ЦАПы — AFUL ICEBORNE

The ICEBORNE is a portable USB DAC and headphone amplifier from AFUL, built around two Cirrus Logic CS43198 32-bit converter chips. AFUL describes it as the first portable DAC and amplifier with a chassis fully handcrafted from 3D printed resin, and the list price is USD 149.99. It follows the company's earlier SnowyNight dongle, which uses the same pair of converter chips inside a metal body.

Key specs that matter

PCM playback reaches 32-bit at 768 kHz, and DSD is decoded natively up to DSD256. Total harmonic distortion plus noise is quoted below 0.00037%. The signal-to-noise ratio is 125 dB from the 3.5 mm output and 130 dB from the 4.4 mm output, with a noise floor of 1 microvolt and 1.5 microvolts respectively. Output power reaches 140 mW into 16 ohms from the single-ended jack and 300 mW into 16 ohms from the balanced jack, with output levels of 2 V RMS and 4 V RMS. Frequency response covers 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The unit connects over USB Type-C at USB 2.0 and is compatible with the UAC 2.0 class. It measures 54 x 14 x 22 mm and weighs 25.7 g.

Engineering and use context

The shell is moulded from resin with an ice-crack pattern, and its surface carries a lattice motif taken from the windows of Suzhou gardens, finished in a German skin-friendly varnish. AFUL links the resin construction to cool running, so the body does not heat up the way metal dongles can. Inside, the company cites a USB lossless transmission scheme with optimised buffers and clock synchronisation, along with stage-by-stage suppression of power supply ripple and segmentation of ground loops. The body has no volume buttons or indicator lights, which leaves loudness control to the playback device, and there is no microphone support for calls. The box contains a braided USB-C cable made from 6N single-crystal copper with silver plating, a certificate card and a user manual.

Pairing

AFUL states that the ICEBORNE works with most IEMs and headphones through its single-ended and balanced ports. It has been confirmed to run with Android phones, a MacBook Pro, desktop PCs and Android-based digital audio players, while some portable players that do not run Android fail to recognise it. Power is drawn from the host over the USB-C lead.

Alternatives

The AFUL SnowyNight is the brand's other dual CS43198 dongle, housed in machined aluminium with side buttons for volume, gain and filter selection.