John
A digital pre-amplifier with analogue input and headphone amplifier? Where have we seen this recently? Oh yes, the Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC.
Emotiva Pro’s new Stealth DC-1 DAC looks like it will pack a similar functional punch for half the moulah.
The operational similarities between it and the Mytek unit are arresting (a good thing):
- Headphone amplifier with independent volume control
- Analogue input for a line-level source
- Single ended and balanced outputs
- Switchable asynchronous sample rate converter
- Analog(ue) domain volume attenuation
The display on the Emotiva certainly looks nicer. OLED mean it will be easier to read than the Mytek’s more rudimentary pocket calculator vibe.
The bad news for some: the Stealth DC-1 won’t do DSD. However, its five digital inputs (BNC, coaxial, toslink, USB, AES/EBU) have PCM streams comprehensively covered up to 192kHz, No worries here with (the often slippery) support for 88.2kHz and 176.kHz. I assume Windows users will need a driver for anything above 96kHz.
The decoding section is handled by two AD1955 chips, each running in mono mode, one for each channel. LM4562 op-amps run the output stage. Each channel’s volume is digitally controlled by a Muses 72320 that does its stuff in the analogue domain via an internal resistor ladder.
As is typical of Emotiva, pricing is super sharp. At US$699 the Stealth DC-1 looks like one tidy package.
Further Information: Emotiva Pro
