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The Voudon Effect by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou that kinda fell apart into a compressed and edgy mess through the CAL Alpha became a rich, boogie-laden wonderland with the Audio Note at the helm. Where the CAL DAC emphasized edges, the AN emphasizes body.

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One big plus for the Audio Note’s heavier hand reveals itself with less than wonderful sounding recordings. While the AN sounds comparatively a bit thick, we’re talking trade-offs, as is the case with nearly every hifi comparison, since we could call the CAL DAC comparatively lightweight. The senior citizen CAL Alpha Tube DAC sounds much more fleet-of-foot as compared to the Audio Note, nearly able to run rings around the AN’s slower-sounding heft. That said, Waits’ voice and piano sound superbly rich and big and filled with emotion. The super subtle viola that joins Tom Waits on “I’m Still Here” in the opening of that heartbreak of a song is very nearly imperceptible through the AN DAC 4, reproduced far off in the distance as if a thick fog rolled in between it and Wait’s vocals and piano. Where the AN DAC 4 falls a bit behind today’s better DACs is on the micro-level. Through the AN DAC 4, Lightnin’ Hopkins retains his wonderful rhythmic drive due in part to the richness of the reproduction coupled with a very nice sense of dynamic slam. This is simple music, a man and his electric guitar, which some may think means its easy to reproduce but I beg to differ - classic blues typically sounds anemic when converted to digital and back to analog again as if the D to A process removes this music’s soul. Lightnin’ Hopkins’ Live At Newport, recently recommended by my friend and colleague Herb Reichert, sounds ripe with that amazing mix of relaxed energy that Lightnin’ Hopkins could pull off in his sleep.

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In addition to its funk-loving heft, the Audio Note DAC 4 is also a rich sounding DAC, with a very nice sense of each instrument’s distinct voice given full sway. Most of all he needs the funk / Help him find the funk. The Audio Note DAC 4 packs on the funk poundage by giving this music its deserved heft, driven by one of most distinctive and badass Minimoog bass lines courtesy of Bernie Worrell. Parliament’s “Flash Light” is one funking great track and if your hifi fails to get you up out of your listening chair after about 4-seconds of its funk, somethin’ ain’t right. After all, when we encounter a large human with a high-pitched voice our reaction is innately one of surprise so it should come as no surprise to learn that the AN DAC 4 is a meat and potatoes kinda DAC deal when it comes to its sonic signature. You might think that since the AN DAC 4 is such a heavyweight brute, literally speaking, this may translate into an equally husky voice. The DAC 4 Signature’s entire chassis is solid copper (painted black) and along with those massive-for-a-DAC transformers makes this the heaviest DAC I’ve had in Barn.Īs you can see, inputs options are limited to Coax S/PDIF (BNC and RCA) with two single-ended RCA outputs with one marked “DE-EMP” or De-Emphasis output which applies a high frequency roll-off filter originally meant to be used when playing back a CD with pre-emphasis, and a “Direct” output. There is an analog filter employed using a single-pole filter/interstage transformer combination. The DAC 4 is a non-oversampling, digital filterless DAC using and a pair of E182CC / 7119 dual triodes in the Class A output stage. The unit under Flashback-Fi was built in 2002 and upgraded at some point thereafter with the addition of a DAC 5 digital board which employs the Analog Devices AD1865 18 bit D/A chip, the same chip found in current production Audio Note DAC 4.1x DACs.

HiFi Bargains: LSA VT-70 Integrated Tube AmplifierĬompared to the recently reviewed CAL Alpha DAC, the Audio Note DAC 4 Signature is a spring chicken.

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