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Audio Note DAC Kit 2.1 Level A and B
Digital-to-Analog Converter
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Click here if you are unsure about what a DAC is or its role in your hi-fi system.
Welcome to the DAC 2.1 Level A and B product page.
Click here if you wish to view the DAC 3.1 page instead.
We are very excited to bring you the long awaited DAC kit 2.1. It takes DAC kits to a never before heard of level of performance.
Here are some of the things that make this DAC kit a clear cut above the rest:
- Digital and analog sections both have dedicated power supplies.
- Our highly praised M2 power supply is used for the analog section.
- Dual 6922 (individually heated) analog board.
- No analog filtering (analog filtering has been totally removed).
- I/V transformers to maximize energy transfer in the digital to analog section coupling (standard with Level B).
- USB digital input option.
- Signature digital board available with Audio Note Digital Interface Transformer and Black Gates (standard with Level B).
- Digital board comes ready assembled.
- Highly configurable with a great range of options and upgrades available.
Before we go on, the DAC Kit 2.1 actually comprise of several different base versions. The most basic version will be referred to as 'Level A', followed by 'Level B' etc.
Available upgrades for Level A include Tantalum Resistors, AN copper coupling capacitors, Signature Digital Board*, additional Black Gates for Digital Power Supply.
Available upgrades for Level B include Tantalum resistors, Black Gates and USB.
* The Signature Digital Board includes an Audio Note Digital Interface Transformer (with toroidal core made from very thin laminate spun 80% nickel strip) and PK Black Gates.
A USB interface is also available for all configurations of the DAC Kit 2.1 - please enquire for more details about this.
Later, we will also be offering upgrade kits for those with the DAC Kit 1.1 who wish to upgrade their DAC's to the new version.
The M2 power supply is taken from the Audio Note finished products line. This uses the AudioNote Trans 0103 Mains transformer/Choke combination with 6X5 for tube rectification and the ECL82 for regulation. This powers a high quality, and specially developed, 6922 SRPP Analog output section.
Also, as with all the very latest Audio Note DAC's, the DAC Kit 2.1 comes without an analog filter in all its available versions.
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Anatomy of the DAC Kit 2.1 - Level B version
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Signature Digital Board and USB Input Options
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The signature Digital Board includes PK Black Gate capacitors and an Audio Note Digital Interface Transformer (with toroidal core made from very thin laminate spun 80% nickel strip). Digital Interface Transformers are used in all Audio Note's finished product DAC's from their Level 1 range upward.
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General Specification
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Switchable between any two inputs from the following three choices:
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Single-ended stereo outputs via Left/Right RCA sockets |
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1.3 K |
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2.5V RMS both channels |
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15" wide, 16" back to front, 5.75" height including height from floor |
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Inputs and Outputs
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There is one RCA input, one XLR input, and one USB input (USB Option fitted). Any two can be made active and switched between using the switch located below the RCA input.
Two RCA, line level outputs (left and right) are shown on top of each other.
The analog and digital sections each have their own power switch so that you can leave one powered up while the other is off.
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Level B's I/V Transformers
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The picture on the right shows how the I/V transformers are clamped and mounted with spacers
The I/V transformers were specially designed by AudioNote engineering to provide an affordable yet highly effective transformer for the DAC2.1 Kit. I/V Transformers are used to maximize the energy transfer during the Current-to-Voltage phase of the conversion; resulting in increased dynamics.
An extract from the article 'Why is Audio Note's 1x oversampling unique?' by Andy Grove describes the use and advantages of the I/V transformer:
The output of most resistor ladder DAC chips is in the form of a current rather than a voltage. There are many ways to convert the current into a voltage but the most commonly used system is that of an op-amp connected as an I to V converter. This system requires the use of a high degree of feedback, and as a result there are problems associated with it. One of those is internal slew rate limiting of the op-amp itself. The rate of change of current at the output of even an audio DAC is very fast indeed. Even modern fast op-amps will slew limit internally and that affects sound quality. Some engineers have found that using extremely fast op-amps improves the sound quality, but we have completely sidestepped the issue by using a transformer I/V system. The transformer not only provides an I to V function but the way it is used in our latest DACs transfers maximum energy from the DAC chip itself. This in itself reduces overshoot and ringing and because the system is slightly overdamped the rise time is reduced to an acceptable rate as well.
The full article can be seen in the Related Links section below.
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General Support
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We have included a 1KHz test tone WAV file here that may be useful when you are building your DAC Kit. It allows you to feed the signal into your DAC so that test voltages can be measured.
Click here to play the file.
To download the file to your computer, right-click on the link and select 'Save Target As...' (Internet Explorer) or 'Save Link As...' (Firefox) from the pop-up menu.
Hi Brian,
I completed the DAC 2.1B today, used around 10 hours to complete! Now enjoy the music! One word to say, wonderful! Very musical and dynamic, powerful high and low frequency! I can't heard from my DIY TDA1543 DAC that I built before, also the low level dynamic is excellent! World class DAC! Highly recommend for everyone!
Thanks!
Regards
Kenneth Lau
Amazing, when I first turned on the DAC I was really dissapointed, it was like looking through a tube in the audio sense. 5 hours later and I am blown away, it's like hearing my music collection for the first time.
What an awesome kit, thanks!
Mike Engledew
DAC2.1 Level B is sounding fantastically well! The best source i've heared yet.
Pierre Murray
"My kit is sounding just incredible right now."
Pierre Murray
..."Using the USB connection causes no fatigue at all, you can listen for hours and hours. The sound quality of fine recorded Jazz and classical music is truly wonderful and organic sounding."...
| Paul Lederberg |
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"Now that I've had some time living with the DAC 2.1B, I can say it is a terrific performer. It has the ability to get out of the way of the music and is very transparent in the sense that it conveys only what the source is feeding to it and doesn't seem to infer any of it's own personality to what is heard. This has become clear from using several different sources with it.
I'm really impressed with the 6922 output stage as well. It is really clean and clear, and homongenous as well , i.e. with no single attribute of the music being emphasized. Those EH 6922's are really well-balanced also, or is it just the character of the output stage that the brand of tube isn't critical?"
Frank Egan
...ideally suited to the acoustic blues that I spend most of my listening time with...
...Of interest to the kit builder is the quality of components and support; Both are absolutely first rate and I would have no hesitation in recommending this kit to anyone else...
...Overall though, it's good fun to build and is very easy on the ears... Isn't that what it's all about? Ten out of Ten.
| Jim Watson |
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My DAC is working wonderfully; I had noticed on my first 100 hours burn a big stretch on frequency levels. After 200 hours burn I experienced many of details coming true, The final tests revealed a fine tune on tonal balance.
Marcello Lasalvia
"The DAC 2.1 is ready! Worked with no problems from the beginning absolutly quite! Then I took him 1 day without interruption in electricity supply. The first aural impression has exceeded my expectations.
After 200h I will make an audio report.
The Manual is very good and easy to use."
Many hours later...
"Unbelievably (from) a CD so much music. I understand the world no longer. I know many brands Conrad Johnson, Audio Research and many other expensive audio equipment. I have never heard music so natural, not from CDs!"
Heinz Gabriel
Hope everything is well with you and the kit business. I just got a used transport, a PS Audio Lambda, for my DAC 2.1 instead of my DVD player and it makes a world of difference. I just love this DAC, it has that analogue just-want-to-hear-more quality that is so hard to get in digital, even more than my old Sonic Frontiers cd player.
Peter Guarino
I've been 'burning in' the DAC all week, guess 170 hrs now, it sure is sweet. I REALLY like it , a lot, and am so glad I bought it and built it. Definitely worth the money, CD never sounded so smooth and lifelike. Have to admit I was a little skeptical, but I greatly prefer listening with the DAC
Randy Morgan, Atlanta
Firstly I am totally blown away by the Dac 2.1 kit, it has easily surpassed my expectations...
Adam Stanhope
The kit is brilliant - I finished it today and it all works extremely well.
It is early days but it does sound very good - extremely refined and detailed.
Kind regards and thank you for such a truly excellent product.
Adam Stanhope
I took delivery of the DAC 2.1 kit yesterday and got around to unpacking it. I must say that this is the most well organized kit I have encountered. I was shocked to see all the wire actually cut and twisted. Visual inspection of everything reveals it is of the highest quality. Thank you.
Charles Southwick
Brilliant! Just stunning. Fired up and working with all instruments naturally present and detailed and smooth.
Thanks so much for your help.
Richard Carter, UK
The DAC went together very well. The manual is well though out, easy to read, and the pictures are a great tool for the beginner. The component and build quality are equally excellent. All in all a superb kit.
Michael B. Haener
I swear that I can hear passages of music that I have never heard before on some of my cd's, it's uncanny!
Brian Pyplacz
...As for the sound, it's noticeably different from my Arcam CD player, which I am now using as a transport. I am struck by how much the bass has developed and tightened, and how the sound-stage has grown - resulting in my classical recordings sounding more balanced and realistic...
Mark Leece
...Since I am not a techno head, I started off slowly and read the manual 5 times before I actually put the first screw through the chassis. The manual is an excellent document with colour photos and detailed explanations. I guess I had been a pain to Brian as I kept emailing him about all kinds of questions and uncertainties and he kept his promise by answering every single one of those “stupid questions”. Within 2 weeks, I had the kit completed and I can still remember the joy when it was first switched on. It worked the first time and the sound was just astonishing - so much more information coming out from the DAC and the sound stage now is much much open. I can say it's even 200% better than my friend's DAC 1.1 (in my opinion). It's probably one of the best investments I’ve made in my continual search for sonic improvements in the last tens years...
| Jackson Hui, Australia |
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...The result is really unbelievable. The sound is extremely homogeneous on the entire spectrum. The basses are deep enough and all the details which give live to music are present. The instruments are sounding as they are near you. You will be surprised by the realism without any exaggeration, the transparency, the dynamism and the perfect special localisation of the instruments. The natural sound of the DAC is very close to vinyl sound. I am convinced that this level of sound quality is very difficult or impossible to obtain with classical over sampling methods which introduce jitter and loose of information’s with their complicated filtering methods. You had to spend at least 3-4 times more to reach an equivalent result. I am now in the phase of discovering of all my old CDs and I have really the impression as they were new ones...
| Rifat Gürsel, France |
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...The soundstage is plenty wide and deep enough but what really comes through for me is the added space between instruments and vocalists. This allows the true details and nuances to be heard. What had always seemed to be unintelligable vocal passages now came clearly into focus. This also applies to the instrumentalists. One can hear more of the details and energy that they put into the performance. The dynamics are also surprising as one listens to oft heard recordings and gets stunned by how much dynamic range there really is. Part of this is due to the very low noise floor and "black" background that the music has as it's base.
This DAC allowed me to hear more layering in older jazz recordings which were sometimes recorded with bass and drums in one channel making it difficult to follow individual players. Try Bill Evans' "Live at the Village Vanguard" to get a sense of this. You should be able to hear the players at different depths of the stage instead of on top of one another...
...The overall sense that listening to this unit gives me is that the performers are not just performing, they are performing for you. I cannot count how many times I have been listening and have had an involuntary reaction in my gut to passages I have heard a hundred times before. There are some discs that have languished in my collection that have found new life with this unit. If you haven't found yourself listening to a CD from start to finish for a while, skipping all but your favorite cuts, give this DAC a try. It is not the music you are tired of, it may be the presentation of it. Just be sure that you don't have to get up early the next morning, it may be morning before you finally stop listening...
| Tony Landry |
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...After completing the kit, it worked the first time I plugged it in. That alone was amazing to me. But the sound was astounding. The single biggest improvement in sound I have ever experienced from a single component. My Spendor SP 100s have the imaging I always expected. Detail was far greater, tonality richer without being muddy.
There was an aspect beyond the specific description of the sound. It had a natural quality, harmonic. The dimensionality was unlike I have experienced before. Quite amazing – maybe I could have heard this much sooner if I had tripled my investment years before… I am a hopeless tinker but I have had no interest in modifying the DAC 2.1 (I purchased all the extras)...
| Richard Rose - Glendale, CA |
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...The Audio Note DAC Kit 2.1 is a world beater - even before it has fully broken in. It is, by far, the best digital that I have ever heard in my system and manages to pull out a huge amount of detail from those CD's as well as creating an extra sense of space and involvement within the music...
| Paul Brookes - UK |
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...I am very happy that I decided to get DAC 2.1. It is an excellent value as I feel it outperforms many other much more expensive "high -end" digital front-end products that I auditioned in the past couple of years. It is the product that I feel I can use and enjoy for a long time to come not only because of its performance but also because the kit offers many opportunities for DIY upgrade. When I feel that the sound can be improved, I can just upgrade to the next level with a minimal cost for the parts...
| Isaku Higa |
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