ЦАПы — Audio Research DAC 9

The DAC 9 is a standalone digital-to-analogue converter from Audio Research of the United States, launched in 2020, the company's 50th anniversary year, at a US list price of USD 8,500. It was the first component of the Foundation Series and pairs a modern digital section with a vacuum tube output stage, decoding PCM as well as native DSD.

Key specs that matter

Five digital inputs are fitted. The USB 2.0 High-Speed port accepts 44.1 to 384 kHz along with DSD and double-rate DSD, the coaxial RCA, BNC and AES/EBU XLR inputs take 44.1 to 192 kHz, and the Toslink optical input is limited to 44.1 to 96 kHz. Resolution is 24-bit. Frequency response is within 0.15 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and within 3 dB from 6 Hz to 192 kHz. THD plus noise stays below 0.002 percent at 2 V RMS and 1 kHz from the balanced output, signal-to-noise ratio exceeds 114 dB, channel separation is 107 dB and intrinsic jitter is under 10 pS. Maximum output is 3.8 V RMS balanced and 1.9 V single-ended, with output impedance of 500 ohm balanced and 250 ohm single-ended. The chassis measures 483 mm wide, 178 mm high and 394 mm deep, with the handles adding 38 mm at the front, and weighs 14.5 kg.

Engineering and use context

PCM and native DSD travel along separate data paths, so DSD at single and double rate is converted without being interpolated into PCM first. Each channel uses two stereo DAC chips wired in mono, a quad arrangement intended to widen dynamic range and lower noise. A pair of matched 6H30 dual triodes from Sovtek forms a Class A analogue section with zero feedback, and their expected life is around 4,000 hours. Low and high voltage supplies are electronically regulated with line regulation better than 0.01 percent. Fast and slow digital filters can be selected, every input can be upsampled to 352.8 or 384 kHz, and polarity inversion is available. The front panel carries Power, Menu, Option, Enter, Mono and Mute buttons beside a display whose brightness is set from the remote. USB runs asynchronously, with an ASIO driver for Windows, and RS-232 plus an IR input allow system control. Power draw peaks at 60 W, with under 2 W in standby.

Pairing

The unit has no network streaming, wireless, I2S or HDMI connection, so it needs a separate transport, streamer or computer feeding one of its digital inputs. Balanced XLR and single-ended RCA outputs connect to a line-level preamplifier or an integrated amplifier. The full-width case has handles that also act as rack-mount flanges, and a version without handles can be ordered.

Alternatives

The earlier Audio Research DAC8 is the closest alternative, using a pair of 6H30 tubes and four 24-bit converters but limiting USB playback to 192 kHz PCM.