Review and Measurements of Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital

[Bjorn]

Great review.

When are we going to see some reviews/measurements of truly high-end DACs? Why not contact Lynx Studio and ask to review something of theirs? I would be very surprised if they aren't willing to loan out a unit.
https://www.lynxstudio.com/

 

[ManglerFi]

lol. yes, the wrong letter was capitalized. kHz.

Never heard of Kelvin hours z before, what's that all about? Also, kilo being a positive (greater than zero) shouldn't it be capitalized as well?

 

[drconopoima]

I would certainly prefer the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC to the Topping DX7, but I always make a huge differentiation point the size of the boxes they are in (preferring smaller boxes). And I think I wouldn't want to use the Topping integrated AMP with most of my headphones (85% of them below 70ohm, meaning 10ohm output impedance may alter sound signature). So, in features, the Pro-Ject having higher PCM/DSD and MQA formats would be a stronger bullet point for me than the amp.

 

[punkriot]

Dx7s has XLR outputs, so for me it is huge benefit. However I decided to go for Pro-ject because in Poland the final price was half of DX7s, I have local official distributor, full two years warranty etc. In US it is probably different case, the price difference is smaller and probably there are some local dealers of Topping?
MQA, it is nice to have as you can check by yourself the performance of new format and not just read about it. However there is a license fee for MQA so probably PreBox could be cheaper without MQA.

 

[Sylafari]

Great review.

When are we going to see some reviews/measurements of truly high-end DACs? Why not contact Lynx Studio and ask to review something of theirs? I would be very surprised if they aren't willing to loan out a unit.
https://www.lynxstudio.com/

I feel like most companies especially higher end ones would be even more so unwilling to lend out equipment for purely objective measurements like this forum is focused on. Subjective ones on the other hand...

 

[ManglerFi]

Yes, surgery to come later.

Oh man, surgery! I'm a bit worried now! Haha.

 

[Jimster480]

nice review, so it looks like there is a legit competitor to the DX7 in the same price range!
Can't wait to see what the DX7S cranks out!

 

[mindbomb]

It seems like there are no dealbreakers with this dac, but I want to know more about the thought process behind the 'best' mode. It just looks worse to me.

Oh, and the low power consumption! Their website says 1w only. I love it when things use so little power that they can remain cool to the touch.

 

[DonH56]

Great review.

When are we going to see some reviews/measurements of truly high-end DACs? Why not contact Lynx Studio and ask to review something of theirs? I would be very surprised if they aren't willing to loan out a unit.
https://www.lynxstudio.com/

Amir has not tested the Lynx, but several others in the multi-thousand USD range. How high-end? And are you volunteering to pick them up and loan them to Amir for testing?

Actually anyone who owns a high-end DAC and would be willing to loan to Amir should get a donut or something...

 

[Rene]

Amir has not tested the Lynx, but several others in the multi-thousand USD range. How high-end? And are you volunteering to pick them up and loan them to Amir for testing?

Actually anyone who owns a high-end DAC and would be willing to loan to Amir should get a donut or something...

I'm waiting for my donut!

 

[Rene]

Great review.

When are we going to see some reviews/measurements of truly high-end DACs? Why not contact Lynx Studio and ask to review something of theirs? I would be very surprised if they aren't willing to loan out a unit.
https://www.lynxstudio.com/

I can't even get Benchmark to reply to my emails. Besides, most studio dacs don't profess to be high-end as much as well engineered and competitively priced. Remember that studios have to own 12 or 16 of these things so usually go for the 8-channel versions. The best I've heard in that category is made by Merging Technologies. http://www.merging.com/horus

 

[Wombat]

Studio DACs have to competently do their job or they get bad-worded in the industry. Accountability is important for those brands. I would think that professional studio products set the standard, not audiophile products.
Why would 'better than studio' equipment be needed for domestic use??

The other thing I like about PRO product is the compliance with Standards including connection compatibility, both physical and electronic.

 

[amirm]

Great review.

When are we going to see some reviews/measurements of truly high-end DACs? Why not contact Lynx Studio and ask to review something of theirs? I would be very surprised if they aren't willing to loan out a unit.
https://www.lynxstudio.com/

Thanks. At the last audio show I asked for review samples from a few companies and none were interested in having them measured. I felt like an insurance salesman.

I think a better model is for me to purchase equipment or members loaning them. That way there is no feeling of any obligation to manufacturer. We have had a few donations already but if we have any hope of reviewing expensive stuff, more is needed.

 

[amirm]

I'm waiting for my donut!

Don misspoke. There is no donut for anyone offering loaner units.

 

[amirm]

BTW I contacted RME to see if I can get accomodation pricing for their DAC. No reply so far. Can just imagine how welcoming they would be if I tried to get one for free to test!

 

[amirm]

In US it is probably different case, the price difference is smaller and probably there are some local dealers of Topping?

Yes we can buy them on Amazon and on "massdrop" where the recent price for Topping DX7s including shipping was $370.

 

[Jimster480]

It seems like there are no dealbreakers with this dac, but I want to know more about the thought process behind the 'best' mode. It just looks worse to me.

Oh, and the low power consumption! Their website says 1w only. I love it when things use so little power that they can remain cool to the touch.

True, but maybe they think the sound is "better" due to less "jitter"? I don't know really... I mean are the other measured distortions actually audible?

Yes we can buy them on Amazon and on "massdrop" where the recent price for Topping DX7s including shipping was $370.

There is also ebay, and many sellers ship quickly or have USA warehouses. When I got my DX7 on ebay it came DHL 3 days from china.

 

[sonci]

Some measurement of this Dac on the Roon forum, shows that the coaxial input has a lot more jitter than usb. Have you tested it?
The only reservation I have with chinese and cheap dacs is their
performance when used with dirty cheap sources, even though you are using laptop usb out which is what most people will use.

 

[Music1969]

Hi @amirm

Long time lurker and fan of this site - just joined today after reading your review for this DAC.

Over on the CA Forum Jussi (HQ Player Founder) has posted measurements to show that DSD512 up-sampling performs best, closely followed by PCM768/32 up-sampling - and these perform much better in terms of jitter and distortion than 24/44.

Also he says compensation distortion definitely performs best, especially with linear phase + fast rolloff manually selected on the DAC. The "best" mode measures the worst for him and best mode automatically disables distortion compensation.

Are you able to perform measurements to compare DSD128 vs DSD256 vs DSD512 up-sampling with Roon, to verify these differences? And the same with PCM384kHz vs PCM768kHz up-sampling in Roon?

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/...easonable-cost/?do=findComment&comment=782311

 

[Wombat]

Some measurement of this Dac on the Roon forum, shows that the coaxial input has a lot more jitter than usb. Have you tested it?
The only reservation I have with chinese and cheap dacs is their
performance when used with dirty cheap sources, even though you are using laptop usb out which is what most people will use.

China has some top-notch native technology companies and lesser ones. The old general reputation of substandard Chinese manufacturing is just not true now.

Looking at how DACs perform on their various inputs and even PSU is a good idea.