The V90 components turn all this around. They are tiny. Inexpensive. Beautifully built.
Your friends will laugh when you turn on your DAC. Or phono preamp. Or Bluetooth receiver (the V90 series now includes the V90-BLU). But, of course, audiophiles must forgo the pleasures of Bluetooth. Too easy. Too simple. Too much free music from thousands of…
When I e-mailed Stereophile's writers in January 2014 for their suggested ratings for the latest edition of the magazine's "Recommended Components," also in the April issue, ST recommended a Class A rating for the $299 V90-DAC. But, he added, with perhaps a twinkle in his eye, that this was the best DAC he had heard. I therefore provisionally placed the V90-DAC in Class A+, deciding that I needed to listen to it myself before the next "Recommended Components" appears, in our October 2014 issue.
I auditioned the V90-…
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS10.7, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.89, Audirvana Plus 1.5.10; NAD M50 media player with NAD M52 and NetGear RAID arrays;Auralic Vega, Benchmark DAC1 D/A converters.
Preamplification: Pass Labs XP-30 line preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: MBL Corona C15 & Reference 9007, Pass Labs XA60.5 (all monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Joseph Audio Perspective, Rogers BBC LS3/5A, EnigmAcoustics Sopranino supertweeter.
Cables: Digital: Kubala-Sosna Elation! AES/EBU,…
I examined the measured behavior of the Musical Fidelity V90-DAC with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). For some tests, and to check the results of others with a different measurement system, I used my vintage Audio Precision System One DSP. My sample of the V90-DAC was serial number "RRY0135 (JUNE 2013)."
I used my 2012-vintage Apple MacBook Pro, running on battery power, to examine the V90-DAC's performance via its USB port. Apple's USB Prober utility identified the Musical Fidelity as having the…
Description: Two-channel, solid-state D/A processor with outboard switch-mode power supply. Inputs: one S/PDIF coaxial on RCA, 32–192kbps, 16–24 bits; two S/PDIF optical on TosLink, 32–96kbps, 16–24 bits; one USB type B, up to 24 bits and 96kbps. Outputs: one pair unbalanced on RCA jacks. Frequency Response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0, –0.1dB. Crosstalk: –104dB, 20Hz–20kHz. Signal/Noise ratio: 117dB, 20Hz–20kHz. Jitter: <12 picoseconds peak–peak. THD+noise: <0.004% 20Hz–20 kHz.
Dimensions: 6.6" (170mm) W by 4" (102mm) D by 1.8" (47mm) H. Weight: 1.3 lbs (0.6kg).…
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