Ah, the life of an audio writer. Receive the best components money can buy. Use the components for a couple months. Send aforementioned components back to manufacturer. Hang head low for a week while getting used to the real world again. I'm in the sulking phase right now as the dCS stack is in boxes awaiting pickup. The last several weeks were pure sonic bliss, as evidenced by my Twitter post from 11:22 PM November 12, 2009. "I've never had better sound in my listening room. Ever. I believe I've found a winning combination of components. Articles to follow :~)" It's finally time to spill the beans and let Computer Audiophile readers in on the best sound I've ever heard in my listening room. Here is my review of the dCS Paganini DAC, Paganini Upsampler, and Puccini U-Clock.

The Ayre Acoustics QB-9 asynchronous USB DAC is currently one of the hottest products around. Everyone is listening to it or talking about it. In fact I did both at the Computer Audiophile Symposium in June at Fantasy Studios. My first impression of the QB-9 was so good that I asked Ayre's Steve Silberman about using the DAC in one of the very high-end systems at the Symposium. I assured Steve that the rest of the system would be completely capable of faithfully reproducing the analog output from the QB-9. Thus, the QB-9 was connected to a Mac Mini, a nice preamp and pair of amps, and Magico v3 loudspeakers. Based on the Symposium attendees' reactions to the sound and my countless hours of listening to the DAC in several different systems I completely understand why the Ayre Acoustics QB-9 asynchronous USB DAC has everyone talking. The reason this DAC is so hot is because it's so good.

Connecting the past with the future is one way of describing what the Bel Canto USB Link is capable of accomplishing. Until recently most digital to analog converters relied on traditional audio interfaces like AES (XLR) and S/PDIF (coax & Toslink). Now more DACs are leaving the factory with USB interfaces to allow a direct connection to music servers that are the future of High-End audio. Even though DAC technology has advanced over the years there are still a plethora of excellent USB-less DACs in use that audiophiles simply won't part with. Fortunately the Bel Canto USB Link closes the gap between old and new by converting the USB signal from a music server to an S/PDIF signal almost all DACs can understand. In addition the Bel Canto USB Link is an incredibly simple device to use. It installs on Windows and Macintosh computers without any user intervention and without any additional software or device drivers. Many audiophiles have been waiting waiting to get into the music server game for many reasons one of which is complexity. The Bel Canto USB Link may be the component that lubricates their entry into the next phase of High-End audio.

Recently the validity of USB as an audio interface has been called into question by some audiophiles. Adding to this was an all-encompassing statement in The Absolute Sound professing that USB interfaces are inferior to S/PDIF interfaces across the board. This had much of the computer audio world understandably bent out of shape. Instead of a disservice to the audiophile community I will attempt to provide accurate information based on facts and discuss different USB implementations. I'll focus mainly on the two different types of USB implementations asynchronous and adaptive. In my opinion any USB, Firewire, S/PDIF, or AES/EBU interface is capable of outperforming the other interfaces on any given day. None of these interfaces is inherently better or worse than the others. It's the implementation of the interface in each product that separates the men from the boys.

The recently released Wavelength Audio Proton USB DAC has received a lot of positive buzz around the industry. Now that I've spent countless hours with a Proton in a few playback systems of my own I will say the buzz is well deserved. There are quite a few reasons why the Proton is worthy of all the great attention it is getting. For starters the price of this DAC is within reach of the great majority of audiophiles. Plus, the DAC was developed from the ground up by Wavelength Audio's Gordon Rankin who is one of the brightest minds in computer audio today. However, the icing on the cake is the fact that the Proton uses Wavelength's own Streamlength Asynchronous USB code. The Proton doesn't require any software installation and is a true plug n' play 24/96 Asynchronous USB DAC. As the famous NY Yankee broadcaster Mel Allan would say, "How about that!"

Benchmark Media Systems has created a dynasty with its DAC1 series of components. Beginning with the original DAC1 and continuing with its fourth variant the DAC1 HDR Benchmark has consistently improved this series of components and remained an audiophile favorite. Adding features like a native 24/96 USB input and later a pair of analog inputs have made the Benchmark DAC1 series increasingly popular. The DAC1 HDR is likely to increase this popularity even more as Benchmark has added the one feature that eluded all previous DAC1 models, a remote control. The addition of a remote control to this already solid all-in-one DAC / preamp puts the HDR in another league and solidifies it's standing as the bona-fide leader in the DAC1 lineup.

The Cambridge Audio DacMagic is not fancy by any means. It's a blue-collar DAC amongst white-collar competitors. The DacMagic doesn't command a stratospheric price and it gets the job done nicely. Strengths of the DacMagic are its versatility and price to performance ratio. The DAC offers three digital inputs and one digital output. These options almost guarantee it will work with any computer. The DAC's performance is boosted by its Adaptive Time Filtering (ATF™) asynchronous upsampling. No matter what sample rate the DAC is presented it upsamples to 24/192 and outputs good quality sound. At less than $400 this DAC isn't going to find diamonds in a lump of coal but it is a great value that will take lemons and make lemonade.

This year at Rocky Mountain Audiofest I received a call from a manufacturer having trouble playing some newly acquired 24/88.2 files. He was using a MacBook with OS X Leopard 10.5.5 and a 24-bit USB interface. Every twenty to thirty seconds during playback there was an audible glitch. I offered my MacBook Air with OS X 10.5.5 and we heard the exact same problem. After about forty-five minutes of testing every configuration known to man we could not get 24/88.2 material to playback on OS X without audible errors. PC users will be happy to know Windows XP played the files flawlessly. I talked to the usual suspects around the show and sent a couple emails searching for answers. No solid information could be found.

Over the last few months I've talked more about the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC than perhaps any other product. The Alpha DAC appeared on the CASH List from the very beginning and has since been the subject of several reader discussions here on Computer Audiophile. Under normal circumstances I would be concerned as frequently discussed products often don't live up to the hype they've generated. This however is not a normal circumstance. The Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC is seriously out of this world. At $5k it's a relative bargain in high-end audio terms and there is nothing like it available today.

I think it's time to catch up a little bit on what's happening here at Computer Audiophile. Everyday I'm on the phone and emailing several people around the world about high-end computer based audio. Some of the discussions have to remain private until an official press release but the other stuff I'm going to start sharing with everyone when appropriate. Much more to come in this area. This week I received the Sonic Studio 304 / Amarra system (see photo) and picked up the Bel Canto USB Link (see photos) at Bel Canto headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. I also setup my fabulous sounding and cheap music server that I'll be sharing with everyone very soon. I've had the formula in my head for a while, but I wanted to listen to the system a bit more before I told the world that it works excellent. Also in the Computer Audiophile news, CA's first birthday, Apple's Remote application 1.1.1 update, and some equipment reviews waiting to be published.