More impressive than the ... the Bel Canto DAC 2.7 ($ USD) is actually a well though out and moderately attractive product.
The 24/192 USB is well-labelled.
Does it have a headphone amplifier?
Well, in the past the Headroom Home (www.headphone.com) might be confidently considered the benchmark for a default headphone amplifier (what the average guy would get), the Audze Dekard (think Blade Runner - www.audeze.com) today occupies this position. The power output on the Audeze Dekard? 4 watts.
The Bel Canto DAC 2.7's power output? 138 milliwatts. Juice. That's quite a significant difference.
Now, what's the real difference between the Bel Canto and the Audeze Dekard? The Deckard is fundamentally a headphone amplifier with a DA converter thrown in, while the the Bel Canto DAC 2.7 is actually an AD/DA converter - like something Benchmark might make.
Benchmark's DAC 2 HGC ($1995.00 USD) is an apt comparison, then. It's rated at 1.26 watts.Let's talk about the marketing.
It's labeled as having an HDR (High Dynamic Resolution) Core. Can it play AC/DC?
Were it powerful, we could plug some headphones into it.
Let's look at some specs.
The power usage is 7W. That's about the same as a 7W LED light.
The dynamic range is 110 dB, that is of the ADC. Likely they were referring to the 124 dB figure of the DAC, when they were talking about the High Dynamic Resolution (HDR) core. Is resolution equivalent to range? A compact disc has dynamic range of 96 dB (default) or 120 dB with (Ampex had this back in 1991) dither.
How about 124?
We might as well say it is equivalent to a 20-bit, a professional resolution. Today's devices use 24-bit (144 dB), or 32-bit (192.66 dB).
The DAC 2.7 is a home audio device, so we can't exactly pull out all the stops.
Our organ must have some.
There's nothing not much to like. We'd just about have one.
No comments:
Post a Comment