[cyberridz]

Hi,
 
I have just purchased a new Pro-Ject USB Box S+ digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) and am wondering if there are people here who own any of the Pro-Ject DACs or any other equipment that are made by them. I feel that there has not been any reviews, discussions or impressions of these wonderful looking DACs and ones that have been made by such an established company in the audio world.
 
Does anyone own any of the Pro-Ject DACs and wondering if anyone would care to comment on them and maybe start reviewing these DACs as some of their DACs have interesting technologies and concepts that a lot of people have not heard about. It's a shame that there has not been many reviews on them here on Head-Fi.
 
From here onwards I will do a review of the DAC when it arrives. Stay posted and if any Pro-Ject owners would like to post their impression of these DACs or anything related to Pro-Ject Audio Systems, please feel free to do so.
 
It is a shame that such an established company has so little coverage.
 
Thanks.
 
 
 
 
P.S. - Some info on the DAC that I just bought - http://box-designs.com/main.php?prod=usbboxsplus&cat=source&lang=en
 
 
*Feel free to comment and start a Pro-Ject Audio Systems DAC appreciation page here.

 

[cel4145]

*Feel free to comment and start a Pro-Ject Audio Systems DAC/amp appreciation page here.

Probably want to flag your post and have it moved to the Dedicated Source forum where the other DAC owners/impressions thread live: http://www.head-fi.org/f/7/dedicated-source-components

 

[cyberridz]

I intended it to be more of a general thing and not really about any one product, but thanks for the feedback.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberridz /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

I have just purchased a new Pro-Ject USB Box S+ digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) and am wondering if there are people here who own any of the Pro-Ject DACs or any other equipment that are made by them. I feel that there has not been any reviews, discussions or impressions of these wonderful looking DACs and ones that have been made by such an established company in the audio world.

 

They're likely hampered by their initial foray into the headphone market roughly a decade ago. They had an iPod dock  for $129, which was only capable of a line out (the $199 Onkyo unit can do digital output), and for some it was more of something you buy to match the other gear. And the other gear wasn't too impressive - IIRC somebody opened up their first Headbox and found it was basically a CMOY running with a power brick, but they were selling them for $169. Basically a cheaper RA-1, except the Grado was bought by some to match their RS-x as they came with a similar enough wood color.

 

They have quite the catching up to do and for the past few years what has been leading them back into the attention of headphone audio people was the CD Box line (the vinyl gear of course had never really been in the sidelines).

 

[cel4145]

I intended it to be more of a general thing and not really about any one product, but thanks for the feedback.

Sorry. I didn't get that from your post. Other people might not either. Seemed more like an effort to start discussions on Pro-Ject DACs since it is labeled "Pro-Ject DACs and amps appreciation page." If you look through the various equipment forums, you'll see that's where those kinds of things tend to live vs. this forum is more for what the title says: Introductions, Help and Recommendations. In my experience, in the long run, any kind of appreciations page for a particular vendor would likely get lost here given the high amount of other activity in relation to this forum area focus.

 

[Currawong]

I've removed the "appreciation" part from the thread title. To faciliate balanced discussion, we no longer allow "appreciation" threads.

 

[cyberridz]

Pro-Ject USB Box S+ Digital To Analogue Converter

A short review of the Pro-Ject USB Box S+

I just received the Pro-Ject USB Box S+ in the mail today.

Build Quality:

Packaging was very good. Very sturdy design with a cast metal case that is very solidly made - with very high quality gold plated RCA jacks. Very heavy and dense. Everything just screams "quality". These are a few shots of the Pro-Ject USB Box S+ DAC.







In operation:

The LEDs light up a purplish colour?







Functionality:

An upsampling DAC that has a Ti Burr-Brown DAC chip (32bit / 384kHz PCM-5102A). It also has a choice of 2 filter settings for upsampling.

Sound Quality:

I shall be (primarily) comparing this DAC to the Bifrsot 4490, as that is the only comparison that I have for this mini review.

The Bifrost is an exceptional DAC for the price. Very wide soundstage, sweet sounding and very analytical without being harsh.

The Pro-Ject USB Box S+ is very different in terms of tonality. It is weightier and sounds a little more "full-bodied" than the Bifrost. But with that full bodied-ness, the soundstage seems smaller and more reduced than the Bifrost. With the Bifrost, things sound much further away and is presented quite nicely and makes for a very enjoyable listen. The Pro-Ject USB Box S+ is much smaller in terms of soundstage, as everything feels closer and more intimate. Trying out the sample rate and filter options changes this slightly, and it seems to improve the soundstage for higher sampling rates. I tried upsampling to 384kHz and this seems to remedy the problem slightly.

Voices again on the Bifrost, sound more holographic (but more digital sounding - one of the things that I find with the Bifrost) and has a kind of sparkle to them that the Pro-Ject USB Box S+ lacks. But increasing the sample rate improves this considerably.

Bass and treble, nothing spectacular here, good clean highs and full-bodied bass, but the bass does not seem to hit hard like the Bifrost's does.

I would describe this DAC as warm, full-bodied and natural (but normal) sounding.

One thing I find with the Bifrost is that it can sometimes sound very "digital" and too clean, and the Pro-Ject USB Box S+ has none of this. Everything sounds very warm and analogue - perhaps because of it's use of a Burr-Brown DAC chip? One thing to note too is that even though the DAC is not as "analytical" sounding as the Bifrost it does sound a little "harsh" on some songs (e.g. Closing Time by Tom Waits).

This DAC sounds slightly similar to the HRT Music Streamer II (again Burr-Brown?), but has less of a soundstage than either of the two DACs (whereas the MSII is the more musical of the two).

Voices on this DAC, as compared to the Bifrost, and even the MSII sounds less involving and to be honest, at times, feel ordinary to the point where it can get a little boring.

Background is very quiet when not playing anything or brief pauses in music, a very quiet background with absolutely no noise whatsoever. Much better than the Bifrost - as I have encountered "cyclical" computer noise with the volume set to loud when no music is playing. There is none of that on the Pro-Ject USB Box S+. I do sometimes question whether it is a good idea for power transformers to be built into the same enclosure as a DAC is? Any thoughts on this?

What This DAC Is Aimed For:

Personally, I think this is quite a good DAC, with a good price and excellent build. The only thing that lets it down is the soundstage and it's very "normal-but-realistic" vocal presence. This would be a good DAC if you are thinking of upgrading a budget music system or maybe even for students. But it nowhere near reaches the likes of DACs such as the Bifrost and the HRTs as they are a step above, but then again, so is the price.


Pros:

One plus that the DAC has is it's very warm sound signature and absolutely no "digital" harshness whatsoever (very natural and analogue sounding DAC). It also has spectacular build quality (A+++)

Cons:

A little "harsh" at times, small soundstage and uninspiring vocal performance to the point that it sounds a little boring unless using the DAC with higher sampling (or should I say upsampling) rates.

I would give this DAC 3.5 out of 5.

I hope this mini review helps for people interested in this DAC. Thanks.

 

[cyberridz]

Been listening to it some more and it seems that the dynamic range on this DAC is pretty good. If anyone is looking for a warm, natural (normal) sounding DAC, this could be it.

 

[cyberridz]

One extra thing I found was this DAC ocassionally "hangs" and stops working on Mac OS X 10.10.5, which I am using at the moment. I have to switch it off and on again to get it to work again. Strange...
 
On that note I would take 0.5 out of my rating and give it a new 3 out of 5 for this reason alone

 

[420204]

Glad to see a thread about Pro-Ject gear here...
I work for Pro-Ject
 
we are bringing out a new DAC called DAC Box DS2 Ultra, which will feature AK4490 and AK4137 SRC, I don't know the USD price yet, but it will be 599€.
it will feature 32/768 and DSD256, the SRC can be set to bit-perfect, PCM upsampling to 768kHz (DSD bit perfect) or PCM/DSD upsampling to DSD 256.
you can find out a little more about it here:
http://www.box-designs.com/main.php?prod=dacboxds2ultra&cat=source&lang=en
 
PS: Brooko has received our DAC Box RS for review, and as far as I know, he's enjoying it a lot.

 

[Ken57]

Wayne
When will it be available in the US. Is there any comparison to the sound from other DACs like from Schiit? Thanks.

 

[420204]

It will reach the market within this month, but I don't know if or how many samples our US distributor got... easiest is to get in touch with them via our contact form on our homepage.
we don't have a comparison to other dacs yet, but I have just read the first review (in German), and it is overwhelming. I will put together a pdf file for it hopefully tomorrow, so I can share it with you.

 

[cyberridz]

Ah OK, my bad - the main reason why it kept hanging up was that I was using the DAC through a Schiit Wyrd USB hub. The Wyrd seems to have a strange effect on some DACs. Sometimes it hangs and it also kind of makes the vocals a little louder on the DAC (which is connected to it) a little and reduces it's overall soundstage.
 
Seems fine now after disconnecting it from the DAC's chain.

 

[420204]

Hey guys, I finally managed to translate the German review. you can find a short version of it here:
http://www.box-designs.com/inhalt/en/reviews/PJ-BD-DAC%20Box%20DS2%20ulta-Test-Stereo-0616-EN.pdf
 
Cheers

 

[420204]

by the way, @shigzeo published his review of our Pre Box RS Digital, which features two separate DAC sections in one box, on headfonia!!
 
http://www.headfonia.com/review-pro-ject-pre-box-rs-digital-chameleon/