Tagged: dac

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.

NAD'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.

dCS 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?

Astell&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?

Spotify'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.

The 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.

Orchard Audio's Starkrimson 25 monoblock launch confirms that gallium nitride amplification's real advances still come from dedicated specialists, not the mainstream brands.

Chord'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.

AKM'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.

MQA'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.

HiFiMan 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.