New JKDAC32 USB DAC

[Ken Moreland]

Nice review of JK's JKDAC32 http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/e ... ootout.htm . Best of 7(or 6) Dac's tested and a mention for JPlay too. Incidentally the new JPlay V4.2 is another leap in sound quality over the previous version.

KM

[Fran]

And just for the tldr crowd:

1st Place: JKDAC32
These three DACs sound so good - a couple of years ago you couldn't have dreamt of achieving the quality we have here with any of these three for less than something like $10,000 or probably rather more. There has to be a winner, it is the JKDAC32. The JKDAC32 sports the now familiar aluminum enclosure with plastic end plates, NanoPhosphate (LiFePO4) batteries, modified 24/192 HiFace async USB to I2S. This time the I2S feeds a Burr Brown PCM5102 32/384 capable DAC. I should mention that with this DAC you may find you need to flick the on-off switch in the front panel to reset the DAC itself if no music pays, the USB connection is fine, it's a foible of the configuration.

Bass is very impressive, the equal of the Halide DAC HD, so it's got a great bass dynamic, it goes deep, it's tight, textured, indeed it's really propulsive. Where the JKDAC32 wins extra points is that the upper-mid and treble are sweeter yet still very detailed. This is no treble cover-up job! The next thing that struck the auditioning panel was the separation between the instruments; this was a step ahead of the best of the other DACs being tested here. Imaging was found to be very three dimensional and we agreed there was an especially strong focus for the central image whilst the expansive nature of the soundstage was maintained.

The best DAC here? The panel was unanimously in favor of the JKDAC32. So much so that the owner of the Rega sold it the next day. He purchased a JKDAC32. So have I.

John - you deserve a bottle of champagne in your house tonight!


Fran

[Diapason]

That's pretty damn cool John! Congratulations!!

[Fran]

I think you're going to see that statement more and more often from reviewers:

"I sold my XX the next day and bought one"


How cool is that huh?


Major kudos to you John - you've put in great work into this over several years, fought through the difficulties and ended up with something astonishingly good. An awful lot of DAC makers out there should be feeling a bit nervous!! I'm reminded of the quote from one of Peter Walkers contemporaries shaking his head on hearing the ESL 57 for the first time and saying that they might as well pack up shop and go home.



Fran

[Ken Moreland]

If you already have this JKDAC32 you'll know how good it is , but try it with JPlay V4.2A just released tonight and use the new engine Xtream with Hibernate and DirectLink. The sound quality is unbelievable.
KM

[tony]

Well done John, Fantastic review. The qualities of the dac are described brillantly and truely convey the sound I know I am getting but find difficult to put into words. Definitely a bottle of champers should be popped but mind the sore head afterwards as it looks like you will be busy in the workshop.

[Sligolad]

Nice review of JK's JKDAC32 http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/e ... ootout.htm . Best of 7(or 6) Dac's tested and a mention for JPlay too. Incidentally the new JPlay V4.2 is another leap in sound quality over the previous version.

KM

Great to hear another step forward with 4.2 Ken, unfortunately I am stuck in California for 2 weeks and I am missing all the excitment with the new release. Roll on 3.4!!

[Fran]

Ken: listening to Leonard Cohen right now with those settings. Stunning alright.... And don't forget to use fideliser too!


Fran

[DaveF]

Super effort John! Well done.

[tony]

Fran Are you using fidelizer with JPLAY? Is that necessary as i assumed jplay mini did all that shutting down of stuff?

Re Wolfgangs and HDtracks. If streaming are you getting the file in hires. Kinda nice if you are as no need to purchase just play when required