⌈ Sforzato is a Japanese company established in 2009, led by its founder, Mr. KYOSHI OMATA. It is based in Hino City, a city that is part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. It specializes in only one type of product: file players, both integrated and separates. We are premiere testing in Poland its entry-level DSP-07EX player. ⌋

I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHEN, although it must have been somewhere around 2013-2014 when I first heard about the Sforzato company. Yes, I reached into the HF archives and it turns out it was in 2014. Ten years ago. In fact, I didn't so much hear as I saw its products, listened to them and met the company's CEO, Mr. KYOSHI OMATA.

Because, you see, Japanese companies rarely contact the outside world directly and prefer to rely on their “agents”. This was the case in the 16th century, when, in 1541, a ship with Portuguese merchants and Jesuit missionaries on board reached the Japanese coast, it was the case for the next four centuries, and it is still the case today. Unlike historical contacts, modern companies choose this model of operation themselves, rather than it being imposed on them from the outside.

This involves small manufacturers being represented outside Japan by companies specializing in dealing with gaijin, or “outsiders,” “non-Japanese” (Japanese 外人). The reasons are many, ranging from a focus on one's business and work, to ethnic prejudice and an unwillingness to fit in with the rules of strangers, to fear, to - surprisingly in this modern country - a fairly widespread inability to speak foreign languages.

In my experience, all of these reasons and their combinations can come into play, but in the case of audio companies, another, pragmatic one may be the decisive factor: a specialized intermediary knows foreign markets and distributors, understands their operating model, and can also navigate the world of Western specialty magazines. And, believe me, in both of these cases the modus operandi of the Japanese is far incompatible with what we deal with on a daily basis.

To prove my point let me mention such brands as Leben, Oyaide or Acoustic Revive. For them, such a “gateway” to the Western world was the Muson company and Mr. Yoshi Hontai. The same one who, back in 2006, took a risk and sent to a completely unknown, young magazine, existing for only little over two years an amplifier that turned out to be a hit for this manufacturer, and for which “High Fidelity” turned out to be a pass to the world - we are talking about the Leben company and the CS-300 tube amplifier; more → HERE.

Sforzato has also chosen a similar course of action. Its representative outside Japan is Mr. Toshio Muroi, who also deals with other Japanese brands, including Phasemation, which you know quite well from our pages.

▌ Sforzato

JAPANESE STEREO SOUND MAGAZINE begins its text with a description of the DSP-Columbia player with a brief introduction: “Sforzato (...) is the leading Japanese audio file player company” (No. 231, Summer 2024, p. 103; excerpt - ed.). Such a distinction in one of the most important audiophile magazines in the world, and simply the most important in the East, is really something.

This is all the more surprising because, after all, there is no shortage of manufacturers in this country dealing with this type of equipment, and almost all of them are either part of even larger companies, and therefore have access to extensive R&D departments, materials and money, or are simply big players. And Sforzato, mind you, is a ONE-MAN company.

Founded in 2009 and right after that, in October, it debuted at the Tokyo International Audio Show. At that time, it unveiled a prototype of the DST-01, a two-box file transport (Digital Stream Transport). One chassis housed the transport and the other the linear power supply. The device offered dual AES output, compatible with the protocol used by dCS and Chord Electronics, and also had an input for an external clock. Initially, the transport supported only PCM files, but after a software update it also played DSD.

The device turned out to be quite a success and quite soon after a complete file player was introduced to the market, and later models DSP-03, DSP-05 and the flagship DSP-01 were added to the portfolio. This is how the first generation of the company's devices took shape. It’s interesting and important for this test to know that almost all these basic solutions that were chosen at that time can also be found in their devices made today. In the next-generation products, such as the DSP-Vela, Mr. Kyoshi-san used different D/A converters, which we will also see in the tested DSP-07EX, namely the ES9038PRO from ESS Technology, operating in dual mono.

It currently offers two models of complete players, of which versions intended for the Japanese market have different names than those available outside it. The lineup opens with the DSP-07EX, in Japan DSP-Corvus, and above it we find the DSP-05EX, in Japan DSP-Columbia. In addition to these, we can also buy the high-end PMC-07EX and PMC-07EX word clocks (Japanese names: Delphinus and Cetus); we will come back to the clock issue, as it is different here from all other manufacturers I know.

▌ DSP-07EX

SFORZATO'S DSP-07EX is a complete audio file player and supports all known PCM and DSD resolutions. It belongs to a group of devices in which the primary user interface is a tablet or smartphone screen, but which also offer an auxiliary one in the form of a small display; here it is accompanied by two buttons, phase switch and input selector. The manufacturer's description of the devices on its website begins with a related statement:

Network music player is a new style of listening to music. Using a network player, you can enjoy files stored on NAS (Network Attached Storage) or from streaming services using your tablet as a remote control (...). In this way, you can easily search for songs by genre, artist name, etc. You can also view album covers on the tablet's screen, as well as check the song title, album name and artist name.

The unit features a medium-sized front panel, its width is 390 mm. Since it is 327 mm deep and only 85 mm high, its body is compact. Over the years, Mr. Kyoshi-san has experimented with various concepts for dividing the unit into separate boxes and with its appearance, but early on he proposed something that, in a modified form, we get today: a thick aluminum front with undercuts at the bottom edge, and a rigid, even very rigid chassis made of aluminum sheets. The front is silver, and the players and transports use a small blue-ish dot-matrix display.

The designer once told Stereo Sound magazine that the driving force behind his work was, years ago, contact with Linn players. Which, while we're at it, would be par for the course for the Lumin company, whose genesis is very similar and which also “took off” from admiration for that manufacturer. Today the Scotsmen offer designer devices with very large screens, but back then they were low-profile players in which text could be read on small, blue (!) displays. Having said that, let's add that each of these companies finally went their own way and offered their own solutions to common problems.

Finally, let's add that the player can work as a DAC, but only via USB input. Implicitly, it is supposed to be a DAC for a computer. The manufacturer notes that its device supports the Diretta protocol, which means that a computer can also be connected via an Ethernet cable, directly to the player's input. The Sforzato will then work like a complete player (the Ethernet link transmits files, not the audio signal), but controlled from the computer. This is a much better solution than USB transfer.

CONTROL • In any case, the DSP-07EX is a complete file player. It features only one input for digital signal, USB, and one socket for contact with the world, SFP. As you can see, the LAN input is not a conventional RJ-45 connector, but an optical one. The set comes with an SFP → RJ45 adapter, so there's nothing to worry about, even if you don't have a router with such an output.

THERE ARE TWO ANALOG OUTPUTS, both using high quality sockets: balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA; the unit has a fully balanced design. It supports PCM files: AIFF, WAV, FLAC, ALAC → up to 768 kHz and 32 bits, and dsf, diff → up to DSD512 (22.5 MHz).

Inside, the device is divided into two sections, the file transport and the DAC, and these are connected by a special ZERO Link. It works similarly to IIS, i.e. the DAC’s clock signal is sent to the transport. It is also used by the company in a more expensive player, to connect two separate devices. It is based on DVI cables and sockets, that is, video with analog audio. Recall that many products use another video link, HDMI, for IIS signal transmission. ZERO Link was jointly developed by Sforzato and SoulNote. The latter's website reads:

ZERO LINK not only sends master clock and IIS signals, but also interactively communicates between the transport and the DAC. That is, the transport sends the audio source format to the DAC before playback begins, and the DAC's DDS generates a high-quality master clock synchronized to that format and sends it back to the transport. The transport then generates a clean IIS signal synchronized to this master clock and sends it back to the DAC.

As a result of these procedures, ZERO LINK allows the DAC and transport to be completely synchronized with the master clock generated by the DAC, and thus allows the DAC to completely bypass synchronous circuits that can cause deterioration in sound quality.

⸜ Zero Link, → www.soulnote.co.jp, accessed: 16.02.2024.

The heart of the device is the file transport. Its software was written by the company’s engineers in-house and this is its most important asset. Its players are really reliable, fast and during the test nothing ever crashed or slowed down. Control of the device is done through free apps, which frees the company from its biggest expense. Sforzato recommends the Takina app from Interface Co. It's a simple app, but reliable.

In fact, however, it seems to me that constructor Sforzato is betting on Roon. The DSP-07EX is Roon Ready certified, which makes it superbly easy to control the device. And that's because the company's players do not work with Connect systems - neither Spotify nor Tidal. In which, again, Mr. Kyoshi-san's purist and uncompromising approach to products manifests itself. I don't know if you remember what Li He, Product Manager of Lumin, said about systems of this type. And he suggested that you turn them off in Lumin, even the unused ones, and the sound will improve; more → HERE.

A thing, it would seem, absurd, since we are not talking about audio signal, and yet... When ten years or so ago Marcin Ostapowicz, owner of JPLAY, spoke about the fact that changing the language in his software player changes the sound as well, many people thought he was making things up. Even I had my doubts; more → HERE and → HERE.

Today we already know that the so-called “traffic” in a device's operating system is crucial for sound. The smaller it is, the better the sound. Therefore, disabling functions that we do not use, but which put a strain on its operation, improves the sound. In any case, if you want to control Sforzato devices in a pleasant, comfortable way, using music metadata, etc., you can't do without Roon. And, since I’ve already mentioned JPLAY, let's say that its control application will also work with this player.

TECHNOLOGY • As we said, the part related to decoding files and converting them into PCM signals is based on software from Sforzato. It is stored in a microcomputer, working with an additional DSP chip and memory modules. “Unpacked” digital signal is decoded in two ESS Technology ES9038Pro DAC chips. Although there are eight channels in each, here they work in a mono configuration, thus reducing noise and distortion. Thanks to ZERO Link, they are controlled by a clean clocking signal from the outside. According to the manufacturer:

The ESS DAC no longer relies on internal jitter removal, operating in perfect synchronization with the input signal. A high-quality clock and meticulously orchestrated wiring and clock architecture ensure perfectly synchronized, jitter-free sound.

Unusually, the players from this Japanese company do not have built-in clock circuits. On the rear panel you'll find a BNC socket to which you connect either the small clock included in the equipment, or a large one you buy separately. This is also supposed to be a way to improve the device's performance, although I haven't seen this solution anywhere else.

The Sforzato DSP-07EX is a well-thought-out, perfectionist device.

▌ SOUND

HOW WE LISTENED • The Sforzato DSP-07EX audio file player stood on a Finite Elemente Pagode Edition Mk II rack. Its sound was compared to the AYON AUDIO CD-35 HF EDITION SACD player and the Lumin T3 file player.

With the router, the player was connected via my system consisting of a SILENT ANGEL N16 LPS dual LAN switch, with its two modules in series, powered by a TIGLON TPL-2000A cable and via a TIGLON TPL-2000L LAN cable; more about it → HERE ˻PL˺; the router was powered by a JCAT Optimo 3 Duo power supply.

Since I don't have an SFP link in my system, the signal was sent through a built-in SFP → RJ45 converter; I also listened to Audiophile Digital Optical Technology's converter separately. The latter solution turned out to be better.

» RECORDINGS USED FOR THE TEST ⸜ a selection

⸜ AVISHAY COHEN, Bright Light, Naïve/Tidal, SP, FLAC 24/96 (2024).
⸜ MATT DUSK, I Want Be Around, Royal Crown Records Inc./Tidal, SP, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024).
⸜ MOLCHAT DOMA, Bielaja Polosa (Белая Полоса), Sacred Bones Records/Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024).
⸜ DAVID GILMOUR, Luck and Strange, Sony Music Entertainment/Tidal, FLAC 24/96 (2024).
⸜ KEITH JARRETT, Bordeaux Concert, ECM Records/Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2022).
⸜ BERNEY KESSEL, The Poll Winners, Contemporary Records/Craft Recordings/Tidal, FLAC 24/192 (1957/?).
⸜ ART PEPPER, …the way it was!, Contemporary Records/Mobile Fidelity Audio Lab UDSACD 2034, DSD – rip z SACD (1972/2008).
⸜ Opus 3 DSD Showcase No 1, Opus 3 CD 21000, DSD-DSF 5,6 MHz (2012).
⸜ Audiophile Analog Collection Vol. 1, 2xHD Fusion, DSD-DSF 11,2896 MHz (2018).

»«

HA! YOU DID NOT NEED TO LISTEN very carefully to hear what I did in the first bars of Summertime from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, a piece sung by AVISHAY COHEN (album Bright Light, scheduled for release on October 25 - oh, I'm already looking forward to it!). Namely, that the Sforzato plays not so much differently from the Lumina, but first of all, that it plays better. It's more expensive, so it should be a better performer, and yet the Lumin is such a good device that I subconsciously expected something different. Not in every respect, it's not that the Hong Kong device suddenly “stopped being good”, absolutely not. But nevertheless, switching between devices confirmed this observation for me, more strongly with each song.

The thing is that the Japanese player plays music in a remarkably focused way. It really, really resembles good, high-end CD and SACD players in this respect. It can generate a cosmos of sounds, each with its own place. This results in a focused, intrinsically complex presentation that is both highly engaging and at the same time relaxing. Not - putting you to sleep, but - taking the edge off.

It engages us through sound saturation. This is a thing that was completely absent in the first generation of file players, and that was consistently recovered for them using various solutions, such as higher quality power supply, better software, noise and vibration reduction, etc. Everything we know from other devices, for which this was an important aid, for audio file players proved doubly beneficial. Even such seemingly non-intuitive solutions as anti-vibration feet ("What?! Hell no, after all, there are no moving parts in streamers, I think you guys are nuts...!” - screamed IT people at us audiophiles).

In any case, the magnificent realization of Cohen's album, with closely positioned instruments, was highlighted and illuminated by Sforzato, so to speak. The Lumin, in direct comparison, seems less focused and more laid back, as our American NATO allies say. That is, the foreground was placed farther away from me, and the sound sources had less clearly defined bodies. On the other hand, however, it was a sound with more “breath”, wider. In the sense that the edges of the stage were spread wider, and by moving the foreground away from me the whole thing took on a breath.

The Sforzato DSP-07EX plays differently. It's a presentation heavily focused on information. Not on details, because we don't notice those, but on small changes in sound’s intensity and phase that create what we consider a “natural” and sometimes even - “live-like” sound. MATT DUSK, my wife's favorite singer, at whose concert at Krakow's ICE we had a great time last year, was thus shown close to me in the song I Want Be Around. But still with reverb, after all, that's how it was recorded, as he is accompanied by a large orchestra. And although you could still hear that the sound engineer had moved him slightly away from the foreground, his voice was exceptionally clear. That's why I'm talking about information.

But the orchestra and band could be heard just as clearly. Even wind instruments set far in the mix had good definition and I could beautifully hear their softness and density. The phantom images on stage had high volume and were dense, I would even say - saturated. By this I mean that the sound with the Japanese player is emotionally engaging. Not that there is anything wrong with the Lumin in this regard, I like the device very much. But the Sforzato pushed harder the “buttons” in my head.

And I'm not just talking about recordings that, by their very definition, can have that effect on me, because both of the performers I've reached for are important to me. Perhaps the things I am talking about will surprise you even more strongly when you listen to intuitively “non-audiophile” discs. To find out, I reached for Bielaj Polos by one of the most recognizable artists from Belarus, the band named MOLCHAT DOMA. Playing post punk, new wave and synth pop music, dark, somewhat reminiscent of what Clan of Xymox played on their first two albums, it sounded strong, dense, and intense with the Japanese device.

So everything I wrote about above was repeated, and before I talked about music predestined to be played on audiophile equipment. The Belorussians, with jazzy guitars, with drums that sound like a Linn Drum machine is playing, with long reverb, it was all shown as it (probably) was meant to sound, but with some such inner heat, with an deeply hidden pulsation that makes us sit staring at that tiny display and waiting to see what will happen next.

That's what I heard also with DAVID GILMOUR's new album Luck and Strange. Although I still don’t plan to listen to Waters, and therefore Pink Floyd (it's all about royalties) because of his idiotic statements about the war in Ukraine, Gilmour has nothing to do with his idiocies. That's why I listened to his latest album without prejudice - and I don't regret it, because it's excellent. I think it could be his best solo album. Maybe it isn’t so, as the musician himself says, and he says that this is his best album since The Dark Side of the Moon by the Floyd, but, he is very close to the truth in this claim.

Anyway, it is an outstanding album. And the tested player showed it in an exceptionally good way, really exceptionally! Dense, low and at the same time with an open sound. Because, I haven't said it yet, the band’s extremes are shown by it in a superbly controlled, extended and selective way. They are internally saturated, these are not dry sounds, yet they have agility, speed, contours. And after all, in the, for example, title track of Gilmour's album, this is essential.

But when the choruses enter every now and then, in which Romany, the musician's daughter, also played her part, they suddenly “pop out” from under the music, in a natural way, as if a new window had suddenly opened for us. When they are hidden away, or when they fall silent, what remains is an equally dense texture, but lower, less saturated. The leader's guitar, Hammond, bass, all were selective, yet dense. In what they resembled what I heard with the XACT S1 transport connected to the D/A converter in the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition player.

And this really says a lot about how this device should be positioned. And this is quite a high shelf, despite - for a high end - not a particularly high price. And even on it it stands out for its incredible, how should I put it, let it be - sensitivity to sound. For it excels in both vocal music and rock, as well as in hushed works of the type included on KEITH JARRETT's Bordeaux Concert album. In Part III, I heard a sonorous piano, perfectly selective noises made by the musician, as well as “air.” On the one hand the presentation was shown close to me, Sforzato plays like that, and on the other hand it was distanced, because it's ultimately a concert, because it's a large hall, because there is added reverb.

And when I heard the first sounds of BERNEY KESSEL's guitar from the hit album The Poll Winners, I knew that classical jazz would sound thrilling with Sforzato. And beautiful. It was presented close to me, but without being “imposing,” with saturation, with depth and excellent dynamics. Right, the dynamics! This is something you will not find at this price level. The DSP-07EX is a device that plays like a turntable in this respect, literally. Because the tonal depth I mentioned was evident here as well.

It's also the sound I know from SACDs. Here I also had it - maybe not quite as resolving and clear, but still - from PCM encoded recordings, and from Tidal (!). So curious to hear what DSD recordings sounded like, played from my Lumin D2 server, I first listened to rips like I Can't Believe That You're In Love from ...The Way it Was by ART PEPPER, When I Fall In Love by NAT 'KING' COLE from the Love is The King album, as well as DSD recordings I got straight from the mastering studios from my friends and acquaintances.

And, interestingly, they all sounded in a slightly more emphatic way, stronger, clearer, than the files played from the streaming service. The resolution was even better, and the tangibility of the sound sources was greater. Cole's voice had great volume, was clear and simply powerful. The perspective from which I viewed the performers, however, was significantly different from the one I got from Tidal. Both DSD and PCM files played from the server were decoded by the Sforzato as if we were sitting at a concert. Do you understand what I'm talking about? - About the emotion, about the slight excitement, about the “pressure” put on us here and now. On the other hand, the files played from the NAS were more similar to the presentation from the studio, calmer and even more pleasant. But both were of high quality.

It was an extremely exciting experience, and the better the recording, and in the case of DSD the higher the sampling rate, the more powerful it was. And the player flawlessly shows the differences in the files, and even the transition from DSD64 to DSD128, as with Here's That Rainy Day, a track from the Opus3 DSD Showcase vol. 1 sampler, was evident. DSD128 offered more information, and the sound was not slightly smoothed, as with DSD64. However, the smoothing was not about the recording being more pleasant, at least not to my mind, but about the sound was less well defined.

Therefore, in my opinion, all recordings should be made and offered at least in DSD128, and sometimes, if possible, in DSD256, like The Pink Panther from the Musicus Sampler. Audiophile Speaker Set-Up by 2xHD Publishing. But it's also the case that even basic DSD sounds great. The Japanese device presents music in an engaging way. And moving. So much so that we want to seek out more albums by a particular artist, we want to learn more and more about them.

▌ Summary

LISTENING TO THIS DEVICE, recalling my conversations with Mr. Kiyoshi, reading his statements in “Stereo Sound”, I can't help but feel that the products he offers are extremely “in tune” with himself. It's as if something of his personality is encapsulated in their aluminum enclosures, as if they were clocked by the beating of his heart. Am I exaggerating? - Well, maybe. But what can I do, that's just the way I feel about it. And to dig an even deeper hole for myself in your eyes, I will resort to “interpreting” Mr. Kiyoshi's name, because it will well emphasize what I want to say:

The name Kiyoshi (alternatively: Kyoshi - ed.) has its roots in ancient Japanese culture and has been used for a long time. The written form of the name in kanji is 清, which means “purity”. In Japanese culture, the meaning of the name is very important, and it is believed that it can influence the life and character of the person who bears it. Therefore, in Japanese tradition, the name Kiyoshi is considered a name with great meaning and power.
The meaning of the name Kiyoshi is extremely symbolic and beautiful. The word “purity” has deep meaning in Japanese culture and is associated with the idea of being sincere, honest and pure in all aspects of life.

People who bear the name Kiyoshi are often seen as calm, thoughtful and deeply spiritual. They are believed to have a special connection to nature and a sense of harmony with the world around them. In addition, people named Kiyoshi are believed to have a strong work ethic, are devoted and have a sense of responsibility to others. They are considered to be people who can be trusted and will always be willing to help others.

⸜ Entry ‘Imię Kiyoshi’ in: → NAZWY.org, accessed: 13.09.2024.

And now: I know and appreciate the Sforzato company. Sitting down for the test, I was therefore already prepared for what I would hear. And yet the class of this sound, finally coming from my Harbeths, surprised me. The device goes inside the recordings, watches them from the inside, and then, using this knowledge, presents it to us. Presents it in a perfectly balanced way, but with dynamics and bandwidth extension that may come as a surprise to many, and that's because file players shouldn't sound like this. In the sense - so good.

It is not an ‘old-man’s’ sound, although it is dense. It's more open than the Lumin’s and the XACT’s paired with the Ayon. But it also seems denser and smoother than the former, and better defined than the latter. Perhaps even warmer. It's a paradox, but the amount of information, or resolution, is excellent with the DSP-07EX. Not as good as from the XACT and Ayon combo, because that's difficult, but very good indeed. Which will also allow the recipients of the music to define themselves. Because with the Sforzato it's impossible to listen to music in the background. It engages, summons, pulls you out of bliss. It offers a powerful experience and active participation.

Simply put - an excellent player.

▌ DESIGN

FRONT AND REAR • As we said, the DSP-07EX file player is a model of simplicity, both in terms of design and handling. Its chassis is exceptionally rigid and deaf to tapping, thanks to the fact that it is made of really thick, bent aluminum sheets, stiffened at the front by a thick front of the same material; the front is silver, the rest of chassis is black. The unit stands on three sturdy aluminum feet, two at the front and one at the back.

The back looks interesting, not only because of the presence of an SFP Ethernet jack, but also because of the nice rhodium-plated RCA jacks and the equally nice XLR jacks. They come from the Japanese company HRS Hirose, popular in that country in the 1980s.

INSIDE • The electronic circuit resembles an amplifier at first glance. The impression is created by the two, really big, toroidal transformers, located on the left and right sides, right at the front panel. We're familiar with such sights, and usually it's a dual mono design, with separate power supplies for the left and right channels. Here, however, it is different. This is because one of the transformers is intended for the file transport section, and the other for the DAC. Let's add that the transformers come from the American company Triad Magnetics, although they are manufactured in China.

The transport was assembled on a medium-sized PCB surrounded by an extremely elaborate power supply. On an additional board there is a microprocessor, apparently sourced from a third-party manufacturer, and on a larger board are memory chips and additional circuits, including a Texas InstrumentsTM8320 DSP. Software was written for it by Sforzato, which also made the board.

Underneath, all the way around, you can see a large circuit board with power supplies and a D/A converter. It is a dual mono design, and the signal is routed in balanced form. The basis of the DAC is two ESS Technology Sabre ES9038Pro chips, so the best that this company currently produces. These are eight-channel chips, here operating in mono mode, that is, combining all eight channels into one. This results in a significant reduction in distortion and noise levels.

The I/U section uses STMicroelectronics L49990 integrated circuits. The manufacturer writes about it: “an operational amplifier with ultra-low noise and distortion.” At the output, there are LME49610 chips, with “wide bandwidth and very high rise rate,” making it “ideal for various high-frequency open-loop applications, such as ADC input.” - here's the manufacturer again. The circuits have high gain, which is why they are often used at the output of headphone amplifiers (!).

The thing that draws special attention are the excellent passive components. You can see Wima polypropylene capacitors everywhere, including at the output - it's a capacitively coupled circuit - top Dale resistors, everywhere, throughout the circuit. As well as matched capacitors in the power supplies, such as Nippon Chemi-Con or EPCOS, components from TDK Electronics with aluminum facings. The same company also supplied the smaller capacitors used right at the IC power supply circuits.

The device makes an excellent impression, Despite the fact that its basis is surface-mounted circuits, from the point of view of an audiophile simply boring, we will find the a lot of goodies around them - the things we enjoy most. ●

▌ Technical specifications (according to the manufacturer)

Outputs: RCA, XLR (2-hot, 3-cold) 2 Vrms
Inputs: LAN SFP (adapter included), USB type B
Master clock input: 10 MHz
Supported file types:
• AIFF, WAV, FLAC, ALAC → PCM: 44.1 kHz – 768 kHz 16/24/32 bits,
• dsf, diff → DSD64/128/256/512 (2.8 ⸜ 5.6 ⸜ 11.2 ⸜ 22.5 MHz), 1 bit,
Power consumption: 48 W
Dimensions (W x D x H): 390 x 327 x 85 mm

»«

THIS TEST HAS BEEN DESIGNED ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES adopted by the Association of International Audiophile Publications, an international audio press association concerned with ethical and professional standards in our industry, of which HIGH FIDELITY is a founding member. More about the association and its constituent titles → HERE.

→ www.AIAP-online.org