In taking his Audiophilleo USB-S/PDIF convertor to the next level, Philip Gruebel has announced the PurePower VLN digital power pack. VLN? Very low noise. The PurePower is a rechargeable battery pack that keeps the ‘dirty’ USB power feed galvanically isolated from the twin clocks and S/PDIF output stage, instead feeding them with lovely, wholesome battery juice. Lasting up to 15

What I don’t know about digital audio transports is far greater than what I do know.  However, I receive numerous emails about what I think of X as a transport, or how it compares to Y.  Think of what follows as an overview of my digital audio transport experiences from the last 18 months.  Expect some rambling… March 2012.  I

January 2012.  Christine Wu of the Taiwanese KingRex Tech offered up review units of the UD384 convertor (US$479) as well as its (optional) battery PSU, the KingRex UPower (US$189).  Freeing the USB DAC from its potentially noisy USB bus power feed had me on the review assignment hook. Armchair audiophiles will find themselves immediately muted by this DAC.  At its

[This review has been a long time in gestation. Why? It takes several months' solid listening to get to grips with a DAC's personality. Even more time is needed to be convinced of changes further up the source chain.] Regular readers will know my first truly revelatory experience with USB convertors arrived with John Kenny’s battery-modded Hiface. So profound were