AUDIOPHONICS DAP / DAC Sabre ES9018 MK2 100Mhz Odroid C-2 - reviews - There is 1 review.

Piotr
AUDIOPHONICS DAP / DAC Sabre ES9018 MK2 100Mhz Odroid C-2
After very positive impressions with AUDIOPHONICS PGA2310 Preamplifier Volume Control bought some time ago , I have decided to order a/m Network Player AUDIOPHONICS DAP / DAC Sabre ES9018 MK2 100Mhz Odroid C-2 . The Network Player arrived completely assembled with SD card containing Diet Pi software. I have swapped software for my favourite Volumio . Connected to home LAN network . Music Library stored on NAS has been quickly scanned and after some minutes I was ready to listen to the music.
I’m impressed by the quality of sound offered by a/m unit . In my opinion DAC itself represents high end value in terms of reproduction of audio files. I was able to test it with music files up to 24bit/192 Khz. No any problems , no dropouts , no crankling noises from speakers . The HD tracks are played without any side effect very often encountered during playback of HD files. The quality of sound is great . It simply sounds as good as musicians and sound engineers intended during recording. Have tested streaming of audio files from NAS via internal Odroid IS2 bus to DAC (internally) and playing CDs via SPDiF and Toslink inputs into DAC.
My amplifying system consist of AUDIOPHONICS PGA2310 Preamplifier Volume Control and power amplifier. Decided to remove preamplifier from system and drive power amplifier directly using volume control embedded with this Network Player – Sabre DAC. After extensive testing I wasn’t able to distinguish any difference between excellent PGA2310 Preamplifier Volume Control and embedded volume control.
Internal volume control is also supported by very clear, bright, easy readable from distance 4-5m display showing volume value in dB steps.
AUDIOPHONICS DAP / DAC Sabre ES9018 MK2 100Mhz Odroid C-2 gives freedom in choosing of software solutions . Unit offers outstanding sound quality either form Odroid C2 via internal I2S rails and via SPDiF coax inputs and Toslink from external sources. This is topped by excellent volume control supported by clear and bright display.
My only reservation concerns lack of asynchronous USB input . This unit USB uses bus for I2S transmission from Odroid C2 into DAC. But even without this functionality Network Player AUDIOPHONICS DAP / DAC Sabre ES9018 MK2 100Mhz Odroid C-2 offers excellent value given its modest price tag . Highly recommended.
Such products represents right answer against commercial audio industry dominated by over-priced audio components .