Resonessence Labs have announced that DSD playback will soon be available on their flagship INVICTA DAC. Units that ship after 14th January 2013 will be equipped with version 4.0.0 of the Resonessance software which allows for DSD playback over USB and via the SD card reader. Existing users can download version 4.0.0 from the software update page on the Resonessence

I saw Wyred4Sound’s forthcoming portable DAC/head-amp at this year’s RMAF – now it has a tentative street date of December 2012. The µDAC-HD shares the same casework as the original µDAC, drops optical and coaxial inputs and picks-up a quarter inch headphone socket. Data feeds of up to 24/192 and Linux compatibility are handled by the (USB Audio Class 2.0)

Melbourne’s Burson Audio are about to launch the next generation of their very popular HA-160D. Like its predecessor, The Conductor is a headphone amplifier, DAC and pre-amplifier. Dimensions and casework remain unchanged but inside you’ll find an ESS Sabre32 9018 chip. The USB implementation has seen some love – it’s now an 24/192 asynchronous Tenor TE8802 (drivers for OS X

“My veal cutlet came down the counter to beat the shit outta my cup of coffee…but my coffee wasn’t strong enough to defend itself” – Tom Waits Ever since accepting a loaner on an Audio-gd NFB-12 (US$200), I was keen to see what (else) was going on back at the shallow end of the DAC pool after a year or

I’ve given some thought recently to what sonic features/quirks/annoyances might constitute the ‘Sabre DAC sound’.  I’d previously concluded that Sabre-charged DACs offered quite a distinct sonic signature, or at least some common traits that would allow one to pick a Sabre box blind.  Since spending some time with the Peachtree DAC*iT (AU$449), I’m no longer so sure.  However, one truth

They’ve been promising it for a while now but Peachtree Audio are finally set to launch their statement DAC/Pre-amplifier.  It looks better than its Dad-joke name would suggest.  Six digital inputs – 24/192 asynchronous USB, two coax, two optical, BNC – feed an in-built ESS Sabre32 9018 DAC that lowers jitter to less than 1 picosecond. “The reference-quality preamp routes

One of the most cliched concluding lines of the (lazy?) hi-fi reviewer is “product X competes with items three or four times the price…“.  Luckily for the high(er) end, rarely are names named.  However, such phrasing underscores the importance of context.  If the Anedio D1 DAC (US$1270) were to be reviewed in isolation, claims that its sound were ‘sweet’ or

Remember Intel Viiv, media centre PCs and all-in-one media solutions? Remember convergence as a bona fide lounge room concept? Where’d it go? The general public didn’t buy it. It was all too finicky: drivers for digital TV cards, accommodating 5.1 surround sound devices…too many options. Then the cult of Mac sold us on diminished choice being a good thing. We