much trouble in a transparent system with a good source.

The real competition comes from more traditional DACs like the Naim DAC, which is only a little more expensive, has two standard USB B sockets and quite significant power supply upgrade options. This is one area where Item Audio feels the Zodiac Plus can be upgraded and it is possible to use the linear supply from the Gold model for the purpose, albeit for a higher combined cost than the Gold itself.

Slow burn

The Zodiac Plus is one of those components that is initially subtle, but which grows in one's estimation every time a familiar track is played and very soon it becomes difficult to go back to the system as was.

It is very low on character and extremely clean in a smooth, rather than crystalline fashion. There are apparently no rough edges across the band, which must be a bonus in the studio, where listening levels are reputedly even higher than in our Hi-Fi Choice listening rooms.

There is a lot to enjoy in its performance. Stereo separation is outstanding – instruments being precisely placed in the lateral stage, which contributes to excellent image depth and solidity. Stevie Wonder's Superstition, for example, reveals unusually distinct reverb effects that we have not previously encountered.

Image quality is particularly apparent when using the Antelope with Bryston's BDP-1 digital transport via its AES/EBU output. This combination pulls out a staggering levels of detail from a number of very familiar tracks – harmonics, reverb and temporal subtleties are brought to the fore that usually remain hidden.

It does this rather better than Bryston's own DAC in truth, which seems a shade unsophisticated by comparison. In part this is because the highs are a lot smoother, but there is plenty of high-frequency detail as well, so there is no sense of roll-off.

With a Mac supplying signal via a Polaris USB lead, the result is considerably more powerful and dynamic than is usually the case – there isn't so much space and air on Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, but a heck of a lot of welly.

Bass is also strong point. Orchestra's can produce an awful lot of power in full flight, but this is not often apparent to the extent that it is here. This quality is even more distinct, when you use the onboard volume control and bypass the preamp. Unless you have a particularly good preamp this direct approach is likely to give the best result where dynamics are concerned.

Regular CD via coax from a player (rather than transport) is particularly engaging as well. It is exceptionally coherent and calm under pressure, which means that the heaviest tracks remain open and three dimensional.

Benchmark two

The Zodiac Plus is an exceptionally resolute and entertaining convertor/preamp, that is better equipped than any other DAC we've seen, outside of the megabucks fraternity and even then only MSB's Platinum IV comes close.

The only limitation that we can see is the unusual choice of a mini-USB input, at present there aren't any audio-specific cables for this connection. In all other respects, this unusually well equipped and compact convertor is in another league to most of the similarly priced competition.

If refined resolution of dynamics, timing and image depth are your bag and you can use its preamp potential, then it's a bargain. It is extremely revealing. It's kind to lesser recordings and allows great ones to knock your socks off.

We are intrigued to hear what a dedicated external word clock can do for it, but as it stands it should have the competition quaking.

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Peachtree Audio has already graced the pages of Hi-Fi Choice, when we reviewed the Nova integrated amplifier and DAC. Now the superficially similar iDecco is here for your consideration, but beyond the similarities in appearance, the iDecco is an altogether different piece of equipment.

In fact, Peachtree see the iDecco being used in a different way to the Nova and while the two units share some components, they are a different design.

Peachtree claim that the iDecco is the first "valve hybrid integrated amp with digital iPod dock, headphone amp and multi input DAC." While we are fairly sure that the word 'first' could easily be changed to 'only', the iDecco is a well-specified and flexible device.

It produces 40 watts into six ohms, which should be sufficient to drive most speakers likely to be partnered with it. The preamp features a single 6N1P triode visible via a window in the front panel. This can be switched in and out of the circuit via a button on the front panel and the remote, which makes the iDecco able to operate in both hybrid and completely sold-state modes.

PURE thoughts

As well as the internal amplification, the iDecco features on board digital-to-analogue conversion. And like the larger Nova, this is built around a version of the ESS Sabre DAC, that is capable of extremely high measured performance and variants – which feature in a number of highly regarded products, including the Audiolab 8200CD.

The relationship to the Audiolab is stronger than the chipset used, as John Westlake (the designer of the Audiolab) also designed the Peachtree DAC which accounts for the similarity in approach between the two devices.

The iDecco DAC board features eleven regulated power supplies and transformer coupling of each input. This is an impressively rigorous practice in a product of this type.

While the Nova features, five digital inputs, the iDecco has only four, a USB, coaxial and optical connection on the rear panel and the fourth is allocated to the iPod dock on the top of the unit. This is closely related to the PURE i-20 and, if the performance of the PURE is anything to go by, this is no bad thing.

The iDecco also reduces the number of analogue inputs supported to just one, but adds a component video output that allows the iDecco to output video material from an iPod to a screen while replaying the audio. Preamplifier outputs and a Class A headphone socket complete the connectivity.

For £999, this is a lot of functionality and the appeal of a product that offers the flexibility of direct iPod connectivity with the performance of a separate iPod transport is a strong one. It would be possible to construct a system of roughly equivalent price that would be able to match the functionality of the iDecco, but this would rather miss the point of the Peachtree, which combines this functionality in a single neat package rather than in a host of little boxes, all requiring an attendant mains plug and cabling between them.

Back in black

Aesthetically, the iDecco is styled in a similar fashion to the Nova, with a wrap-around chassis with appealing curved edges. We think that the gloss-black finish of the unit is more handsome than the 'wood' finish of the Nova and combines with the silver front panel to good effect.

The fit and finish of the iDecco is generally good. The controls operate with slickness and precision and panel gaps are small and consistent. The iPod dock could benefit from a dust cover to keep the connecting socket clean and the remote is rather hideous and nowhere near as pleasant to use as the front panel controls.

Given what the iDecco is offering in terms of features and considering the price, these are not serious gripes. At 380mm wide and with the iPod socket on top, its either going to have to stand on its own, or be on the top of a stack of equipment, should you need to take this into account.

Smooth operator

Connecting a Cambridge Audio 840C to the iDecco (via the analogue input) in order to get some sense of perspective of the amplifier on its own, the Peachtree revealed some likeable traits. This is a smooth and refined performer which can be listened to for hours without coming across as fatiguing or overly bright.

The tonality feels accurate and well-judged and voices, in particular, are well handled and sound engagingly real. Connecting the CD player to the digital inputs did not significantly alter the presentation of the iDecco, but the presentation becomes slightly more forward with a little more attack to the leading edges of notes.

Switching the valve in the preamp on – signified by an extra light illuminating the valve window on the front panel – produces mixed results. The valve sound is slightly stereotypical, in that there is a pronounced midrange bloom and a softening of the low end, but this can make thin and aggressive recordings more listenable and switching it back out of the circuit is simple enough to do.

With up tempo music, there can be a sense that the iDecco does not pick up the pace and stays a little relaxed to be truly exciting, but equally (even when pushed very hard) there is little sense of harshness or stridency.

Given that the unit is likely to encounter quite a bit of compressed music, it is good news that performance remains very listenable with all, but the most heavily compressed material.

This presentation stays consistent across the three rear panel digital inputs, including the USB. This connected to both PC and Mac quickly and efficiently and possessed the same sonic qualities as the coaxial input.

The iDecco also features an adjustable digital filter and a jitter bandwidth switch. The latter allows it to better 'lock on' to a source with very high jitter levels, but nothing we had to for the test produced enough jitter to defeat the switch in the 'narrow' position, let alone the wide one.

The filter produced subtle, but noticeable changes to the presentation, with the 'slow setting' making the iDecco more forgiving of compressed and bright material, while the 'sharp' position allowed lossless material more space to breathe.

An iPod connected and playing AAC lossless files is indistinguishable from a laptop connected over USB playing the same material. This is extremely impressive for an inbuilt device and gives the iDecco a very strong advantage to anyone who has made the jump with their iPod from peripheral to hi-fi .

Boxing clever

The iDecco has much to commend it as a piece of design and audio engineering. This is a well-built and well-thought out piece of kit that is perfect as a modern take on the music centre or as a very high-quality addition to a PC or Mac.

Some of the features are a little gimmicky, but Peachtree do at least give you the option to turn them off. The quality of components in the DAC board make this a consistently talented performer with modern digital sources.

This is a lifestyle product with sufficient hi-fi credentials to appeal to a broad church of users and it has the performance to offer something for all of them.

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You certainly seem to get your money's worth with the Peachtree Nova: a valve and solid-state preamplifier, a Class A headphone amplifier, 80 watts of power amplification and a high-quality DAC, all in a single, art deco-style enclosure with a swish wooden surround in a piano black, Rosewood (pictured) or Cherry finish.

Remove a panel on the rear of the enclosure and you have an aperture into which you can slot a Sonos ZP-90 ZonePlayer, in effect very tidily turning the hybrid Nova into a wireless integrated amplifier for your Sonos system. It is already starting to sound like the ideal heart of an office or study system…

Solid-state circuitry

One of the Nova's most unusual features is a switch on its remote control, labeled 'TUBE'. When you use the Nova as an integrated amplifier, preamp, or as a headphone amplifier, you can use this switch to choose between a solid-state or a Class A valve-based input stage.

If you select the latter, a blue LED illuminates the valve-viewing window in the front panel of the Nova. The valve in question is a Russian-made 6922 triode.

The Nova's preamp section has both variable and fixed-level outputs (with the fixed outputs being driven only by solid-state circuitry), making it easy to use the Nova to drive an outboard power amplifier or subwoofer, if you so desire.

There is also an AV bypass facility, whereby the Nova can be connected to an AV processor and simply used to drive the front, left and right channels for improved sound quality.

You can also use the Nova as a standalone headphone amplifier. When you plug your headphones into the relevant socket, the speakers are effectively automatically muted when the Class A/B power amplifier stage disengages.

The Nova can also be used as a 24-bit/96kHz standalone DAC that, according to some critics, bears comparison to dedicated high-end DAC designs. That is a bold claim to make for the DAC in an all-in-one type device that costs half of what you might expect to pay for a top-notch, dedicated DAC. Either some critics have very questionable standards or the Nova's DAC is truly something special.

The D/A stage employs an ESS 9006 Sabre chip with a patented jitter-reduction circuit and a 24/96 upsampling processor. This was chosen, not just for its performance under ideal circumstances, but also for how it performs when being fed less-than-perfect signals. This is a valid real-world situation that the Nova will likely encounter regularly.

The DAC is powered by 11 regulated supplies and each digital input uses transformer coupling to avoid being overly affected by noise from imperfect earthing arrangements and switched-mode power supplies.

The USB input, which only operates at 16/44.1 and 16/48, is galvanically isolated to eliminate computer power supply noise that frequently travels along the USB ground plane and provokes jitter.

Finally, the DAC offers two filter slopes, 'Slow' and 'Sharp', that can be selected by a rear panel switch. Peachtree says that 'Sharp' gives better laboratory results, but many audiophiles prefer the 'Slow' setting.

The switch is designed primarily to take the harsh edge off heavily compressed digital signals. That it is relegated to the rear panel suggests an element of 'set it and forget it' rather than it being designed for constant use.

A joy to operate

The Nova is not a hideously expensive item, but just looking at it gives the impression that it might damage your bank account a whole lot more than it actually does. What is more, the days when audiophiles did not care about the way their hi-fi looked have long since vanished.

Partly for that reason, we opine that the Nova is among the ever-expanding range of products – such as the Naim Uniti and Linn Majik DS-I – that are destined to find a place in the home office or study, where their all-in-oneness is a real benefit in terms of reducing clutter.

The DAC in the Nova was designed by the highly respected engineer, John Westlake, the man behind revered products such as the Pink Triangle DaCapo and the budget Cambridge Audio ISOmagic and DACmagic. This association could well explain why the Nova is so highly regarded as a DAC in many quarters.

The Nova is a joy to operate. For example, if it is in standby mode, there is no need to push the standby button to wake it up because selecting any input will bring it to life.

Easy-going

We auditioned the Nova using the digital outputs of a Naim UnitiServe and a Logitech Touch, as well as the analogue output of an Olive 03HD, along with a pair of Mordaunt-Short Performance 2 loudspeakers.

It exhibits an easy-going balance, with a reasonably well-detailed, but rather splashy top end and warm, friendly bass playing on Cornershop's Brimful of Asha, through the SB Touch. It sounded more aggressive and fiery, however, playing Lenny Kravitz' It is a Love Revolution through the Olive.

Switching the filter to its 'Slow' setting and engaging the valve in the preamplifier rendered Lenny's sound more tonally palatable and better controlled, firmed-up Cornershop's low frequencies and gave its treble an increased impression of detail.

Nils Lofgren's performance on Keith Don't Go from his Acoustic Live album, through all the sources, sounded rather lacklustre with muted dynamics on his voice and guitar, with the TUBE circuit engaged. Taking this stage out brought more energy, enthusiasm and precision to his performance, better conveying the timbre of the bouncing harmonics he regularly features in his playing.

Nonetheless, even with all the 'wrong' settings there was nothing unpleasant or offensive about the delivery of the Nova: it just lacked a little drama and precision. Compared to a really top-flight DAC, much of the hyperbole written about the Nova is revealed as uncritical fawning.

For example, the Nova DAC is not about to knock our Naim DAC off its perch. In comparison, it sounds subdued and murky, with little of the more expensive DAC's ability to reveal the layering, note shape and imagery in even a simple recording. This sort of sycophancy does products no favours at all.

It would have been better to make more sensible comparisons to, say, the DACMagic, with which it is realistically more in competition.

The best piece of advice we can give any buyer, though, is to keep their finger away from that TUBE button. It even managed to sap the gusto from The Proclaimers' vociferous 500 Miles.

Stiff competition

The Nova is a well-equipped little device to run a study or home office system, although we question the worth of the switchable filter and valve (no true audiophile feature).

The DAC and headphone amplifier are worthwhile space-saving and convenient inclusions and the main amplifier is a capable design.

The Nova might be streets ahead of most computer vendor audio 'solutions', but it faces stiff competition from the Arcam Solo Neo, Linn Majik DS-I, Naim Uniti and UnitiQute.

If you avoid the hype written by the bloggers 'n' blaggers, you might approach this enjoyable little product with more realistic expectations.

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Following in the footsteps of the Chordette Gem, which brought Chord's DAC expertise to a lower-budget audience, as well as the company's unique Bluetooth technology, the Peach is basically a Gem with electrical and optical S/PDIF inputs added.

The circuit board inside actually bears the legend 'Gem Mk 2' and comes in the same small case – a shrunk version of the legendary DAC64 finished, in this case, in fetching red.

The Bluetooth input is interesting, as it uses the 'advanced audio distribution profile' (A2DP) feature of the Bluetooth standard to stream higher-quality audio than is normally allowed by this dedicated short-range wireless system. It's not actually lossless, but when used with the APT-X codec, the quality is pretty decent.

The point is to allow not only computers, but also mobile phones, to stream data conveniently to the main hi-fi , without wiring things up.

Inside the Peach, an implausibly thin screened cable connects a socket for the Bluetooth antenna to a tiny sub-assembly with Chord's own receiver circuitry. This then feeds the main circuit board, also the home of the usual digital input chips and the DAC chip.

The latter is a recent part which not only converts to analogue but includes line driver circuits which remove the need for separate op-amps to drive the output sockets.

We love the milled-from-solid aluminium case and the overall look is very appealing. It's obvious which socket on the rear is which (and you can't confuse analogue with digital as the latter uses a BNC connector), but it's far from obvious which input is selected as the rotary switch is unlabelled.

Note that the USB input is limited to 48kHz sampling rate.

Sound quality

Connected via the usual S/PDIF, this DAC was well-liked, but didn't entirely escape criticism. Sifting through their notes, we noticed that a very slight lack of clarity, precision and focus was the main issue.

In the Led Zeppelin track we used for testing, for instance, one listener found it energetic, lively and fully in tune with the musical aims, while another missed some energy and commitment.

Our Otis Redding number drew comments about vocals sounding clear and lifelike but backed by an unusually recessed and constrained band, while the classical vocal track seemed to be just a little rough compared to the presentation heard from some of this group.

It's worth noting that in our sighted listening, we found this a relatively 'characterful' DAC which, however, gave a very informative presentation once one has acclimatised.

It's true it's not the most ruthlessly revealing, and we did occasionally wish for a little more insight (particularly in complex, multi-layered recordings), but it is certainly good on the rhythm and pace front and easy to like with rock music.

We tried both 'default' and APT-X Bluetooth and liked the latter a lot, though the former is noticeably compromised in most material.

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Benchmark was one of the firms that spearheaded the current DAC revival, a few years back. In fact, it's not so much the firm itself that did it, more its reputation which went before it via the internet in true 'viral' fashion.

Internet fads can, of course, crop up around all sorts of unlikely products and services, but the reality of the DAC1 is pretty much the epitome of solid engineering.

You may or may not like the front panel appearance, but the stuff inside is almost a check-list of audiophile must-haves: all-linear power supply; top-quality digital receiver; sample rate converter and DAC chips.

Now we said in the Arcam rDAC review that getting a basic DAC together doesn't necessarily involve much more than putting the right parts in place, but it's the detail that really matters, which will show up in the listening and lab tests.

This is also true in the headphone output stage, which isn't your usual op-amp-and-a couple- of-resistors afterthought. Benchmark has provided the DAC1 with a couple of very high-performance dedicated integrated circuits for headphone driving, which boast specifications so far in advance of what's actually required for the job that it's unlikely they will be a serious limiting factor. No complaints there!

As befits a device which is clearly conceived with the audio professional in mind, there are pro touches, such as balanced output alongside the phono sockets, AES/EBU digital input, and the choice of calibrated output level (adjustable via rear panel trimpots) or variable, via the front panel control.

Build quality is excellent and operation is simplicity itself. Benchmark makes special mention of its 'UltraLock' jitter reduction system: we don't have details of how it works, but it seems effective.

Sound quality

If there was one aspect of this DAC's performance that caused the odd mild reservation, it's in the scale of the sound. It's not so much the business of imaging that seems to be at issue here, more the overall effect that's a combination of imaging with dynamics and tonal fullness. It is possible, though, that this is, in reality, a symptom of the DAC1's extreme cleanliness and purity of character.

It does sometimes happen that very clean audio sounds a little underwhelming in the short term, simply because we expect (from past experience) a touch of roughness at high levels and when it's not there we assume the worst. It certainly has plenty of detail and an admirably neutral tonal balance.

Imaging is precise and stable and there is a believable sense of 'air' around performers. In addition, there is a real sense of life and energy in the music, something which our listeners appreciated in all of the musical extracts presented. Equally in Led Zeppelin and Rachmaninov, the DAC1 captures the rhythmic quality and 'drive' of the music, allowing the emotion full rein and ensuring that it is never a boring listen.

Incidentally, we can't let this review pass without also complimenting the headphone output, which is very fine indeed and for regular users of 'cans' makes an already attractive proposition look very tempting indeed.

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Along the way, Pro-Ject Audio has managed to get some quite impressive functions into small spaces in its Box Audio series of components. A DAC – even a three-input one – is not quite such a shoehorn feat and, indeed, this is by no means the smallest on the market.

It's stoutly made, with a steel sleeve over a steel tray which houses the electronics assemblies. The component count is low, with a DAC chip, an S/PDIF receiver and a USB receiver, plus a minimum of housekeeping parts and a handful of power supply components.

Power is from the usual switch-mode wall-wart, though we note this supplies nine volts, suggesting that the dedicated tweaker could easily substitute a nine-volt battery, which might be an interesting experiment.

Limited noise

The DAC chip is one we've seen before in Pro-Ject units. It's a handy choice because it can feed the output sockets directly, but it does limit output voltage and the DAC Box only produces one-volt full-scale output. That's only a problem in that you'll need your amp's volume control set a little higher than usual, conceivably leading to alarmingly loud noises when you switch to another source without adjusting volume. Not really a big deal.

Possibly more worrying is the issue of limited noise performance from low-output devices. That doesn't seem to be a major issue here, though noise performance isn't quite state-of-the-art: however, there is a little modulation noise in evidence.

Operation is perfectly straightforward, with the one button on the front cycling round the three inputs.

USB operation is absolutely fine. As with most current DACs, it's limited to 48kHz maximum sampling rate. Pro-Ject makes a point of this DAC being able to extract bit-perfect audio from your computer if you install ASIO drivers, available from the Pro-Ject website.

That's true, though it happens to be true for all USB DACs. But credit to the company for pointing it out. It's almost certainly the biggest performance upgrade you can make to a computer audio system for no money!

Energetic nature

We hooked this DAC up first of all to a laptop computer and played a few files (all uncompressed WAV, naturally) through it. Not entirely surprisingly, given the technical similarity, we found its sound quite like that of the CD Box.

That's not a bad thing at all, as the most obvious characteristic of both units is a lively, energetic nature which gets cheerfully involved with any kind of music. There's also plenty of detail around.

We'd be lying if we said the DAC is ultra-precise (and it would be unfair to demand it at this price), but it does recover a lot of information from any recording. It's just that it doesn't always present that information in an orderly fashion compared with more upmarket DACs. Still, that seems like an acceptable compromise and we found ourselves easily falling for the unit's general enthusiasm.

Nice depth

Tonally, the upper reaches of the bass register seem a shade plummy, while the deepest bass lacks a little insight. There's some decent kick and also tuning to it, though, so again the drawback is hardly noticeable.

Midrange very slightly favours male over female voices, while treble is extended, if occasionally a touch dry. And imaging, as you've probably already guessed, is decent but not super-precise – it has a nice depth to it, though.

Fun-lovin'

We probably wouldn't get too excited about using this DAC as an upgrade for any CD player of recent vintage. Hooked up to a computer-based source, though, it makes a good deal of sense in the best traditions of fun-lovin' budget audio and in that case the S/PDIF inputs could be handy now and then. All-in-all, another useful Box!

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Over 20 years ago Arcam produced the Back Box standalone digital-to-analogue convertor. This was one of the first (for obvious reasons, the claim to exactly who was first is hotly contested) devices that could bypass the output of an existing CD player via an S/PDIF digital output and convert it to an analogue signal via a higher-quality output stage than the CD player had internally.

Consequently, the Black Box was highly regarded and sold well. During the late 1990s, research into jitter and a change in philosophy saw the DAC fall out of favour and Arcam's output at this time was comprised entirely of one-box CD players.

Now that a DAC renaissance is in full force, the company has returned to a keenly contested market with the rDAC. As the sub-£1,000 DAC market is looking rather busy these days, it's good to see that the rDAC is far more than a 'me too' product.

Central to its performance is the new Wolfson Microelectronics WM8741 chip. This is the successor to the WM8740, which has been central to some very strong CD offerings from Arcam, as well as Cambridge Audio and Rega.

Boasting improved signal-to-noise measurements and detail changes to filtering, the WM8741 gives the rDAC some very strong credentials.

Wireless dongle

Arcam has made use of an ongoing relationship with high-end digital manufacturer dCS, a company that has contributed to some of its star performers over the years.

This time, the relationship has gifted the rDAC, the patented dCS Asynchronous USB Technology system. This is a relatively new take on USB transfer and allows for increased performance from this increasingly common connection.

Given that a great many rDACS are likely to find themselves being connected via USB over anything else, this is good thinking on the part of Arcam.

Later on in this year, the final part of the rDAC's arsenal will become available in the form of wireless transmission. Arcam says that this will involve more technology from dCS and a wireless dongle. The transmission will handle everything up to lossless files and will open up another way of extracting audio from a computer, as well as making a great deal of sense if the rDAC is already connected into a particular computer via the USB input and you wish to use another computer 'on the fly'.

As it is, the wireless input light sits on the front of the rDAC, but cannot currently be selected. The wireless version will be £100 more than the version tested here.

Red to green

As well as the USB and forthcoming wireless, the rDAC sports a relatively conventional optical and coaxial digital input and a single RCA phono output. If you need more than one of each particular input, or are interested in a balanced XLR output, you will need to look elsewhere, but the Arcam's specification on the whole is competitive for its asking price when the Asynchronous USB input is taken into account.

The unit itself is small, but pleasant to look at and use and is styled as part of the Solo range – although it doesn't look so different from other Arcam separates to be visually at odds if placed with them. The chassis is all-metal and feels solid and well constructed.

Input selection is via a single button on the top of the unit. The input light glows red and then switches to green when a connection is established, which is a nice touch if you should need to fault-find a connection.

Another sign of impressive attention to detail is the USB connection. Connect the rDAC to a PC and it will display on the PC as an 'Arcam rDAC, rather than a generic USB component that so many of its key competitors will do.

Connection itself is fast and effective and our sample unit connected quickly and simply to a variety of PCs and Macs during the test period.

Good things in small packages

Sonically, the rDAC is a strong proposition. Connected over USB and given lossless or better files (although 24-bit/192khz files are limited to a transmission rate of 24/96), the rDAC is an enticing performer. It produces a natural and unforced presentation, entirely free from harshness or aggression.

Indeed, its performance is free from even the slightest sense of digital sheen or artefacts, which is a huge boost to long-term listening. Given that this naturalness is an intended outcome of the design of the Wolfson WM8741, it is good news to report that this appears to have succeeded in practice.

Vocals are well presented and believably real with the sense of space and decay vital for the suspension of disbelief. The rDAC will also present an excellent and well-judged soundstage, well in proportion to the recording being listened to.

Further good news is that switching to compressed music, be it the 320k MP3 of Spotify or music ripped to lossy AAC in iTunes stays involving and listenable. The rDAC is quick to reward the use of high-resolution files, but pleasingly slow to punish the use of compressed ones.

Switching over to the coaxial input does not change the behaviour of the rDAC in any substantial way, although this is as much a reflection of how good the USB input actually is, rather than any deficiency on the part of the coaxial input. The rDAC always remains natural and unforced and even poor recordings will not push it towards stridency or harshness.

Give the rDAC a typical modern recording with the levels turned Spinal Tap-style to eleven and it will manage to find the dynamics within it that have been compressed to within an inch of their life. This gets even better when you give it a CD recording which has been treated with a little more respect and the results are very nearly as good as high-resolution digital over USB.

The only real downside of this control and relaxed nature is that given a genuinely exciting recording, there is a sense that the rDAC is keeping some of the dynamics and force in check.

This is often apparent in the bass response which is fast and tuneful, but not as deep as some of the Arcam's key competitors. Those who need more excitement in their lives and are possibly willing to trade off a little of the Arcam's extremely forgiving nature with poor recordings, may be better served elsewhere. Alternatively, this is nothing some thoughtful system matching would not solve.

Market shake up

The rDAC marks a welcome return to an increasingly important product category from one of the original pioneers in the field. Just as importantly, the wait has also been worthwhile.

The arrival of well thought out and well-implemented Asynchronous USB at this price point is a welcome shake up to the market. That the rDAC has this and regular connections running through a desirable new DAC chip in a well-built box is even more welcome.

If you are in the process of going 'post CD' in your current system, then the rDAC is a must-audition product. It is able to achieve excellent results with computer audio and the lack of fuss or hassle – making it work with a variety of computers – bodes well for widespread compatibility.

Back in the realms of conventional hi-fi , the rDAC faces stiff competition from the large selection of very accomplished performers over more conventional digital connections, which means that it deserves a place on a slightly longer shortlist, but it certainly deserves a place nonetheless.

There has never been a better time, given the market trends, to be looking at the rDAC as an inexpensive boost to your digital replay.

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Sometimes a product comes along that manages to create a buzz without any fanfare whatsoever and the Synthesis Matrix DAC, from a relatively unknown Italian company, has done just that.

In fact, Synthesis doesn't even feature the Matrix DAC on its website, so full credit must go to UK distributor Audio Images, for this cunning bit of stealth marketing.

Synthesis, not to be confused with Audio Synthesis of passive preamp fame, makes a system's worth of electronics and speakers and finishes it in some very Italian colours. It's clearly into the sound of valves, so it's no surprise to see two pairs lying horizontally under a vent in the top of the unit, but how they fit the transformers into such a slim box is something of a mystery.

Valves inside

The answer lies in the fact that Synthesis employs low-profile transformers. And, as this isn't a power amplifier, it doesn't need something beefy to help it drive loudspeakers.

The tube complement under the lid consists of two 12AX7WA triodes and a pair of Philbrick K2-W op-amps. This is the first time we've encountered a valve op-amp and this is an example of the first op-amp ever produced.

It was introduced in 1952 and production ceased in 1971, so this is a new old stock (NOS) component. Op-amps are the building blocks of most low-power audio circuits. They're compact amplifiers that are usually in chip form and are a lot cheaper to use than discrete circuits.

The Matrix is a compact and beautifully finished convertor with four S/PDIF inputs for optical or electrical signals, the fifth input is a USB B socket for use with PC sources.

The digital to analogue converter that beats at the heart of this black box is a Wolfson WM8740 – an upsampling 24-bit/192kHz type. In fact there are two DACs – one for each channel, which means that this convertor could be run in balanced mode if it makers so desired.

As it stands, however, it is a single-ended component with only single-ended RCA phono outputs. In use it has an on/off button that says standby but actually kills the thing dead (something you will want to do if you pay the electricity bill because it sure runs hot).

The other button selects between inputs, which you will need to do if you have multiple digital sources as the DAC stays with the last input selected rather than automatically finding the live source.

Attention to detail

The Matrix has been built with plenty of attention to detail; the casework is very well finished and the socketry is of a standard that one expects at this price. The display is large and clear if a little idiosyncratic; hooked up to a DVD-A player outputting a 96kHz signal the DAC indicates that the incoming bitstream is actually at 99kHz.

Less impressive, though, is the fact that we struggled to get our Macbook laptop to see the Matrix as a USB device whatever switch-on procedure was employed.

The competition in the valve DAC arena includes a number of models from Audio Note UK which has the DAC2.1x for £2,340, this is a non-oversampling type with transformer interfaces and a zero-feedback output in a chunky metal chassis.

It's not as pretty as the Matrix and doesn't have a display, but is likely to have offer greater transparency and dynamics.

Living voice

Coming to the Matrix after a solid state CD player you can't help but hear its classic valve qualities. It's that bit smoother, warmer and richer than a transistor device and that does wonders for the timbre of instruments and voices.

The latter, in particular, sound fabulous and convey considerable intimacy thanks to the way the DAC seeks out nuances and phrasing so well. This extends to making lyrics easier to understand in more intense passages and it revels in the character of every line.

This DAC doesn't have the same extension in the bass as a good, solid-state alternative, but it does have plenty of weight and plays a mean tune in the lower octaves. It's also excellent at delivering the attack of a snare drum or electric guitar, Synthesis also manages to avoid undue softness in the sound and with a good recording it achieves results that are simply captivating.

With lesser recordings its clean and smooth top end is very forgiving, It doesn't quite deliver the full openness and dynamics that the best valve stages can produce, but this makes it easier to live with because you don't hear the shortcomings of noisy recordings.

Enchanting

Having said that, the Matrix transforms the sound of most mid-priced CD players. We used it with a Cambridge 840C, which sounds a little too 'warts and all' through highly revealing speakers, but works a treat with this DAC.

It's a beguiling piece of kit that does a superb job with timbre and avoids the valve pitfalls of sounding vague and overblown. It images well and has a decent sense of timing. It's a pity our sample didn't work with a PC because we suspect that its qualities would suit such a source rather nicely.

This Italian DAC has a lot to commend it, not least its fluency and the way it brings singers into the room.

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