Outboard DACs

The Mark Levinson N^o30 can be regarded as the ultimate exposition in digital decoding design at the present state-of-the-art. A matching transport, called the N^o31, will soon be made available, for the designers are anxious not to be found wanting in any department – save, it must be said, that of economy.

Has there been a single defining hi-fi story in the last 20 years? Some might say the rise of streaming services deserves to be the subject of Chapter One when the history books are written. Others may argue for the unexpected resurgence of the vinyl format, or the birth of multiroom audio. And then there’s the arrival of ‘disruptor’ brands that have challenged the status quo with units – typically focused on digital playback – that combine leading-edge functionality with affordable pricing. The likes of Eversolo, FiiO and WiiM all fit this category, and so does Topping, manufacturer of the D900 DAC.

The miniature hi-fi trend continues – those short of space or simply seeking an inconspicuous yet high-performance set-up can rejoice. The new arrivals here come in the form of the £4200 DSS 2 network transport and £4300 DSC mini DAC from French company Métronome, as part of its ‘Digital Sharing’ range that also includes the £4400 DST CD transport.

Swooping down into iFi Audio’s ever-expanding line-up, the £1699 iDSD Valkyrie stakes its claim as the new flagship portable. The brand typically excels at offering oodles of functionality at very reasonable prices, although the £3749 iCAN Phantom desktop headphone amp [HFN Sep ’23] shows it also has form when it comes to high-end head-fi. Nevertheless, and despite boasting a lot of familiar iFi Audio features and technologies, the iDSD Valkyrie is a very different beast – not least because it boasts a gargantuan 20,000mAh battery for extended mobile use.

This DAC, to reveal its full name, is the La Scala MkIII Optologic, the third generation of a design from the Milan-based company whose name has nothing to do with water, but instead stands for ‘Acoustic Quality’. Said to be ‘more than a simple upgrade of our La Scala DAC’, this latest version sells for £7850 in grey Nextel powder-coated aluminium casework with either a black or silver finished aluminium fascia.

A rose by any other name is still a HiFi Rose? Well yes, it can appear that way: since it first arrived on the hi-fi scene, the Korean company has launched a head-spinning barrage of products, all of which can, at first glance, look rather similar. However, what’s been going on is a policy of expanding the appeal of the range upwards, downwards and outwards – the last, for example, by adding its own lineup of amplifiers – and introducing a programme of upgrades along the way..

Hegel is fond of its idiosyncratic product names. In 2023 the Norwegian brand felt confident in christening its new CD player the ‘Viking’, ignoring a model number altogether [HFN Sep ’23]. In the same year it also launched the P30A preamp and H30A power amp [HFN Jun ’23] – separates also known as the Conductor and the Orchestra, respectively. 2024 saw the arrival of the H400 integrated amplifier [HFN Oct ’24], aka the Streamliner due to its networking features, and now we have the new D50, a DAC that Hegel says is ‘affectionately named the Raven’.