I sent an email to Thomann Europe and they replied they can order HP-A4 for me as a special order without cancel and return options. The price was only 319€!!! I am going to order one...
Interesting, the A3 uses an Asahi Kasei AK4390 (I believe the A8 also uses a very similar AK chip, but with more channels for A/V), so I'm guessing that the sound characteristics could end up being significantly different between A4 and A3, and perhaps even significantly different between the A4 and A8. This makes it more interesting than being just a simple incremental update of the A3, and could bring some new characteristics not heard before in a Fostex DAC.
I'll be very interested in seeing further reviews/updated info on this DAC. I have an A3 for my office desktop DAC, and it is superb at providing warmth, depth, and musical articulation across the spectrum, but a modestly priced upgrade would definitely be interesting to check out.
Interesting, the A3 uses an Asahi Kasei AK4390 (I believe the A8 also uses a very similar AK chip, but with more channels for A/V), so I'm guessing that the sound characteristics could end up being significantly different between A4 and A3, and perhaps even significantly different between the A4 and A8. This makes it more interesting than being just a simple incremental update of the A3, and could bring some new characteristics not heard before in a Fostex DAC.
I'll be very interested in seeing further reviews/updated info on this DAC. I have an A3 for my office desktop DAC, and it is superb at providing warmth, depth, and musical articulation across the spectrum, but a modestly priced upgrade would definitely be interesting to check out.
I never owned the A3 but I had the A8 for about 9 months or thereabouts? It has the AK4399.
Maybe it's just me but I kinda find almost all kinds of implementation of the AKM DACs, may it be in Fostex's DAC or otherwise, seem to have a more mellow kind of sound. I've concluded for myself that that it's just AKM's house sound to deliver a mellow signature.
At least for my tastes, the move to Burr Brown for the A4 is welcoming.
I like the "mellow" sound of the A3, it does some very special things (e.g., acoustic guitar is SO rich), and can really help to tame headphones that are sometimes overly aggressive in various ways. But a more aggressive version of the Fostex USB DAC would certainly also be fun for certain cans, and maybe helps justify owning both (let's see if this logic passes muster with my wife). I'll probably wait until the price gets closer to JPY30,000 (kakaku has the lowest price near JPY36,000 thus far, but most places selling at JPY40,000)…sometimes it is great to be a resident of Japan.
My main problem is unreliablility of USB as a power source. It will be interesting to see whether using something like iFi Gemini will improve the audio for the A4.
Quite surprising they went with the PCM1792 DAC and didn't keep the AKM. With the experience with the Asus Essence STX its a very good DAC, but quite sensitive to power source quality and I wouldn't think with this unit being USB power that it would be much the case here. With an external USB power supply this might end up being a terrific DAC though.
Probably a waste of time. Owning the A3 has put every possible concern of USB power supply completely to rest for me... Power? Plentiful! Stability? Perfect!
PS...This may depend on the source...I've been using a retina-generation MBP.
Probably a waste of time. Owning the A3 has put every possible concern of USB power supply completely to rest for me... Power? Plentiful! Stability? Perfect!
PS...This may depend on the source...I've been using a retina-generation MBP.
comes down kt the USB port , I just don't trust my one. I had too many bad lucks with my ODAC. Not that I do not rust fostex I do not trust my USB port. This is something people should be aware of.
Well can't you use a usb-ac adapter or power supply for the power, and feed it the audio over optical? I do this with my Audioengine d1 sometimes especially if using it with ps3 etc.
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