Project Pre Box S2 DAC & Headphone Amp Review

[Rja4000]

That doesn't sound good to me...at all. Why a $400 gear shouldn't perform at its best with the stock PSU? If it does, then either the design or the price is wrong.

It shouldn't change anything to the headphones output. Specs is 68mW under 32ohms, which is pretty close to what @amirm got... Not to mention very weak.
I'm sorry for Pro-Ject, but this unit is now outclassed by the similarly-priced M500, in every category.

I should have checked the spec before indeed

 

[Newk Yuler]

Déjà vu.

I'd appreciate knowing how the Pre Box and the DAC Box S2 + measure against each other. The S2 + looks like a great near entry level ESS9038 DAC. (2 channel. Not the Pro chip.) It unfortunately doesn't have the distortion compensation feature and there are significant differences in the circuit design such as only one DAC chip.

 

[AudioSceptic]

This thing is a John Westlake design isn't it ?

Yes. Also responsible for various designs from Cambridge Audio, Quad, and Audiolab.

 

[AudioSceptic]

What's interesting to me is the quirky fun looks along with a mid level SINAD. Additionally, we have an excellent, low jitter noise floor, great linearity and the focus of performance is all over the place.

I would love to see this designer create something for us in the future. They certainly have the potential to produce something that can turn heads in this forum.

You are aware of John Westlake?

 

[Jhify]

Hi all. First time posting on this forum. I thought it might be a good thing to bring some subjective point of view. I have got on my desk the topping D10 D50 and the project S2, and honestly if I had to choose one of the three I’d pick the S2 even with the higher price tag.
I compared intensively the D50 and S2 with a pm7003 (main in) and a pair of RP-600m and focal chorus in a very quiet room. I find the S2 to be a better performer overall. The D50 can be unpleasant or a tad harsh at times (or reveal flaws in the recordings?). The S2 never failed to drain me into the music, be fun to listen to with plenty of details (and it reveals bad recordings just as much).
The only configuration I liked the D50 better was with the ifi Ican SE and the nightowl/nighthawk where the higher extension in the highs of the D50 brings more life to those two dark headphones and give a tiny more of a 3D/holographic playback (probably just because of the higher extension).
I have 16ohm 108db IEM and I never noticed any hiss whatsoever with the amp section maybe I’ll give a proper test for that. I am not saying amirm measurements are not correct I am just saying I didn’t notice it. Same goes with the low power output I don’t think with modern broadband consumer grade and sensitive headphones you’ll hear much of a difference it will drive them plenty loud. It’s defenitely not powerful but decent enough for most of us. For me, with sensitives cans, it’s impossible to tell apart with my 4W amp. With the hd600 I can definitely hear a difference of course.
Long story short, if you’re not a hardcore audiophile, don’t need much power and need an all in one piece to pair with a computer or a laptop it is a great choice amongst good competitors in the price range as well. But that’s it. Out of this configuration I can’t recommend the S2 only because of there’s no stand by or screen saver. It will be on all the time. Plus it is an Oled display which can burn in overtime. The only way to turn the screen off is to unplug the whole unit cause there’s no switch either. That’s all real bummer overtime. This plus few minors issue will make you look toward other options regardless of the sonic qualities probably. Especially with the very good newcomers on the market.

 

[Nathan Raymond]

Glad to see a review of one of Pro-Ject Audio's items! A year ago I bought their Head Box S2 to use as my primary desktop headphone amp:

https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/head-box-s2/

I had some specific requirements - I use an Emotiva Big Ego USB DAC hooked up to one of my computers and wanted to feed that into the headphone amp, and then go out from the headphone amp line level (passive, no volume attenuation) to my SMSL A2 amp driving some desktop speakers (it's subwoofer out goes to a small sealed sub under my desk). I also wanted the headphone amp to have dual headphone outputs that could drive two headphones at once, which the Head Box S2 has (a relatively uncommon feature). I took a chance buying it, lacking any in-depth reviews of it anywhere, but I've been really happy with it. I also appreciate that their products are designed in Austria (where their HQ is) and built in either the Czech Republic or Slovakia.

 

[bequietjk]

@AudioSceptic I'm not. Who is he?

 

[beefkabob]

Hi all. First time posting on this forum. I thought it might be a good thing to bring some subjective point of view.

 

[Jimster480]

Looks interesting but not really competitive for the price... for the price of this unit you could have a JDS Element 2 which looks much nicer!
Or possibly a Topping DX7S?

 

[graz_lag]

@AudioSceptic I'm not. Who is he?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Westlake

 

[AudioSceptic]

Hi all. First time posting on this forum. I thought it might be a good thing to bring some subjective point of view. I have got on my desk the topping D10 D50 and the project S2, and honestly if I had to choose one of the three I’d pick the S2 even with the higher price tag.
I compared intensively the D50 and S2 with a pm7003 (main in) and a pair of RP-600m and focal chorus in a very quiet room. I find the S2 to be a better performer overall. The D50 can be unpleasant or a tad harsh at times (or reveal flaws in the recordings?). The S2 never failed to drain me into the music, be fun to listen to with plenty of details (and it reveals bad recordings just as much).
The only configuration I liked the D50 better was with the ifi Ican SE and the nightowl/nighthawk where the higher extension in the highs of the D50 brings more life to those two dark headphones and give a tiny more of a 3D/holographic playback (probably just because of the higher extension).
I have 16ohm 108db IEM and I never noticed any hiss whatsoever with the amp section maybe I’ll give a proper test for that. I am not saying amirm measurements are not correct I am just saying I didn’t notice it. Same goes with the low power output I don’t think with modern broadband consumer grade and sensitive headphones you’ll hear much of a difference it will drive them plenty loud. It’s defenitely not powerful but decent enough for most of us. For me, with sensitives cans, it’s impossible to tell apart with my 4W amp. With the hd600 I can definitely hear a difference of course.
Long story short, if you’re not a hardcore audiophile, don’t need much power and need an all in one piece to pair with a computer or a laptop it is a great choice amongst good competitors in the price range as well. But that’s it. Out of this configuration I can’t recommend the S2 only because of there’s no stand by or screen saver. It will be on all the time. Plus it is an Oled display which can burn in overtime. The only way to turn the screen off is to unplug the whole unit cause there’s no switch either. That’s all real bummer overtime. This plus few minors issue will make you look toward other options regardless of the sonic qualities probably. Especially with the very good newcomers on the market.

Not double-blind ABX, obviously, but interesting all the same. Any thoughts on the filters? I get the impression that it's just a "feature" to have these options but given that they only affect the very top end, how many can actually hear any difference, even if the music has content up there?

I have mine, along with other stuff, on a smart plug. It's only on when I want it on, so no issues with screen burn-in (if it really is a problem).

 

[AudioSceptic]

@AudioSceptic I'm not. Who is he?

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Westlake>
He's been quite active in some forums, such as <https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/pro-ject-pre-box-s2-digital-dac.201691/> (Look for JohnW).

 

[Ron Texas]

Would be OK if it were $120.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Would be OK if it were $120.

Unlikely if it's designed and made in Europe.

 

[miero]

FYI: summary thread for recent development by John Westlake:
- https://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum...ake-lakewest-mdac-fdac-vfet-and-detox.233225/

It started loooong ago "Sep 5th 2013 - Post 501: John's offer of MDAC2 with a ship date of March 2014 for first units".

And the most recent info is from Nov 25, 2019:
"we have a weekend listening session arrange for the last week of January - where we will be comparing the DevDAC against a Chord Dave + the Chord oversampling filter"
Source: https://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum...ac-vfet-and-detox.233225/page-18#post-3822703

DevDAC is a development DAC board that will morph into MDAC2 eventually.

 

[Jhify]

Not double-blind ABX, obviously, but interesting all the same. Any thoughts on the filters? I get the impression that it's just a "feature" to have these options but given that they only affect the very top end, how many can actually hear any difference, even if the music has content up there?

I have mine, along with other stuff, on a smart plug. It's only on when I want it on, so no issues with screen burn-in (if it really is a problem).

No ABX of course the plan was just to pick the best one for myself. But it is quite obvious the d50 is more extended both ways and and more revealing though a bit to much for my taste.
I’ll keep the S2 on my desk, easy to use on the go with a laptop and as a second reference in the home studio.
I can’t hear any difference between the filters and a very very subtle one with the optimal transient one. I can’t hear above 17khz with my 27 yo ears anyway. It might make a difference with very long listening I don’t know I reckon no one could ever make a difference during normal listening sessions anyway. Have fun with it.

 

[amirm]

Unlikely if it's designed and made in Europe.

Somehow I recall contract manufacturer was in China. No?

 

[Jhify]

Somehow I recall contract manufacturer was in China. No?

I had to deal with the customer service they mentioned Eastern Europe I can’t remember which country though. Someone wrote Czech Republic above, might be it.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Somehow I recall contract manufacturer was in China. No?

I could be wrong but AFAIK Pro-Ject hardware is made in Slovakia or the Czech Republic (headquarters are in Vienna). I'll check S2 tomorrow as I'm using it right now in the main system.

Edit: the box says "Made in Slovakia".

 

[amirm]

Got it. Thanks for clarification.