The Twisted Pear Buffalo IIISE does all of that, but you need to assemble the DIY kit and add a chassis.
DAC with ESS Sabre chip, volume, XLR+RCA simult.
Are there any DACs out there which use dual mono ESS Sabre chips, have a volume control (digital) and are able to drive XLR and RCA outputs used simultaneously?
I have a setup with 3 amps per channel - two of which are used for subs.So I need two outputs simultaneously.
I have a setup with 3 amps per channel - two of which are used for subs.So I need two outputs simultaneously.
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Exasound e20 or e28. If you use the e28 you will have separate volume control for each output. The volume control on these is neither resistor based nor digital based. The software based volume control tells the dac chip how much voltage to output. It has an 80 db range with .5 db steps. This is the most ideal volume control for a dac IMO. Works great straight into most amps. |
Jeez Audiolabyrinth, you don't want much, do you? ;) Ok, Exasound is made in Canada. All the info is on their website. http://www.exasound.com/ |
The Exasound looks interesting, however I see nothing in the spec to suggest that it is dual mono. Moreover, subdividing a stereo Sabre chip for multichannel mode reduces its absolute performance. FWIW, I have tried the 9018 Sabre in stereo and dual-mono configurations. Dual mono sounds better. Of course the performance of a DAC is the sum of its parts including power supply and output stage. |
The Geek Pulse X does exactly what you ask. It was recently crowd funded for over a million dollars, in case you have been living under a rock ;) There is a secondary campaign to still get in and buy the DAC, but nothing will be delivered until June this year, and I suspect there will be delays as always happens in these types of projects. |
Audiobb, yes it has been confirmed by Larry Ho, chief designer at DaVinci Audio, that the Geek Pulse X will output RCA/XLR at the same time. All the Geek Pulse range will have a 128 step digital volume control, operating via a knob on the front, or via the IR port which supports the Apple Remote (sold separately). It seems like it could be a great product. I have one ordered with the upgraded Femto clocks and the external linear power supply option. |
Thank you everybody for your responses. In the meantime, I have built a DAC based on dual Buffallo IIIs from Twisted Pear. I have had a lot of help from my friend Siniša, and also a lot (A LOT!) of help from mr. Robert from Netherlands. He programmed Arduino controller, my friend Siniša built everything from there. The DAC is amazing, realistic and holographic. The sound is very neutral, but on the neutral and detailed side, not on the warm-smooth-rich side of neutral |