Amps & DACs

Today's audiophile lives surrounded by gadgets filled with ones and zeros, but getting them out and converted into a signal that sounds really great can get tricky. Not any more! Plunk down a Micro DAC next to any digital audio source, whether it's your computer at work or the SqueezeBox in the bedroom, and listen to the beautiful-sounding numbers fly by. Couple it with one of our Micro Amps, and enjoy a little stack of audiophile sweetness on your desk or nightstand. (And... if you're looking for some serious 1's and 0's magic, don't forget to check out Ultra Micro DAC.)

How it Works

The Micro DAC is simplicity itself to use: plug in your computer to the USB input, and/or other digital sources to the optical and coaxial S/PDIF inputs; select the desired source using the front panel switch and, voila', your carefully decoded and lusciously tasty analog signal appears on the rear panel line-out. From there you can take the line-out and plug it into another headphone amp, pre-amp, or integrated amp. Keep in mind the HeadRoom Micro DAC is a 'stand-alone', non-amped device and MUST be connected into a dedicated headphone amp stage for final amplification to headphones.

Electronics

Cirrus Logic would scratch their collective head if they saw their flagship DAC tucked away in the tiny Micro DAC. The CS4398 is the best performing DAC chip in their line-up with numbers like 120dB dynamic range and -107dB THD+Noise. And it's not alone in there: the Micro DAC has independent power supply regulators for analog and digital sections; digital listening and decoding is done by the CS8416 digital receiver chip before passing numbers off to the DAC; a TI PCM2902 handles the computer USB to S/PDIF conversion before sending the number to the DAC (the analog outs of the 2902 aren't up to the task for this sweet DAC); local decoupling with ultra-low ESR polyphenylene-sulfide film capacitors is provided at each active analog stage; resistors are low-drift, low-noise, 0.1% metal film parts throughout; and a multi-layer circuit board holds it all together while keeping the signals apart. Hard to believe we fit all that in there!

For a photo of the Micro DAC circuit board and more information about the electronics take a look at our DAC Features Page here. *(Note: iPods, nor any other current hard-drive player, do not have a digital outputs! A headphone jack is an analog output, so the Micro DAC does not work with such players. You need an optical, coaxial, or USB output to use the Micro DAC.)

Accessories

An external AC power-supply "wall-wart" is included with the Micro DAC. An upgraded international-use Astrodyne Power Supply is optionally available for audiophiles wanting to fully maximize the audio performance of the Micro DAC.

*The Micro DAC does NOT include any interconnect cabling. If using the optical digital input, you will need an optical cable, and if using coaxial digital input, you'll need a coaxial cable-- which can be found here. To hook up your Micro DAC to the Micro Amp, you will need a mini 1/8 to 1/8 cable. We recommend the Cardas 6 inch mini to mini cable. For additional cables and lengths, browse all of our cables. All HeadRoom Micro DACs are hand-built in Montana, USA.

What a difference!
Posted by treegarden from Riverside, CT on 2010-03-12

Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Bang for the buck, build quality, size
Cons: Single output, can't upgrade to Astrodyne

I bought this unit to drive both my existing HeadRoom Maxed Out Home headphone amp and a Cambridge Sound Works "suitcase" desktop system (I previously used a Total BitHead as a DAC). I expected to hear improved quality through the headphone amp and Sennheiser 650s, but I was a little unsure that I could tell the difference through the Cambridge rig. My first listen proved me wrong--sound was much tighter, better defined, and musical. And the improvement in the headphones is not too shabby, either. I did spring for the Astrodyne power supply, although I haven't A/B'd it with the provided power supply. It would be nice if the Astrodyne could be made an option so that customers who want to upgrade to it don't have to pay for the stock power supply that they'll never use. It would also be nice to have more than one line level output, switchable to drive two different amps. Those are trifles, though; I'm thrilled with this purchase.

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Blown Away!!!
Posted by Xyrax from Lincoln Park, NJ on 2010-01-17

Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Excellent sound, small size
Cons: Digital coax port

I'm amazed at the difference something this small has made in my headphone setup. For someone like myself with extremely limited desk space this DAC is perfect.

The only thing I would change is the digital coax input jack. This is the only device I have where the digital coax jack is a 3.5mm jack and not an RCA jack so I couldn't use one of the cables I already had.

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The most important component you don't know you need!
Posted by Phreejax from Lake Tahoe, CA on 2010-01-15

Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Built like a tank, flexible inputs, instant sound upgrade
Cons: Not cheap, and you won't know how great it is until you hear it

I use a HeadRoom Micro Amp and Micro DAC with a Logitech THX desktop speaker system (or, AKG's very neutral K-272HD cans; or Ultimate Ear's almost-top-of-the-line earbuds). No matter what the music source (laptop MP3's, iPod, CD player) and no matter what output source (speakers, cans, buds), the DAC provides a VERY clear improvement over using just the Micro Amp alone. I have listened to every sound source with and without the Micro DAC -- including a top-end Sony Vaio, an iPod Classic, and Marantz CD player -- and in every case the improvement in sound was instantly noticeable. Especially with jazz, acoustic or classical music, the soundscape is broader, and the individual instruments are clearly articulated and placed. This improvement is also true of some well-recorded and mastered rock (like Steely Dan re-issues) but if the sound source is already a bit muddy (like old Stones CDs, or very lossy MP3's) you will hear the defects even more clearly with the Micro DAC.

The Head Room web site is correct: even some not-so-low-cost electronics do not have a good quality on-board DAC, and you can indeed hear the difference when you by-pass it and use the Micro DAC instead. A surprisingly useful component ... you will know it when you hear it.

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