Tagged: dac
11 articles we've published with this tag.
Roon vs UPnP vs proprietary apps: which streaming protocol actually sounds best?Theo Mensah cuts through the forum noise to explain what Roon, UPnP/DLNA and proprietary apps actually do differently — and whether any of it affects the sound.By Theo Mensah
NAD's C 589 CD player revives MQA with QRONO d2a processing and an ESS Sabre DACNAD's C 589 CD player pairs MQA Labs' QRONO d2a reconstruction technology with an ESS Sabre DAC — here's what that means for serious listeners.By Theo Mensah
dCS breaks from stereo tradition with the 16-channel MCD 16 Ring DACdCS unveils its first-ever multichannel DAC at High End Vienna 2026 — eight stereo Ring DACs, discrete Class A outputs, and a question worth asking: is this the future of high-end home cinema?By Theo Mensah
Astell&Kern AK HC5 review: a flagship AK4499EX DAC chip in a $450 dongleAstell&Kern's AK HC5 dongle brings the flagship AK4499EX DAC chip and an OLED display to your pocket for $450. Is it the serious listener's ultimate USB-C companion?By Eleanor Shaw
Spotify gates lossless behind a new three-tier Premium structure in emerging marketsSpotify's new three-tier Premium structure in India, Indonesia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Africa gates lossless 24-bit FLAC behind the top Platinum tier. Here's what it means for AU listeners.By Theo Mensah
Astell&Kern brought four vacuum tubes to a portable player — and it changes what 'high-end portable' meansThe SP4000T debuts at HIGH END Vienna 2026 as the world's first DAP with a quad vacuum-tube layout. Sofia Laurent unpacks why it matters.By Sofia Laurent
Why GaN specialists like Orchard Audio still lead the technology's edgeOrchard Audio's Starkrimson 25 monoblock launch confirms that gallium nitride amplification's real advances still come from dedicated specialists, not the mainstream brands.By Theo Mensah
Four million taps: inside Chord's £25,000 Quartet FPGA upscalerChord's new Quartet runs four million WTA filter taps across five FPGAs and adds a built-in ADC. Theo Mensah explains what FPGA reconstruction actually does.By Theo Mensah
AKM's Comeback Completes: The Flagship AK4499EX Arrives in a $450 DongleAKM's recovery from its 2020 fab fire reaches a milestone as the AK4499EX lands in Astell&Kern's $450 HC5 — the first portable DAC to carry the chip.By Theo Mensah
The end of the MQA era: where QRONO, FOQUS and AIRIA landedMQA's successor technologies are finally shipping in real products. Here's a clear-eyed account of what survived the collapse — and what's still missing.By Priya Anand
HiFiMan puts a planar flagship on Wi-Fi — not BluetoothHiFiMan debuted the HE1000 WiFi and Arya WiFi at CanJam NYC 2026 — open-back planars with onboard R2R DACs that use Wi-Fi as the primary wireless link. Here's why that matters.By Sofia Laurent