CEntrance DACport 24/96 USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier (Playback 34)
True High-End Sound Goes Mobile
August 11th, 2010 -- by Chris MartensSource: Playback
.jpg)
.jpg)
CEntrance may not yet be a household word among audiophiles, but behind the scenes it is known as a key mover and shaker in the world of USB audio. Among other things, the firm’s custom AdaptiWave code, which helps pave the way for 24/96 USB solutions, has been licensed by some of the most serious players in the USB audio universe, including Bel Canto Design, Benchmark Media, Empirical Audio, Lavry and others. But now CEntrance has brought out a range of direct-marketed products of its own, one of the most impressive of which is the DACport ($399.95)—a product I encountered firsthand when I visited the CEntrance booth at Can Jam Chicago-2010 earlier this summer.
Exactly what is the DACport? In simple terms, it is the combination of a self-proclaimed “reference quality” 24-bit/96kHz USB DAC plus a class A solid-state headphone amplifier, but with two very significant twists. First, the DACport is portable (as in, well and truly pocket-sized), and second, it is entirely USB-powered (meaning it requires no batteries whatsoever). If you’re skeptical, as I am, you might expect that USB power limitations would surely limit the DACport’s output capabilities, but the clever CEntrance have found a way to step up normal USB voltages to provide the DACport with an 18 Volt (± 9V) power supply, so that in fact it can gracefully drive quite difficult headphone loads to satisfying levels.
Importantly, CEntrance has worked hard to make the DACport a so-called “class-compliant” USB device (supporting 24/96 resolution levels via both USB 1.1 and 2.0), meaning that it requires no device drivers at all and is a true plug’n’play audio component for Mac, Windows, and Linux systems. Installation doesn’t get much simpler than this.
The result is a tiny little cigar-shaped component that is beautifully made and that offers extremely high sound quality, yet that is portable and that allows you to take top-tier, full-size headphones along with you wherever you want to go. Whether you’re off for a trip to the coffee shop or across the country, the DACport puts true high-end sound at your fingertips as long as you have access to digital audio files via USB.
OVERVIEW
Consider this DAC/Amp if: you like the idea of getting an extremely high quality, high-resolution USB DAC developed by a firm whose core USB audio technologies have been embraced by some of the top players in the industry. Also consider the DACport for its class A, USB-powered headphone amp that offers the terrific combination excellent of top-to-bottom detail, smooth and very fine-grained highs, and awesome bass pitch definition and control. Above all, understand that the DACport’s is incredibly convenient and offers exceptional value for money. So far as we are aware, there is nothing else quite like it on today’s market.
Look further if: you require a headphone amp that offers excellent bass “slam” or that provides very high levels of gain. From a texture and control standpoint, the DACport’s bass is superb, but in terms of bass weight and impact the DACport can (at least on some headphones) sound just slightly lightly balanced. Also, while the DACport can drive even problematic headphone loads to satisfying levels, it cannot always enable them to play loudly (which I personally wouldn’t recommend, though to each his own).
You can find headphones amps (e.g., the HiFiMAN EF5) at about the same price as the DACport that will deliver both bass slam and all the gain you might wish for, but the tradeoff is that they typically aren’t portable products, aren’t USB-powered, don’t incorporate high-end 24/96 DACs, and (in most cases) aren’t made in the U.S.—which the DACport is.
Ratings (relative to comparably priced DAC/Amps)
• Design & Features: 10
• Tonal Balance: 9.5
• Timbral Purity: 10
• Detail & Resolution: 10
• Imaging/Soundstaging: 10
• Dynamics: 9
• Value: 10
FEATURES
Digital Section
• Supported sample sates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96kHz.
• Supported resolution levels: 16- and 24-bit. CEntrance emphasizes that, “Because DACport is a 24-bit device, Windows sends it audio with no changes, ‘bit-for-bit’, at all supported sample rates.”
• Input connections: USB 1.1 or USB 2.0, driverless. CEntrance explains that that “the real challenge was to fit two channels of 24/96 audio into the ‘thin’ USB1.1 pipe, where very little bandwidth is available,” adding that the firm, “employed advanced code optimization techniques to push a lot of digital traffic through a very small data pipe.”
• Communication: Proprietary CEntrance AdaptiWave USB technology.
• Local clock: Uses CEntrance JitterGuard technology—a proprietary two-stage clock management system” to control a “Mil spec clock oscillator with 10 ppm precision.”
• Jitter: A very low 1 ps.
• OS Compatibility: The DACport is a plug’n’play audio device with any Mac, PC or Linux computer.
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1999 - 2011 NextScreen. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
Comments
I'll bet if you did a double blind test of this against all those multithousand dollars dacs, no one would be able to tell the difference.
Chris,
Thank you so much for your insights. I'm wandering how does the sound of CEntrance DACport compare to Emmeline "The Predator". Both are meant to be portable, both are DACs and have headphone amps with plenty of power. The Predator has a battery, the DACport doesn't, but beyond this specifications, how does the sound compare. Which sounds better?
Thanks again!
I'm glad TAS is finally giving some context for a product regarding price and performance. Unfortunately, your google skills seem lacking.
How about comparing to the HRT Music Streamer II USB Dac that is also 24b/96k and usb 1.1/2.0 capable? I have one and think it's sound quality is first rate and it only costs $150 for the "II" base model.
You may say "well there's no headphone amp" but you go on to compare the CEntrance to a full integrated amp that is far outside the product category of the CEntrance and the Music Streamer so I don't think I am off-base with my comparison.
I use my HRT Music Streamer II connected through a $70 TC Electronic Level Pilot passive volume control (very cool product TAS should check out!) into powered KRK Rokit 5 desktop monitors. I was amazed at the immediate sound improvement with this signal path. It was like I bought new speakers. MS II ($150) plus Level Pilot ($70) cost - $220. Quality of sound - priceless.
-CB
Hi ctbarker,
'Just wanted to point out that, while I often write for TAS, my review of the DACport was done under the auspices of TAS' sister digital publication, Playback (Playback specializes in desktop audio/headphones/small audio systems, etc.).
I also thought I'd mention that my google skills aren't as bad as you might think. But what those google skills tell me is that my colleague Hi-Fi+ Editor Alan Sircom has already done a thorough review of the HRT Music Streamer II and II+, so that I didn't think it necessary to revisit those products in Playback.
For your enjoyment, here's the link to Alan Sircom's review: http://www.avguide.com/review/hrt-streamer-ii-and-streamer-ii-hi-fi-72
Best, Chris Martens
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
iBasso Cobra D10 Compact DAC and Headphone Amp has been available since early 2009. I have no idea how good it is. But it has one huge advantage. It is portable in real terms... While the DacPort needs your computer (you cannot power it with your iPod) the iBasso is battery powered. It has a Wolfson DAC chipset. They have many models, at half the price of the DacPort. Again, until we have comparisons to check their sound out, we just don't know.
See it here: http://www.ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=39
On nearly every score, you seem to prefer the HiFiMAN EF5. And yet you recommend the CEntrance DACport. In theory at least, a truly effective DAC should convert the digital USB signal from a computer into a much better analog signal than the rudimentary conversion that a laptop can natively perform; that's why many of us insist on (and pay for) a DAC to improve the output of our iPod. But you seem to have found no real advantage to the DACport besides its portability and ability to be powered through its USB connection. Is the presence of a good DAC worth nothing? Or does the CEentrance not have a particularly good DAC?
Hi Jeffrey,
As I see things, the HiFiMAN EF5 and CEntrance DACport are very, very different products.
The HiFiMAN EF5 is one of my favorite reasonably priced headphone amps. But note: it is a two-piece, AC-powered, tube-powered unit that is intended for desktop applications or for use in conjunction with high-end audio systems. It is NOT portable, and it does NOT contain a DAC of any kind.
The DACport is really two products in one, both of them ingeniously configured to be USB-powered (i.e., no AC power supply is needed). The DACport is, then, an extremely high-quality 24/96 USB DAC married to a very high-quality class A headphone amplifier, and it is portable, though it does need to be used with a laptop that provides full-fledged USB ports. As agb points out below, the DACport is not set up to be driven directly from an iPod (because the iPod is not, so far as I am aware, set up to provide power to an external device via USB).
Looking only at the headphone amplifier sections of the products, my nod would go to the HiFiMAN EF5; it sounds terrific. But taken as a whole, there's no denying the superior versatility (and portability) of the DACport.
To answer your two questions, yes, the presence of a good DAC is worth a lot (a whole lot in the case of the DACport), and yes, the CEntrance DAC is a very good one indeed. These are two of the reasons I recommended the product. The portability of the DACport is really compelling, too, and I like the fact that the USB interface cable is also the de facto power cable (I can't speak for you, by I find it's nice not to have to bring along a wall-wart-type power supply for the DACport when I travel).
'Hope this clarifies things somewhat.
Best, Chris Martens
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
Hi Chris,
Many thanks for your clarification. I've happily followed you for years in TAS. So perhaps you might answer:
The earphone output of the iPod is obviously analog and cannot benefit from a DAC. Various gadgets such as the Squeezebox are said to intercept the iPod's output as a digital stream, before it goes through the iPod's internal DAC. This is advantageous because the iPod's DAC is said to be of low quality. So,
1. Is this the case? How much better is the DAC in, say, the DACport? Or in the Squeezebox, for that matter.
2. Is the iPod's digital stream of sufficient quality to merit spending money on it?
3. If so, how can one get tap the iPod's digital data (through the oblong socket at the bottom) to use the DACport with it--the way the Squeezebox (and perhaps the Wadja) do?
4. Is the DACport's utility limited to headphones or can its analog output be sent to my (powered) desktop speakers? Or even to a large old stereo system?
Many thanks in advance, Chris.
Jeffrey Steingarten
Hi Chris,
Many thanks for your clarification. I've happily followed you for years in TAS. So perhaps you might answer:
The earphone output of the iPod is obviously analog and cannot benefit from a DAC. Various gadgets such as the Squeezebox are said to intercept the iPod's output as a digital stream, before it goes through the iPod's internal DAC. This is advantageous because the iPod's DAC is said to be of low quality. So,
1. Is this the case? How much better is the DAC in, say, the DACport? Or in the Squeezebox, for that matter.
2. Is the iPod's digital stream of sufficient quality to merit spending money on it?
3. If so, how can one get tap the iPod's digital data (through the oblong socket at the bottom) to use the DACport with it--the way the Squeezebox (and perhaps the Wadja) do?
4. Is the DACport's utility limited to headphones or can its analog output be sent to my (powered) desktop speakers? Or even to a large old stereo system?
Many thanks in advance, Chris.
Jeffrey Steingarten
agb in his comment says that the iPod Touch USB connection cannot supply needed power to the CEntrance DACport 24/96 DAC/Headphone Amplifier. Is this true? If so, the CEntrance would be of little use to me. Please clarify this point. Thanks.
Hi wstallsmith,
I believe agb is correct. The DACport is not set up to be driven directly from an iPod (because the iPod is not, so far as I am aware, set up to provide power to an external device via USB).
But note: if you like the general idea of the DACport but need something more iPod-friendly, watch for my upcoming Playback review of the iQube V2 DAC/headphone amplifier from the Dutch firm Qables. The iQube V2 provides both an analog input and a USB DAC input, and it is a battery-powered unit but with an interesting twist. Specifically, the unit is set up so that its battery is charged via its USB cable--not from a wall-wart-type power supply. Once charged up, however, the unit will continue to run even if the USB cable is disconnected. Thus, you can use it with an iPod, or feed it digital audio data directly from a computer. Pretty cool concept, no? Thus, the iQube V2 sort of "splits the difference" with the CEntrance approach.
Best, Chris Martens
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
Chris, many thanks for your response. I await your review of the Dutch device, which looks as if might answer my needs exactly. I hope that it might also be published in TAS, to which I have subscribed for years.
'm VERY excited to be a part of the CEntrance team now (have joined them as director of marketing)!! I had reviewed their DACPort myself, and loved it - plus: This review from Chris helped seal the deal for me!! NICE one Chris, as ALWAYS!!!!
Michael Mercer
The Daily Swarm
Positive Feedback
Hi Mike,
Heartfelt congratulations on your new position with CEntrance. The DACport is quite an impressive component, both in terms of sound **and** build quality. That latter aspect is sometimes tricky to convey in a review, but it's the sort of thing you really notice when you live with the product for a time. (You find yourself asking questions like, "Is this about what I would get if, say, an aerospace company decided to build a portable DAC/amp."). 'Works for me.
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
Thanks Chris!!
I'm looking forward to keeping in close touch and getting you a CEntrance DACmini PX (DACmini plus a 25w per channel amp - which is voiced to work with these new CEntrance co-planar/coaxial desktop speakers (Masterclass 2502) I'm checking out right now - seeing if they pass my own acid test - thus far so good)!!!! As you know, I won't work for a company if I don't believe i their products - I'm not that good a salesman!!
Michael Mercer
The Daily Swarm
Positive Feedback