This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the DIGI & AESTH (D&A) balanced DAC, headphone amplifier and pre-amp. It was sent to me by shenzhenaudio.com. I don't see a product listing for it so don't know the cost. [edit: price is USD $699]
It is refreshing to see unique design and looks. The labels are a bit hard to read but they are easy to memorize. The white LEDs can be programmed to "breath," or stay solid on or off. Both balanced and unbalanced outputs are provided for headphone. Core decoder IC is ESS9039MSPRO. Headphone amplifier is discrete. Volume control is implemented using NJU72315 IC. This is done so it can handle analog input which is a rather unique feature of this product:
Note that the analog input is only routed to the headphone output, not the XLR and RCA in the back. No remote is provided so this is strictly a desktop product.
If you are not familiar with my DAC measurements, please watch this tutorial first:
D&A Alpha PRO DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard by adjusting the volume down to 4 volts and XLR output:
Wow, I did not expect such excellent performance! The Alpha Pro comfortably ranks in our top tier of all DACs tested:
Performance improves if we let the output max out:
Pleasantly, RCA output is quite good as well:
Noise level is quite low and basically state of the art:
Linearity is perfect:
Jitter is excellent:
As is Multitone:
And IMD with no hint of "ESS IMD Hump:"
The stereophile 50 Hz tone into 600 ohm is the same:
Only one filter is available which is fine by me:
Other than slight tilt up at higher frequencies, wideband distortion and noise is superb:
There is not a fault to be found here.
D&A Alpha Pro Headphone Amplifier Measurements
I was surprised to see an odd rise in distortion especially in one channel:
It does go away though, ending with lots of power and very low noise and distortion. Balanced output nicely shows quadruple power. Lower gains don't impact the measurements and only provide lower output levels. You can see that with 32 ohm load:
This is incredible amount of power which few headphone amplifiers are able to provide.
D&A Alpha PRO Line In Measurements
The analog input is passed directly through without digitization as seen in frequency response:
Output distortion+noise (SINAD) depended somewhat on combination of gain and volume controls. But this is fairly representative:
Certainly good enough for the turntable and such.
D&A Alpha PRO Headphone Listening Tests
I focused my testing using my everyday Dan Clark E3 headphones. In medium and certainly high gain, the Alpha PRO had no trouble brining the E3s to submission, producing superb bass and dynamics. Clarity was as good as you could possibly want. Subjectively performance was without fault.
Note that changing volume control would cause soft glitches as you turned the knob.
Conclusions
Nice to see a new brand come to market with some differentiation while providing state of the art performance in some departments such as the DAC and power output. The decision to use discrete transistors for the output is likely behind both the power output and lack of fineness at lower output levels. So I would say the right target is headphones that somewhat to very difficult to drive units. Inclusions of line input answers one of my wishes. Alas, I can't use it in my home system due to lack of remote control.
Subject to price not being too high, I am going to recommend the D&A Alpha Pro.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
It is refreshing to see unique design and looks. The labels are a bit hard to read but they are easy to memorize. The white LEDs can be programmed to "breath," or stay solid on or off. Both balanced and unbalanced outputs are provided for headphone. Core decoder IC is ESS9039MSPRO. Headphone amplifier is discrete. Volume control is implemented using NJU72315 IC. This is done so it can handle analog input which is a rather unique feature of this product:
Note that the analog input is only routed to the headphone output, not the XLR and RCA in the back. No remote is provided so this is strictly a desktop product.
If you are not familiar with my DAC measurements, please watch this tutorial first:
D&A Alpha PRO DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard by adjusting the volume down to 4 volts and XLR output:
Wow, I did not expect such excellent performance! The Alpha Pro comfortably ranks in our top tier of all DACs tested:
Performance improves if we let the output max out:
Pleasantly, RCA output is quite good as well:
Noise level is quite low and basically state of the art:
Linearity is perfect:
Jitter is excellent:
As is Multitone:
And IMD with no hint of "ESS IMD Hump:"
The stereophile 50 Hz tone into 600 ohm is the same:
Only one filter is available which is fine by me:
Other than slight tilt up at higher frequencies, wideband distortion and noise is superb:
There is not a fault to be found here.
D&A Alpha Pro Headphone Amplifier Measurements
I was surprised to see an odd rise in distortion especially in one channel:
It does go away though, ending with lots of power and very low noise and distortion. Balanced output nicely shows quadruple power. Lower gains don't impact the measurements and only provide lower output levels. You can see that with 32 ohm load:
This is incredible amount of power which few headphone amplifiers are able to provide.
D&A Alpha PRO Line In Measurements
The analog input is passed directly through without digitization as seen in frequency response:
Output distortion+noise (SINAD) depended somewhat on combination of gain and volume controls. But this is fairly representative:
Certainly good enough for the turntable and such.
D&A Alpha PRO Headphone Listening Tests
I focused my testing using my everyday Dan Clark E3 headphones. In medium and certainly high gain, the Alpha PRO had no trouble brining the E3s to submission, producing superb bass and dynamics. Clarity was as good as you could possibly want. Subjectively performance was without fault.
Note that changing volume control would cause soft glitches as you turned the knob.
Conclusions
Nice to see a new brand come to market with some differentiation while providing state of the art performance in some departments such as the DAC and power output. The decision to use discrete transistors for the output is likely behind both the power output and lack of fineness at lower output levels. So I would say the right target is headphones that somewhat to very difficult to drive units. Inclusions of line input answers one of my wishes. Alas, I can't use it in my home system due to lack of remote control.
Subject to price not being too high, I am going to recommend the D&A Alpha Pro.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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