estreeter
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2009
- Posts
- 8,336
- Likes
- 480
Not sure if anyone has this DAC, but I tried the search function here and checked Google - nothing on HF, it would seem. 599 USD, 24/192 over SPDIF yada yada - I guess its a familiar tune here. Seems like there is a new DAC released every week.
http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-D2
I appreciate that a 'me too' DAC from a speaker manufacturer isn't going to excite some Head-Fiers - throw in wireless operation and many will be wondering what I'm smoking. Trouble is, the few impressions I can find online seem to be positive, and not just a rehash of AudioEngine's marketing. Granted, wireless operation is going to have more appeal to those with speaker rigs, and isprobably overkill for a desktop system, but it makes sense for AudioEngine to have a DAC receiver mounted atop a speaker amp driving (hopefully) a pair of their passive speakers or straight from the RCA outputs into a pair of their active speakers (my assumption - I've never owned active hi-fi speakers). In either case, you can have your source well away from your speakers without needing to run metres of cable - how well that works in practice is a question for the early adopters here
Compared to something like the DACMini (any DACMini ..), this is a pretty ugly pair of black boxes, particularly with those aerials extended - again, unlikely to excite many here - but I rarely look at the mantlepiece while my music is stoking the fire - YMMV.
Ken Rockwell has run some measurements, and seems to be living in the belief that he can survive from writing reviews (nice to see a reviewer using Stax phones - unusual). Ken, I wish you every success, but if they wont pay for Linux .....
http://kenrockwell.com/audio/audioengine/d2.htm
There is no software, no firmware, and no baloney: just plug-in and enjoy.
http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-D2
I appreciate that a 'me too' DAC from a speaker manufacturer isn't going to excite some Head-Fiers - throw in wireless operation and many will be wondering what I'm smoking. Trouble is, the few impressions I can find online seem to be positive, and not just a rehash of AudioEngine's marketing. Granted, wireless operation is going to have more appeal to those with speaker rigs, and is
Compared to something like the DACMini (any DACMini ..), this is a pretty ugly pair of black boxes, particularly with those aerials extended - again, unlikely to excite many here - but I rarely look at the mantlepiece while my music is stoking the fire - YMMV.
Ken Rockwell has run some measurements, and seems to be living in the belief that he can survive from writing reviews (nice to see a reviewer using Stax phones - unusual). Ken, I wish you every success, but if they wont pay for Linux .....
http://kenrockwell.com/audio/audioengine/d2.htm
There is no software, no firmware, and no baloney: just plug-in and enjoy.