Pro-ject Pre Box DS2 DAC & Pre-amp Review

[Brab]

I also don't understand Project's catalogue and pricing. For example, I had a Project Maia integrated amp which seems to have all the features of this preamp plus Class D amp modules, all for around the same price. But Heinz L. seems to be doing fine so I defer to his business acumen. Didn't much like the Maia though.

 

[Bohdan]

Should have done better with photos, low light and handheld my excuse. Enjoy

 

[CSUphil]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Project Pre BOX DS2. It is a multi-function device with USB DAC, headphone amplifier, analog pre-amplifier with Bluetooth, and phono stage. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $899 although I see some open box ones for US $699.

The DS2 manages to come across as elegant in a sea of same looking desktop audio products:

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The controls are microprocessor based and have a good feeling to them. LEDs light up to indicate what mode the device is in.

The back panel better shows all the functionality:

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I don't care for membrane based remote controls but that can be easily replaced with another remote. The power supply is nice and light although has those adapters for mains socket which I don't fond of. But I understand the usefulness of it instead of stocking multiple versions of the unit.

USB DAC Audio Measurements
As usual, let's start with our dashboard view of a 1 kHz digital tone fed to the unit:

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Wow, I must say, whenever I see a multifunction device I expect its DAC to be mediocre but such is not the case here. SINAD (sum of noise and distortion) is quite respectable here:

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Distortion is below -112 dB which assures transparency.

Dynamic range has good headroom above CD/streaming content's 16 bit requirement:

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Intermodulation distortion versus level is competent as well:

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Jitter performance is good:

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As noted, there is a resampling feature (to high rate PCM and DSD) which I tried in this one test and it seems to be transparent.

There are four filter settings if you turn off resampling:

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Two of them are sharp and two are slow as you see.

Preamplifier Audio Measurements
Our test here is similar to DAC except that now the source is a superbly high quality sine wave out of my analyzer:

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Wow, this is very good again! Worst case distortion spike is again below -112 dB. SNR is not as good as the digital input but still respectable:

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Frequency response is dead flat (good):

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And distortion+noise are frequency independent:

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Phono Preamplifier Measurements
Here is the same test yet again but with phono input:

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Distortion is comfortably low at -100 dB. Noise however is elevated and was highly dependent on how I grounded the unit. So actual performance may be better or worse for you. As is, the high level of noise limits ranking:

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Headphone Amplifier Measurements
Once again, same test but with headphone output:

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This is OK performance but let's see how much power we have:

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Not bad at all. This should enable it to drive high impedance headphones with good amount of loudness.

Performance suffers fair bit with lower impedance though:

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Conclusions
The phrase "digital divide" definitely applies to audio electronics in that DACs with some rare exceptions don't have analog inputs. This forces people like me who have an alternate analog input (in my case, a Reel to Reel tape deck) to use an external preamplifier just for this one feature. So it is great to see a company tackle this market and importantly, not just go for feature checklist but actually deliver on performance. And good looks.

While not state of the art in any category, the performance of the DS2 is competent and at times impressive enough to get my recommendation.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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Early in this review, you state "I don't care for membrane based remote controls but that can be easily replaced with another remote." Well, my remote is wearing out. Any ideas for a replacement?

 

[AudioSceptic]

Early in this review, you state "I don't care for membrane based remote controls but that can be easily replaced with another remote." Well, my remote is wearing out. Any ideas for a replacement?

I like the One For All remotes. One of these can replace a number of others. There are code lists for major brands, but for any not listed, the OFA can learn the command signals directly from the other remote. There are many to choose from but we went with the Contour 8 URC1280 <https://www.oneforall.com/en-gb/universal-remotes/products?page=1>.

 

[CSUphil]

I like the One For All remotes. One of these can replace a number of others. There are code lists for major brands, but for any not listed, the OFA can learn the command signals directly from the other remote. There are many to choose from but we went with the Contour 8 URC1280 <https://www.oneforall.com/en-gb/universal-remotes/products?page=1>.

Thank you for the prompt input. I hope there is a code for my unit. Some of the buttons are no longer working on the factory remote. I will checkout your suggestion.

Thanks again!

 

[AudioSceptic]

Thank you for the prompt input. I hope there is a code for my unit. Some of the buttons are no longer working on the factory remote. I will checkout your suggestion.

Thanks again!

I couldn't find a code for our Pro-Ject in One For All's own list so I *think* (this was 2019) I used the learning function, but I've just found this <https://www.eliztech.com/remotes/codelists/pro-ject-audio-systems-audio-codes>. I'll try these tomorrow.

 

[CSUphil]

I couldn't find a code for our Pro-Ject in One For All's own list so I *think* (this was 2019) I used the learning function, but I've just found this <https://www.eliztech.com/remotes/codelists/pro-ject-audio-systems-audio-codes>. I'll try these tomorrow.

Great help! Thanks.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Great help! Thanks.

Looking at this again, I now remember what happened. All 3 codes, 2689, 2690, and 2691, work for volume on our Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital, but none work for changing the input. That's where I needed to use the "learning" feature. (The other functions on the Pro-Ject are rarely used and I would need to be close to it in any case to read the small display.)