[Armaegis]

I stumbled across this dac while randomly browsing audio stuff...
 


 
 
product page:
http://www.essenceelectrostatic.com/product/hdmi-dac-blu-ray/
 
some reviews:
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/essence-hdacc-dac-headphone-amplifier
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2014/05/blu-ray-audio-with-the-essence-hdacc-part-2-192khz/
 
 
Rather that repeat stuff in the links, I think the two images tells you pretty much all you need to know.
- usb dac (24/192), I think it's a Sabre chip
- coax and optical inputs and pass through
- hdmi input with video pass through - I believe this will be the main selling feature
- RCA and XLR outputs
- headphone amp with selectable impedance matching (not sure if it's for impedance or an ad hoc gain switch)
 
 
At $700 it's obviously not going to be bargain value for those looking for just a dac and amp... but as a nutty digital preamp with hdmi? Not too many players in that field as far as I'm aware (please do correct me if I'm wrong). Anyhow, there's nothing on head-fi that I've found, so I thought I'd toss this up here.

 

[shane55]

Yeah, I just read the review of this in Sound and Vision, then looked at those links as well.
Interesting 'features' page on the web that states more than once that it upconverts everything "To Hi Res 24/192K FLAC lossless quality." Hmmm...
And, what kind of chips are inside?
 
It would appear that the big selling point of this is its ability to connect to a blu-ray player via HDMI, and listen to hi-res music that way. The other features all seem more than secondary.
 
Cheers.

 

[MSTNH]

By way of a belated follow-up to the following comment:
 

Yeah, I just read the review of this in Sound and Vision, then looked at those links as well.
Interesting 'features' page on the web that states more than once that it upconverts everything "To Hi Res 24/192K FLAC lossless quality." Hmmm...
And, what kind of chips are inside?
 
It would appear that the big selling point of this is its ability to connect to a blu-ray player via HDMI, and listen to hi-res music that way. The other features all seem more than secondary.
 
Cheers.

 

 
It would appear that the up-sampling is a user-defeatable option.  One can either use the upsampling or allow the signal to pass in its native form. 
 
Also, to answer the question about the chip used, the Esseence has the stereo-version of the ESS Sabre 32 Reference 9012. 

 

[Ultrainferno]

For those interested, I just published @shigzeo 's review of the HDACC on Headfonia