Just picked up this DAC from Cryo-Parts. Thanks Lee!
As you can see from stock photos it has USB and optical in, and also fuctions as a headphone amp, with jack and volume control on front panel, along with selector switches for outputs and inputs. At 75mmW x 30H x 126L it's size may not impress you out of the box, but the build quality is apparent when you pick it up. And the size, for me in my desktop system, is a huge plus.
I am feeding the Topaz flac files from my PC via USB input. Amp is a Virtue ONE. Speakers are Usher S520s. Headphones are Sennheiser HD580s. For comparison purposes I listened to this set up vs source CDs on a modded Playstation 1.
I find CD playback on the PS1 to be very good, so to my ears the bar was high for the Topaz. My initial impressions were that the differences were not huge. The more I listened the more I realized that while not huge they were significant. I have not taken any audio review-writing classes, so bear with me on my descriptions. The Topaz path seemed more musical and involving. The PS1 seemed a bit thinner, with the classic veil effect. Vocals were a bit more forward on the Topaz, in a good way to my ears. More complex passages also seemed less congested. Both were very detailed, but again, the Topaz does so without sacrificing any musicality. To me that is also the strength of the Virtue ONE amp: Resolving & musical. So maybe the Topaz is simply not getting in the way at all and the PS1 is adding it's own signature?
Headphones sounded very good to me. Only comparison I have is a Keces DA-152. I'd say they are very close, and very similar. Coin toss to pick one.
Lots more technical info can be found here:
http://www.cryo-parts.com/style_audio.htmlRetal price is $449.
