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Wyred 4 Sound DAC 1 SIMPLY THE BEST SUB-£1000 DAC One of the first commercially available DACs to deploy the exciting new ESS 32-bit 'Sabre Buffalo' chip that set the DIY community alight a few years ago, Wyred 4 Sound's all-new DAC1 redefines the capabilities of a sub-£1K DAC, genuinely competing with converters twice the price. At this price, it's untouchable. The ES9018 chip at the heart of the new DAC1 and DAC2 is noted for it's astonishing dynamism and resolution: whereas most low-end digital-to-analog converters suffer from what has been described as 'conservative voicing', or a subjective sense of 'digital-ness', the DAC1 promises to open up a whole new world of vividly pure musical experience. Dual optical, dual coaxial and single 24/96 USB inputs are present on the DAC1, along with single-ended and balanced outputs. Internally, a carefully designed linear linear power supply and all-new Time Domain Jitter Elimination stages ensure that the the 500kHz oversampling 32-bit chip is liberated to fulfill its potential. Available in black or silver: please specify at time of order . . . . The new DACs epitomise the W4S philosophy: visually, it's all business; no frills. Financially, it's all about delivering uncompromised specification to audiophiles without the loaded prices: US customers source direct from the manufacturer; European and UK customers buy at lower prices than importing direct. The sticker price buys you technology, not marketing. And because that makes the good folks at Wyred 4 Sound happy, Rick and EJ get to spend more time in the lab cooking up even cooler stuff. We believe that Wyred 4 Sound products offer unparalleled value for money and simply cannot be bettered without spending much, much more. On all Wyred 4 Sound products, we offer UK and European customers a 'cheaper than import' price guarantee. Tired of 'rip-off Europe' policies and greedy middle men, we ensure that the price you pay is always less than the landed cost of direct private import. And, of course, your can save a further 1.5% by avoiding credit for the ultimate in purchasing efficiency! RECOMMENDED BUNDLE OFFERS: > Wyred 4 Sound DAC1 + 1m LAT USB cable: £950 TURNKEY SYSTEM 1: £2595 REVIEWS: “Gobsmacked. Something happens in the presence of greatness. Like watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Or meeting Miles Davis. Like listening to an old Furtwängler recording, staring at a Monet or Renoir . . . basking in the glow of a supermodel (Elle McPherson smiled at me once). Okay, we all have different ideas of nirvana but the Wyred4Sound DAC 1 is right up there. Did you ever visit a recording studio in the days of tape? The W4S DAC 1 is the closest thing I’ve heard to master tape. It’s totally present, immediate and free of editorializing. It just is. All the discs—Food, Scofield and Petty’s Mojo—sounded different yet each was exposed for all its worth, color, defects and glory. The splatzy, at times boxy, sound of Petty’s voice was there as was the large-scale field of drums, bass and guitars. Every fine detail was in high relief but there was no sense of sounds being tipped up or of one frequency being stressed over another. Very clean, extremely dynamic and present. No coloration, no mush, no fuss, just immediacy and a sense of true recording reality. Fine micro detail, fine macro detail, great body, constant revelations. I heard minutiae entirely unrevealed by the other DACs on test, always tactile and direct. The idea of voicing seemed irrelevant. Wyred4Sound had moved on. The sound was balanced. I felt I was hearing all the music. Every tip of Tom’s tongue was there good and bad. I dialled in Fairport Convention’s "Fotheringay" for fun. The beautiful stereo-panned guitars and Sandy Dennis’ bittersweet vocals were perfection. The Food disc was instantly more engaging, its percussion now reflecting real physical instruments in space and their melodic or rhythmic lines were easier to follow and enjoy. This is the final DAC. You need no other. This is the sound of the recordings you love. Perhaps better internal parts make for its powerful presentation, richness, authority, cleanness and overwhelming detail retrieval. But it’s not 'detail', it’s not 'resolution'. It’s hyper reality of the kind the musician hears before his music is transformed from sweat and blood into product. I don’t understand how Wyred4 Sound managed but they’re holding up the bar mighty high while we enjoy the music.” – Ken Micallef, 6 Moons "I received my DAC-1 yesterday and have to say, WOW! Even right out of the box it blew away my highly regarded DAC! My wife and I have already enjoyed detail in our music we hadn't heard prior. The bass is tight and strong, the timbre is smoother, accurate and non fatiging. The emotion of the music can be felt as if we were there with the writer. We are truly rediscovering our music! We can't wait to finish the break-in 'cause it's only going to get better!! I now own two SX-1000s, an STP-SE, and a DAC-1 and couldn't be happier. Many thanks to the W4S team!" – Dave R (April 25, 2010) “Got my Wyred 4 Sound DAC1 Monday morning (very well packaged, thanks) . . . I hooked it up by coaxial Digital Out to my 7 Year old Sony SCD-XA777-ES player, all I can say is a big WOW! I'm very impressed by the clarity, sonics, and smoothness, it sounds a lot more real, analogue . . . this DAC is absolutely incredible . . . truly very high end, at a very fantastic price. I can't wait to hear how it improves over the next couple of hundred hours of use.” – Paul H (April 28, 2010). “With hardly any break in time on the DAC-1, I was impressed. Very extended on both ends, little to no coloration, excellent attack and decay, with huge dynamics. What impressed me the most was the amount of slam! Bass was powerful and tight, never sloppy. Instruments had the right amount of air around them. And the soundstage was huge, very tall with plenty of width and depth. The Wyred 4 Sound DAC-1 appears to be all I could ask for from a DAC. Excellent extension, attack and decay, huge dynamics, little to no coloration, and without a hint of harshness.” – Audiocircle Forum Member (May 15, 2010) “I have had the DAC for about a month now (250 hours on it). I have it feeding to a W4S STP-SE and then to some W4S SX-1000 Amps from there to Aerial 9 Speakers. It is one of the most detailed and pure pieces of audio equipment I have owned . . . there dosen't seem to be any kind of sibilance or those horrible SSSSSSS normally associated with DAC's and a lot of CDP's. This is the first DAC that sounds better to me than any of my CDP's and I'm comparing to (Ayon, McIntosh, Bryston, Arcam, Emotiva (a seriously underated CDP), Sony, Denon and Yamaha all their top of the line equipment). This DAC, at this price point, is the steal of today's audio indusry. This thing is just Nice. I have never purchased a piece of W4S equipment that didn't perform above it's expectations. A lot of those listed above DID NOT.” – Glen E (May 19, 2010) |
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