Audio Analogue Aadrive Transport and Aadac Digital Converter

In truth, however, I was surprised at how good the Audio Analogue combination sounded, and I really shouldn’t be. I know what that Italian audio company is capable of, musically speaking, because it has shown itself to be a maker of fine components in the past. It can do to digital what it does so well to analogue shouldn’t be a surprise. However, the fact it does it so well, making this one of the go-to digital front-ends to beat at a price still comes as something of a surprise, in part because the AAdac, in particular, takes on an extremely contended market. And wins.

Finally, the AAdrive and AAdac combination taken together is worthy of note, as they too represent one of the best ways of making a good sound from CD for the high-end enthusiast without £50k to burn.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

AAdrive

• Type: CD transport
• Drive: TEAC
• Digital outputs: Coaxial 75Ω/AES-EBU 110Ω
• Dimensions (H×W×D): 10 × 22 × 39cm
• Weight: 5.5kg
• Price: £1,749

AAdac

• Type: DAC with headphone amplifier
• DAC type: ESS Sabre ES9038
• Inputs: AES/EBU, S/PDIF (optical and 2× RCA), USB, Bluetooth aptX
• Formats supported: PCM to 32bit/768kHz, native DSD (DoP) to 512
• Filter options: seven settings
• Outputs: RCA, XLR, headphone 6.35mm jack
• Output level: 2.9 µV (22 Hz ÷ 20 kHz)
• Output level (A weighted): 2.1 µV
• Output voltage – balanced(1kHz/0dB): 3.35 VRMS
• Output voltage – unbalanced (1kHz/0dB): 3.35 VRMS
• Dynamic range (A weighted): 124 dB
• THD+N(1dB, 1kHz, FS = 48 kHz): -108 dB
• Dimensions (HxWxD): 10x22x39cm
• Weight: 5.5kg
• Price: £3,499

Manufacturer: Audio Analogue
URL: Audioanalogue.com
UK distributor: Decent Audio
URL: decentaudio.co.uk
Tel:+44(0)5602 054669

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