ЦАПы — PS Audio StellarGold DAC

PS Audio announced the StellarGold DAC on 18 December 2023 with a US retail price set at USD 3,999. The converter was designed at the Boulder, Colorado company by Darren Myers, and its front panel carries a gold-plated accent line. Besides conversion it carries a digital volume control, so it can also feed a power amplifier directly and act as a standalone preamplifier in a digital-only system.

Key specs that matter

Each channel is built from four ESS ES9038PRO converter chips working in parallel, and their combined output goes to a discrete class A analogue stage. PCM is accepted up to 768 kHz and DSD up to DSD256 (11.2 MHz), with DoP supported across all inputs. The balanced XLR outputs deliver up to 4 V RMS and the single-ended RCA outputs up to 2 V RMS. The rated signal-to-noise figure exceeds 127 dB and SINAD above 112 dB, both referenced to 4 V RMS, total harmonic distortion plus noise below 0.002% at full scale and a response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 0.1 dB. The chassis measures 43 x 7.6 x 30 cm and weighs 10.2 kg.

Engineering and use context

After the chips comes a discrete, fully balanced hybrid of JFET and bipolar transistors running in class A, which the company describes as a high slew rate, low-feedback design. The whole signal path is balanced. A choice of digital filters is offered in the menu. PS Audio explains the four-chip layout by averaging - noise drops and the individual non-linearities of each converter tend to cancel out. The output stage is direct-coupled, the supply uses multiple low-impedance sections with multi-stage linear regulators, and the clocking is designed for low jitter. Digital connections cover two I2S inputs on HDMI connectors, two coaxial inputs, one optical TOSLink input and a USB Type B port. The formats differ by input - optical takes 16 and 24 bit PCM at 44.1 to 96 kHz, coaxial extends PCM to 192 kHz and handles DoP64, while I2S runs PCM at the full rate and native DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 as well as DoP up to DoP256. Power draw is 30 W, and the unit is built for 100, 120 or 230 V mains at 50 or 60 Hz. Black and silver finishes are offered.

Pairing

The two I2S ports on HDMI connectors suit a transport or streamer from PS Audio that outputs I2S, while USB serves a computer source. With its built-in volume control and balanced output, the DAC can drive a power amplifier with XLR inputs without a separate line stage, or sit ahead of a preamplifier with its level fixed.

Alternatives

PS Audio also offers the DirectStream DAC MK2 as another standalone converter in its range.