Audioengine DAC3 32-Bit Mobile Headphone Digital to Analog Converter for Hi-Res Music and Audio

DAC stands for digital-to-analog converter, a device that turns the ones and zeros of digital music into electrical signals for reproduction by amplifiers and speakers. The Audioengine D1 is an outboard DAC, i.e., a component that resides in a box outside the computer, rather than on a PCI card or on the computer's motherboard. The purpose of an outboard DAC is to bypass the computer's cheap audio circuits and process digital audio directly from USB or optical ports. The advantage of an outboard DAC vs. one on a card is that you can take it with you and it's easier to hook up gear. So does the D1 best my Mac's audio?BUILD: Out of the box my first impression was it's tiny. However, it's well made with metal case, gold plated connections and great fit and finish. Hook up was easy: a pair of RCA/TRS cables to my M-Audio BX5 D2 monitors and the included USB cable into my Cinema Display. My Mac Pro (OS 10.5) immediately recognized the new device and switched system audio to Audioengine D1. However some apps can override system audio preferences and you may have to select D1 from within the app, especially if you have multiple DAC units online.SOUND: I have tracks of me playing classical guitar, so I listened to those first since I knew exactly how they should sound. And what a disappointment: bright, harsh, random clicks and a wee bit of distortion! I was ready to return the unit but decided to read the manual: "give it 40 to 50 hours break-in before doing any critical listening." Hmm, I have other components that definitely sounded better--smoother--after a week or two or burn-in so I engaged iTunes shuffle and left the house for the day. The next day I was shocked at the improvements: smooth natural and transparent and easily besting my Mac's DAC. Incidentally, the D1 has a much hotter signal than my Mac and I had to turn down the volume to avoid burning my ears.Besting the Mac's build-in DAC was expected but a relief after the initial harsh tones at hookup. With half the burn-in period under my belt I would describe the sound as detailed and fairly smooth with no hint of harshness. And the detail is almost overwhelming: zaps, scrapes, coughs, etc., in the background of live concerts are extremely vivid whereas they were barely audible with my iPod or computer DAC. Also, the reverb tails of studio reverb are much more prominent--almost too prominent (will be going easier on the wet mix). So, yes, lots of detail you normally miss with a cheaper DAC. While that's great for a clean studio recording, it may not be so enjoyable for noisy stage and club recordings.I compared it side by side with my MOTU Ultralite ($600 recording interface) and was pleasantly surprised. I auditioned both DACs with M-Audio BX5 speakers. I can't say the D1 sounds better than the Ultralite but it's in the same ball park sonically. The Ultralite is a little more dynamic, smoother (sweeter mids) and has a flatter EQ profile whereas the D1 has a wee EQ bump in the bass and slightly more edgy treble. Both are highly revealing of background detail compared to the built-in Mac DAC. However the Ultralite has a lot more gain in the preamp section albeit the D1 is no weakling. The D1 is not ideal DAC for mixing but perfect for what I bought it for, causal listening.RFI RESISTANCE: I live in the inner city and am surrounded by cellphone and radio station transmitters. RFI is a major problem in my condo and every piece of gear needs shielding or it becomes a classic rock station. I am happy to report the D1 greeted me with complete radio silence and is well shielded. Good show Audioengine designers!IO: Digital audio may be routed to the D1 either through the USB input or the optical (SPDIF). The USB is more universal and closer at hand on most desktops. The optical input requires an expensive cable and, for me, a very long one as my Mac Pro is under the desk! Most users will be happy with the convenience of the USB hookup, and that is fine long as your audio source is 24-bit and 96KS/s or less. If you are one of the rare individuals requiring 192KS/s, you will need to use the optical input.The D1 has a good quality headphone output via a mini (3.5mm) stereo output jack. It has no problem driving my Sennheiser HD580 headphones although I mainly use it with Shure 400 series earbuds. The volume knob works fine for adjusting the volume of my M-Audio BX5 D2 monitors but a tiny twist of the knob causes volume to go from soft to painfully loud with many earbuds.Finally, I found the D1 short on outputs: a pair of RCA and a mini stereo jack and that's it. Also, it can only handle a single input source (the USB input is disabled when an optical cable is plugged in). A second USB input would have been handy for a visiting iPod or Tascam portable.GOTCHAS: There are a few minor gotchas. First, as mentioned above, finer gradations of volume control would be welcome. Also, system volume and mute controls don't work from the keyboard or Apple IR remote and must be controlled directly from the D1. Audioengine could easily write a driver to fix that if they wanted to. MOTU allows Core Audio volume control with their devices (or you can use device controls). I miss being able to mute with a simple button tap. And, finally, that bright LED light on the front panel needs a filter or disable switch (other than turning it off).LAST BLURB: A solid unit that's easy on desktop space and has great sound and sturdy construction.

I've had the original Audioengine D1 since 2012, which has served me well for years. Technology has come a long way since then... Needless to say, the D1P blows it out of the water. I own two MOTU M4 audio interfaces, and to my surprise the D1P is a huge upgrade even from them. It's almost startling how much more full and well-rounded the same audio track sounds on the D1P when compared with the MOTU - it really breathes new life into the music! The headphone out from the MOTU is more shrill and less spacious in comparison, which is fatiguing on the ears. I am not noticing that at all from the D1P. It really exceeded my expectations. I didn't think that a different DAC would be so immediately and noticeably better than what I was used to.I kept my iPhone 6S+ for almost 9 years, because I just could not give up the headphone jack, mainly for listening to Tidal in the car. I bought an Apple dongle for my new phone - it just could not compare. I had to turn the volume up much louder for still inferior sound compared to my old phone. Well, with the D1P, I don't miss my precious headphone jack anymore. My car's speakers sound better than ever, and so do my Sennheisers. Look, Mom, I'm gain-staging while I drive!The device is beautiful, solid, and just works flawlessly. The volume knob feels great, with the perfect amount of resistance. It can get LOUD, with plenty more juice then my cans need. The impact on my phone's battery life is negligible. Jiggling the cables around creates no loss of signal, not even the tiniest click or pop. Is that a DAC in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Dreams really do come true… Thanks, Audioengine!

The more audio products I am exposed to, the more I appreciate the Audioengine D1. I've tried other DACs on Amazon that cost a fraction of what the Audioengine cost, but I had problems with all of them, such as buzzing and hissing sounds. Moreover, even my Bose Companion 5 speakers (which I paid $400 for and has a built-in DAC and a headphone jack) has distracting white noise even when no audio is present). The Audioengine thus fills a vital role in my setup as far as powering my headphones and giving me good clean audio. There is ZERO hissing or white noise even at high volume. The build quality is very nice and you can feel the difference immediately if you've ever held cheaper no-name DACs.I have two complaints, both relatively minor, but to me, a bigger deal considering the price tag.(1) the included USB cord is WAY TOO SHORT - it's like two feet long or something. How can ANYBODY use this cord if they hope to put the device on a desktop and connect it to a computer that is on the ground? The cord is useless and the decision to include such a short cord just boggles my mind and makes me question Audioengine's commitment to its customers. I had to go out and get a longer cord just so I could use a device I paid almost $200 for. And it isn't the type of USB cable you probably have tons of. It's the type of cable that you typically hook up a print with, so you cant just grab your cable that you use for your cell phone or something. Seriously - who uses a two-foot long chord? They only reason you'd do that is if you plan put the device on top of your PC. But then, how would you even access the volume knob? Dumb.(2) there is NO ac adapter included (unless you want to pay Audioengine 18 dollars to send you one). This means you HAVE to plug this device into your computer via USB, even if you aren't using USB as the audio source. For example, I use my motherboard's optical line out and feed that directly to the Audioengine D1. I assumed I could power the device separately via my wall outlet (which even the cheaper DACs I tried before could do). Nope - I still have plug the USB cable into my computer in order to power the device. I don't like having extra USB devices plugged into my computer that aren't unnecessary, so I went out and purchased an AC adapter for the USB connection to free up the USB slot on my computer.For a device that costs almost $200, both of my complaints (though minor in the grand scheme of things) are pretty inexcusable in my opinion, thus the 4-star rating rather than 5. The short USB cord really gets to me. The AC adapter I can understand because the option to use your PC's USB slot to power the device is there.Most importantly though, on the quality of the device itself, I have no complaints, and I would recommend this product. But you'll have to, at the very least, go out and buy a longer USB chord.

I used a stripped down HP mini to host the DaPhile OS (Linux). This transfers bit perfect hi-res music files, from a Synolgy NAS to the Audioengine DAC feeding into my NAD amp and some classic speakers. The sound, no tone controls used, is like having new speakers. I ordered another one. I will probably wind up with 3 of them.

excelente

I must have got a bad unit because the casing came loose without effort, leaving the DAC chip exposed to all creation. I'm rather disappointed but hey ho, that's life. Will return and order a new one. Hopefully, it fairs better than its sibling did.

Très discret et esthétique. Ergonomie au top avec son bouton d'allumage à LED. Je recommande.

Ho acquistato questo DAC per portare il segnale digitale di un pc e di un tv "fuori" dal pc e dalla tv, lasciando che la trasformazione da segnale digitale ad analogico, prima di essere mandato all'amplificatore hi-fi, avvenisse a cura di questo apparecchio esterno dedicato e non del DAC all'interno del pc e della tv.Risultato: spariti fruscii e ronzii di fondo dovuti a micro interferenze che inevitabilmente pc e tv generano (ma anche i cavetti analogici di collegamento). Il che si apprezza quando si ascolta l'hi-fi a volume medio alto e la musica è "lieve", esempio passaggi di voce e pianoforte, o chitarra acustica, che avvengono - grazie al DAC - in un silenzio di fondo gradevolissimo. Se invece parliamo di musica ritmata, disco, pop, rock, etc, i fruscii e ronzii verrebbero coperti dalla musica chiassosa stessa e l'utilità del DAC, sotto questo punto di vista, non verrebbe percepita rispetto a un normale collegamento analogico (es uscita cuffie del pc).Inoltre la qualità del suono migliora, si percepiscono i singoli strumenti, i dettagli della voce, mentre con un collegamento analogico il tutto sembra più impastato. Attenzione però: non aspettatevi mutamenti clamorosi, si tratta di sfumature per audiofili, che percepirete solo collegando contemporaneamente la stessa fonte, allo stesso volume, allo stesso amplificatore, con entrambi i modi: attraverso il cavo analogico (es uscita cuffie del pc) e attraverso il DAC (es uscita usb del pc). Provate a switchare gli ingressi dell'ampli sull'una e sull'altra fonte e finirete col notare le sfumature di cui dicevo.Roba x audiofili, però: gran parte delle persone, se non adeguatamente sollecitate a prestare attenzione, non noterà a mio avviso differenze. Dipende peraltro dall'impianto, dal pc, dal tv. Io posso dire solo della mia esperienza.Infine: la sorgente sonora dev'essere qualitativamente alta. Se si parte da un mp3 (per definizione file di scarsa o scarsissima qualità) il DAC servirà a poco o nulla, a mio parere.Il DAC ha una comoda uscita frontale per le cuffie: se collegata, viene automaticamente esclusa la porta di uscita rca stereo.