[Zyca]

The DA-131 had received rave reviews and applauses from customers and reviewers alike, most praise it for its excellent neutral tone, with excellent bass, mid range and treble.  Some praise it for the very ear friendly sound, where the "digital harshness" is nowhere to be found. Noth to mention the smooth yet very detailed sound with good sound stage can be enjoyed for hours and hours without fatigue.

We have thought hard as we deplete our stock of DA-131, how should we improve it? How and what to update without loosing the excellent performance that we get from the original DA-131?


Well, we did three things make DA-131 into the new DA-131.1

#1) We made the popularly requested LME49710 Op-Amp upgrade as standard equipment on DA-131.1, this further increase the details and give it an even more neutral, less laid back feel.  We never heard one customer wanting to switch back to OPA604, thus we feel it is quite a safe bet.   Not to mention it actually improve all our RMAA test result by 1dB for the better in almost all tests.

#2) We added an modular power board, customers who moves from country to country will no longer have to open up their machine to change voltage, just flip that red switch in the back to the local voltage, and you are all set!  In addition, we upgraded the original Bel fuse to the even better Wickmann slow blow ceramic tubed fuse.

#3) We now have two upgrade options available with the modular power board.  At the time of purchase, customer can choose to upgrade their IEC power socket to premium IeGO 99.99% pure silver socket or gold plated 99.99% pure copper socket.  Both will improve the detail and dynamics of the DAC, in addition the gold plated copper socket provides a warm and refined sound, while the silver provides even better dynamics, detail and sound stage.

Front view, the modular power board and its fuse can be seen on the top left corner of the unit.




Picture below shows DA-131.1 with the GU-R301 upgrade. (Click for larger version)



Pricing: $330 USD plus shipping (Standard computer grade IEC power inlet).

Gold plated copper (GU-R301BU) upgrade is $30 extra.
Pure unplated silver (AG-R301BU) upgrade is $90 extra.


US/Europe/Russia: 45USD
Asia/Oceania Regions (exclude Russia): 35USD
Africa Regions: 55USD

As before, buying IeGO power cable together with DA-131.1 or DA-151, and receive discount combined shipping!

================OLD POST BELOW KEPT FOR YOUR REFERENCE===============
After the Clear top design on the previous KECES USB DAC, we are proud to announce that we are ready with our next generation of styling design with a SPDIF DAC.  Allow me to introduce, KECES DA-131:



BASIC specs:

*Fully supports 24bits/192KHz with Cirrus Logic's CS8416 receiver IC, unlike most DACs that is restricted to 24bits/96KHz due to the use of CS8414, even if they had used a 24bit/192KHz capable DAC.

*Supports both TOSLINK optical input and Coaxial RCA input, we use CS8416's internal signal select feature instead of the noisy/jittery mechanical switch or relay for signal selection.  The switch you see in the back is simply for ordering CS8416 to read which of its input.

*Audiophile Grade Burr Brown PCM1793 DAC IC and two BurrBrown OPA604 as output filter OP

*NO SIGNAL COUPLING CAPACITOR ANYWHERE in the analog signal from the DAC all the way to the RCA connectors.  Ensuring the highest quality sound with no capacitor in the signal path to color or change the sound in any way.

*Highly regulated and independent power supply for each section of the DAC and OP, fully shield each section of DAC from interfering each other.

*Audiophile/Military Grade Resistors and Capacitors, all in the name of higher quality sound.

*Presentation Grade fit and finish, inside and out.  Instead of showing it all for everyone to see as in our USB DAC, we have elected to use a more subtle approach this time.  We decided to use a tinted acrylic to show just enough of the inside, but not too much as to make it look 'busy'.

*High Quality gold plated RCA connector with Teflon insulated Silver plated copper wire.

*World Voltage Compatible, switchable between 100~120V and 200~240V

Price: DA-131 is no longer available, original post kept for reference only.  Please see above for DA-131.1


Shipping/Handling Charge:  (To be confirmed once the packing box had arrived)

US/Europe/Russia: 45USD
Asia/Oceania Regions (exclude Russia): 35USD
Africa Regions: 55USD


More pics:

[Zyca]

Attached below is the RMAA test result for DA-131, DA-131.1's test result will be posted later, and as usual, this is modified only to make it display properly on the forum, no data and no figure were ever changed.

KECES DA-131
RightMark Audio Analyzer test

Testing chain: External loopback (line-out - line-in)

Sampling mode: 24-bit, 48 kHz






Summary




General performance: Excellent


Frequency response








Noise level








Dynamic range








THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)








Intermodulation distortion








Stereo crosstalk








IMD (swept tones)







This report was generated by RightMark Audio Analyzer 5.4

[Zyca]

Yes! Finally everything is ready!!!

DA-131 is now available for purchase!!!  All orders will be shipped within 48 hours of ordering, and will be configured according to your location's voltage and plug style (either specific version of cable or standard US style cable and adapter).


Thanks for reading!

[thebas]

does the DAC reclocking?

Thanks

[Zyca]

does the DAC reclocking?

Thanks

This one does not have reclocking circuit built-in.  We do have jitter reduction system in the works as a stand alone box and as an integrated part of the DAC.  However, both are still in R&D phase, and the DAC with jitter reduction will also cost somewhat more than DA-131 due to the extra cost it takes to develop and manufacture it.

It won't be available for a while tho, and the jitter reduction system will also be available in a stand along box that is of the same style as DA-131.  You can get DA-131 now and the jitter reduction device later as well.

Let me just say that the jitter reduction system we have is of a very interesting design, the more high-end your device is, the effect is usually more visible.  (On some with very heavy custom hardwares, like Chord DAC64, the effect is not as surprising, but still an audiable improvement)


I'm pushing for the earliest possible sneak peek, but even that I'm not sure when will it be available for a peek.

[Zyca]

Updated with new information on DA-131.1   Enjoy.

[catastrofe]

Any additional information on the jitter reduction device?

[roamling]

Any additional information on the jitter reduction device?

I would be interested in a jitter reduction device as well, is there an update if there will be a standalone product available in the near future

[Zyca]

Any additional information on the jitter reduction device?

I would be interested in a jitter reduction device as well, is there an update if there will be a standalone product available in the near future

Hello,

I have been saying that jitter reduction device will be there soon, but finally we are close to getting it done now.

Previously we have intended to do it with our own chassis and do everything ourselves.  However, we have found a partner company that already have a good quality product that does about 1/2 of what we wanted, and since their design is quite flexible, we could basically stuff our 1/2 of the design in and save a fair bit of cost.  And as a bonus, their device already have an IR remote control that we can fully utilize.


Please hold on a little longer, we are working hard to have it done soon.

[roamling]

  cool,

and it will be a standalone device that can be connected for example to the DA-131 so we can keep our current units?

I cant wait... avoiding Jitter is such a important part of digital playback, worth spending some money on 

[Zyca]

cool,

and it will be a standalone device that can be connected for example to the DA-131 so we can keep our current units?

I cant wait... avoiding Jitter is such a important part of digital playback, worth spending some money on 

Yup, it will be a fully stand-alone device.   We are also looking into high performance TOSLINK receiver and transmitter to compliment the device as well.

[Bails]

Any update on the standalone jitter-reduction device? Is it still in the works?
Thanks.

[Zyca]

Any update on the standalone jitter-reduction device? Is it still in the works?
Thanks.

Yup, it is still in the pipeline, but it will still take some time before it is ready.


Thanks

David

[rudy99]

keces vs. audio gd fun? or gd 19?