If you ’ve settle to invest in an audiophile - form stage set of wiredheadphonesor IEMs , you should emphatically consider acquire aheadphone ampto power them . Perhaps something like Rotel ’s guileful novel DX-3 . It’sthe company ’s first headphone ampand it combines premium amplification circuitry with body politic - of - the - prowess digital - to - parallel conversion . It will be usable in Europe and the U.K. in March in either black-market or Ag colors , and it ’s expected to make it in the U.S. soon after , for $ 1,499 .
yield , that ’s not just an impulse bargain for most people , but a earphone amp with the DX-3 ’s specs will likely last for decennary and can grow with you as your pauperization ( and your system ) modification .
The most salient matter about the DX-3 is its size of it and design . At 8.5 inches wide , 3 inches tall , and 9.75 inches bass , it ’s only slightly larger than theWiim Ultranetwork medicine streamer — another twist that ’s absolutely proportioned for desktop employment . Clad in Al , the DX-3 has a full color display , two headphone outputs ( 4.4 millimetre balanced , 6.35 mm brainsick ) , a three - setting addition switch , a source extract button , and an oversize , rhomb - knurled volume knob .
inwardly , however , is where you ’ll find the DX-3 ’s critical components . Digital - to - analog conversion(DAC ) is handled by an ESS Sabre ES9028PRO buffalo chip — an 8 - channel DAC with four consecrated channels per side ( left / rightfulness ) .
There ’s almost nothing that DAC ca n’t handle . It will decipher PCM up to 32 - bit/384kHz and has aboriginal DSD support up to DSD256 . you’re able to opt to supply digital audio via optical , PC - USB , coaxial , or wirelessly via Bluetooth , with AAC , aptX , and aptX - HDcodec compatibility .
If you need to go around the DAC , there ’s a dedicated analog gain path that ’s serviced by a set of stereophony RCA manual laborer .
Rotel sound out that amplification is courtesy of an “ radical - low noise , custom in - house manufacture , toroidal transformer with gamey current driver and high - calibre electrical condenser , ” and that power is command via an audiophile ground level NJW1195A fully differential analog control delivering accurate stride as refined as 0.5dB. The three - step profit control lets you ok - melody output tycoon to touch the specific resistivity and sensitiveness of your headphones .
desire to use the DX-3 as standalone DAC or pre - amp ? you could do that too , with your selection of unbalanced RCA or XLR balanced analog outputs . Finally , Rotel includes an aluminum - body remote so you’re able to operate the DX-3 from as far away as your earpiece cables will let you sit down ( or further ) .
The only thing missing is networking — there ’s no Ethernet or Wi - Fi . However , Roonusers can nonetheless stream all of their preferred source to the DX-3 if you use the personal computer - USB input , which is recognized as a Roon endpoint .
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