USB DONE RIGHT: Two magic boxes that let computer audio ...

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T Listening Feedback Room Eximus DP1 o begin with, what is it? Is it a preamplifier? Yes. Is it a digital-to-analog converter? Definitely. A headphone amplifier? That too, but first things first. Let us discuss the often talked-about wife acceptance factor. The very concept whiffs of sexism, but it is an undeniable fact that the ranks of audiophiles count a lot more men than women. This can seem to be an enigma, because the ranks of music lovers include at least as many women as men. Whatever the reason, it is usually men who choose the music system, but in many (most?) cases it is the Which brings us to the Eximus DP1, perhaps the handsomest audio consumer product we have ever reviewed. Even Albert Simon’s superb cover picture can barely prepare you for the astonishing look of this product. Built from a single block of cast aluminum, it made us think of the MacBook Pro laptop, which is also cast aluminum, but with a Zen touch that goes beyond. Look at the holes that allow heat dispersion. Look at the amazing pattern of leaves cut into the top, but don’t miss the two wayward leaves that are just above the volume control. And speaking of the volume con- woman who has laid out the furniture trol, you just know that knob didn’t and designed the décor. That the two come out of anyone’s parts bin. may clash hardly needs explaining. Things are not always as they seem, A woman living alone will almost of course. Just as some “Japanese,” certainly choose a smaller, more discreet “German” and “Korean” cars are actu- system than a solitary man might, but ally designed in Europe and the US, so the problem is less one of size than of the DP1 is from the California studio design. True, some of the best loud- of Alex Rasmussen, who has also done speakers and amplifiers are large, often cosmetics for such companies as Ayre obtrusively so, but then grand pianos are and Constellation Audio. It’s truly a large too, yet it’s almost unimaginable global world! that anyone would say, “It’s too big, I The Eximus is from South Korea’s don’t want that in my house.” April Music, and we have run across It’s never too big unless it’s ugly. the name before. An Eximus CD player, 42 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine with a full set of digital inputs, was reviewed in UHF No. 86. CD players are leaving the stage, however, and standalone DAC’s are replacing them. Choose your source: a CD transport (if you can find one), your CD player (if you still have one), or your computer, with or without some sort of interface accessory. The DP1 (the initials possibly stand for “digital preamp”) fits right in. It is now increasingly common for preamplifiers, amplifiers and even receivers to have digital inputs, though in many cases they’re an afterthought that might better not have been thought of at all. Fortunately that’s not always true. The Benchmark DAC1 HDR, which was on the cover of our last issue, is primarily a DAC (and a good one), which includes a preamp. This one is the other way around, though that’s a distinction without a difference. Although the emphasis is on digital, there are two analog inputs. One of them, unfortunately, is wasted in our view, by being placed on the front panel. Does anyone still use a portable player as a source? The rear panel, shown on the next page, includes a good set of interfaces, including one you may not have seen before, labelled I 2 S, which stands for Integrated Interchip Sound. This link is for connecting a disc drive to a DAC, and it separates the data and clock streams for lower jitter. Though it was developed in 1986, it is rarely used. PS Audio uses it for its own transport and DAC, but this particular connector is proprietary. April Music does make a transport. The front panel has the analog input already mentioned, a headphone jack, and a source selector. A tiny LED indicates the source resolution, glowing red (44.1 or 48 kHz sampling rate), yellow (88.2 or 96) or green (176.4 or 192). We were surprised to find that the DP1 doesn’t come with a remote control, an omission that could be a dealbreaker for some. Because the DP1 is multitalented, we needed to do more than one evaluation, in order to answer the questions we (and you, probably) have.
The optical connection Up until now one of our major digital sources had been an Apple Airport Express, streaming music from a distant Mac Pro and linked to our Moon 300D reference DAC with an optical cable. The first test, therefore, was to compare the DP1’s converter to the Moon using this same connection method. We chose two recordings. The rest of this review of the Eximus DP1 can be found in the complete print or electronic version of UHF No. 92. Order the print issue from www.uhfmag. com/IndividualIssue.html (it’s case sensitive). Or subscribe at www.uhfmag. com/Subscription.html. The electronic issue is available from Maggie at www. uhfmag.com/maggie.html. We now continue in imitation Latin. Re facin henis nisl iustrud enim aute duis dignisc iliscipissi. Tum veliquat ulpute dolore volore facipsum esequat. Ut lan veliquat praese facilit lutpat nibh euguero ea feuguer suscing enismod dolorero odiamco rtiscil lamconsequat wismod modion vel ulputat. Utpation utpat augait am, core tisi. An hendreet nonsenim dit, ver sustrud dunt utet autem quam, sis augue magniam consequat adipis adiam, consed te ming esent loborper iure commodio commodit lum zzriure vullumsan henim iustin utatum vel ilis aut loborperilla feum do odolore commodolore dolore dolesto eu feu feu feuipsu scipit ad molorem ex ero odolobore dolobortie digna conullaor si bla consecte et exerit lum alismolore ming esent vullamc onullan henisl ute core vent volor si. Sumsandre con hent ilit nim nis accum nissequam ero eraestrud dolore ese dolore dolutat, volobore diat praestismod te facilla facil inci blan et aliquis ciliquiscil dignis am quis niamet nisse eniamet, sis nibh eraesen dionum zzrilla feuipis modolut adip euis dolessi. Iquametuerat nullamc ommolore con utatuer ostinit nos eugiam nos adionsed euisi ex eril ilismod te te mod et adionse quissent aliquisi te doluptat ing enit ea alis accumsan velessectem dolorpe rostrud dipis nonsenisi. Iril iure molobor sustismod molore mincilit acing er accum vulput in utat, quat ad eril doloreet lan euismol ortinim digna autpat lobor sectetum quamconulla commy niation sequatie el ip ea augait, consequam adionsectet alis ex exer sum zzriure eugiam iriurerit ad eros dit alit num del ullutpat, sisisl et et volorper si blam, quatem init, consequi bla coreet, vent iriusci bla feu feuipis modolore dolesse conulla feuis adit laor ilit lutpatin el in velisci ncilla facinibh eugait adipit nibh et nis nonsed magna feummod do coreros eugait il ex eugait wisi ex et num quisim aut atum del del dolobore eros endigniatue dolor secte ex eugiat. Illa corperostrud tisi. Rud doloreet wis alit ut lum in heniscidunt aut ing et lorper sequis non ut ilit lore facilis sequat. Duis ad dolor adiam quatiscidunt praestie er ametummod tat. Agna feuipisl essequis accum in utat. Andigna feuguer sustrud dolore conum ex et enisit prat vulputat iure dunt verit lutpat nullam velesto commolortie dolorpe riurem zzrit, senit nonsequis Summing it up… Brand/model: Eximus DP1 Price: C$3295 Size (WDH): 20.8 x 29 x 6.3 cm Inputs: six digital, two analog Most liked: Re facin henis nisl iustrud enim aute duis dignisc iliscipissi. Tum veliquat ulpute dolore volore facipsum esequat. Ut lan veliquat praese facilit lutpat nibh euguero ea feuguer suscing enismod. nibh er sum nim aliquis at accumsa ndrercipsum vent nullam, venis nim ipisim irit num euisis nisl ing elit wis adionullamet praestrud tie consequatue faccum autet, quis aliquat irilismolore exerat acidunt dolesto ex er incilis essim numsandrem verosto eummy nim velendre er ing euis nonulla faccumm olortionulla feuipsum eu facipis cipit, volobore erillaor in utpatie vel iustisl dipisim zzrillutetue corpera esendit ipisi blandrer susci te magna feugait vel ut iniam, velis amcore facilisl erit venit augait lute tem ing ercilit, velisci liquatuer il utatue consequat. Cil et veraessisl utat, sed tio dionsendipit nit aliquisi eu facincidunt lobor iure do ero dignit ullaortion ute feugiat. Lorem eum iurer iure tatue modigna feugait eros nisl utatum ip el ex eu feui eu facipsusto ea faccums andignis dit illaore do odit ilis dipit do euis eui te feugait niamcom modolor perilluptat. To commy nim iustio duipis num nostrud magna facip euis exerosto dolor sequipit augait lor se commodo lobore dolore conse conumsandit aliquisci tet lore tio eugait ad magnit utpat la feum nisl exercil lutatio consed tatem zzrilit aliquam quat utpat wisit praestie feuisim num do od exer augait duisse et lumsan etuercilisit nonsectet wissi blamcon utpat verostio et wisi tetueros nos autat lutat prat, commy nullamet adip esto delis dignisl dolorpe rcilis eum eu feu feugiam zzrit utat, con elenisi. Commod dolestrud te te euis alis niamconsed eummod te tet ing exerili ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 43 Listening Room
Page 1 and 2: No. 92 CAN $6.49 / US $7.69 USB DON
Page 3 and 4: Issue No. 92 Cover story: It’s be
Page 5 and 6: THE ONLY GOOD DOG EARS ARE… …no
Page 7 and 8: A note of thanks for your valuable,
Page 9 and 10: 1) Mac Mini ---> Optical TOSLINK ca
Page 11 and 12: about 147 ohms. I was expecting rou
Page 13 and 14: ucts. And finally if the binding po
Page 15 and 16: et amet lore molobor percipit in en
Page 17 and 18: attend press events, some with free
Page 19 and 20: The rest of this article can be fou
Page 21 and 22: Tum veliquat ulpute dolore volore f
Page 23 and 24: erilla adignim num nim am, commod e
Page 25 and 26: Q. What is a home theatre system? A
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Page 29 and 30: have to be careful with it. I regul
Page 31 and 32: Kandy K2 “A neat balancing act, c
Page 33 and 34: Reflex speakers, the most common ki
Page 35 and 36: augait iriliquisim velesse quatet a
Page 37 and 38: tat, suscips ustrud tie vel dolore
Page 39 and 40: equipment stands are wider than mos
Page 41: THE ACOUSTIC COLLECTION: This is th
Page 45 and 46: Get UHF from Maggie on your desktop
Page 47 and 48: using the Atlas Opus (now discontin
Page 49 and 50: Conclusions That we would recommend
Page 51 and 52: as the Mavros, but it’s stuck on
Page 53 and 54: tant, but then they are usually pos
Page 55 and 56: INTERCONNECTS ATLAS HYPER SYMMETRIC
Page 57 and 58: UHF14 POWER BAR Most power bars kno
Page 59 and 60: ed pepper to its music. Felix Hell
Page 61 and 62: We Get Requests (CD) An amazing 196
Page 63 and 64: So you have, or plan to have, a cla
Page 65 and 66: van Swieten. The discovery marked h
Page 67 and 68: in which a multipart popular song w
Page 69 and 70: mentor Gustav Mahler, and others, s
Page 71 and 72: etween the ordinary and the spiritu
Page 73 and 74: songs. Except for the frothy Septem
Page 75 and 76: old friend, and is thus in a positi
Page 77 and 78: Do your friends have bassier speake
Page 79 and 80: eing formed with Hong Kong’s TPV
Page 81 and 82: Working Tools Most of the tools we
Page 83 and 84: Why do UHF readers start reading th

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