AMI Musik DDH-1 DAC/headphone amplifier

AMI (Audio Music Interface)Musik is a young Japanese design, Korean build company. The compact DDH-1 is the first of two products out of the starting gates (the other being the DS5, a DSD supporting DAC for not much more than the 24/192 offering) and – if its performance is anything to go by – this is going to be a brand to watch. 

This well-built combination DAC and headphone amplifier is powered by a small in-line 12V, switch-mode power supply (not quite a wall-wart, because it connects to the wall through a two-conductor figure-of-eight power cord allowing the device to be used internationally). This meets an internal DC/DC controller to drop the internal voltage to ±10V. It’s a fairly dinky brushed aluminium box with a half-inch front panel and allen bolts holding the internals in place. A pair of micro-toggle switches drive the thing (one controls broad analogue/digital input and power, while the other fine-tunes between USB, coaxial and optical input), the four green LEDs denote sample rate (the two top ones double up for 192kHz and the lower two glow if you are at 176kHz precision), there’s a ¼” and mini-jack for headphone inputs, and a volume knob with smooth – but not that resistive – action thanks to the ALPS pot beneath. 

Over on the rear panel, there’s a switch to move between fixed and variable output (there are a pair of analogue phono outputs for those thinking this just a DAC), there’s a mini-jack line in for analogue sources, a coaxial and optical inputs, an optical output and a Type B USB 3 socket. This last is very rare at the moment, however, and the XMOS controller only supports USB 2. The advantage to USB 2 users (that’s most of us) is the connector is far more rugged and fits the Type B connector better. I don’t think this takes advantage of USB 3’s putative increased speed, though.

As might be gathered from the above, it uses the popular XMOS chipset, giving up to 24bit, 192kHz precision (from an AKM AK5386 DAC chip) through USB (a driver is provided for Windows PCs). As the USB connection draws no power, 

You can also use it with iPods, iPads and iPhones, through the optional camera connector. The asynchronous USB mode is fed by two TCXO clocks (one for multiples of 44.1kHz and one for multiples of 48kHz sampling), which is claimed to deliver jitter rates down to ±1.0ppm. These are impressive, given the rivals at or near the price tend to use cheaper crystal oscillators for reclocking, and that gives an order of magnitude higher jitter. 

The parts list is comprehensively top-notch too, with the two internal boards bristling with Nichicon and top Panasonic caps where possible. The two boards themselves cover the USB input specifically and then the DAC in its own right.  The DAC performance is taut, detailed, expressive and extremely clean, with a large soundstage. If not the last word in edge-of-the-seat dynamics and drive, it more than makes up for the shortfall in outstanding bass depth and precision. Playing James Blake’s first eponymous album it produced a sound that was elegant and precise. Moving over to more acoustic spaces showed just how good this product can be; Rutter’s Requiem (RRCD) created a sense of space and authority that shouldn’t be happening at this price point. The headphone amp stage works well in broadly the same vein – full with excellent bass depth and precision, but it’s best not used with very low impedance headphones or IEMs. That may be the one concession to price on the DDH-1.

Five years ago, computer audio this good wasn’t possible at any price. Four years ago, this kind of performance would have set you back a couple of thousand at least. Now, you can get this kind of quality, and get a good headphone amplifier thrown in, for a few hundred. For all the audio industry’s ability to create products with price tags that would make an oil baron blush, the little AMI shows there’s still room for value. Don’t be fooled by the little box and the small price tag – this is every bit the high-end product with true high-end performance. Now that’s progress in the right direction! 

Technical Specifications

Digital inputs: USB 3.0 B Female (USB 2.0 B compatible) / TOSLINK optical/coaxial

Resolution: 16 or 24-bit

Supported sample rates: 32 / 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192kHz

Analog input: 3.5mm stereo mini jack

ADC sample rate: 96kHz fixed

Digital output: TOSLINK optical

Line output: Dual gold plated RCA

Output level: 2Vrms (unbalanced output)

THD: less than 0.01% at 1 kHz

Frequency response: 20 Hz/ 20kHz +-0.3dB

Headphones output: 6.35mm phone jack, 3.5mm phone jack

Supported headphone impedance: 

16 ~600Ω

Output level: Max 100mW (32Ω loaded)

THD: less than 0.01% at 1 kHz, 32Ω loaded, 100mW

Frequency response: 20 Hz/ 20kHz +-0.3dB (32Ω loaded, 100mW)

Dimensions: 113 x 45 x 146mm (WxHxD)

Price: $549.99

Manufactured by: AMI International Inc

URL: www.amimuse.com