USB audio devices using isolated power.
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Product Details:
Price drop on JKDAC - now
€400
. Devices now charged from a a spare USB port & suitable cable.All devices use a modified Hiface which has USB input capable of 24bit 192KHz USB input can be operated at 32/384 This is an aysnchronous USB device which means that it doesn't use the computers clock for it's timing but rather has 3 discrete on-board clocks. One to time the USB connection & the other two clocks to time the audio output. I use 2 internal LiFePO4 batteries (very low ripple & very low noise) to power all the circuits in the MK3 instead of USB power which is used in the stock Hiface. This means it is immune to the bad power supplies typically found in computers. The devices now have the user controlled option of charging the batteries while playing music - no more concern over batteries. Operating from two very low jitter/phase noise clocks, it delivers some of the highest sound quality you are likely to encounter. The transport is the most important part of the signal chain to get right which is proven by the various reviews both end-user & in the press that attest to the improvement in sound which adding a MK3 device brings to their system. ............ more The JKSPDIF MK3 outputs SPDIF via a true 75 ohm BNC socket. A BNC/RCA adapter is provided if requested. The MK3 is bundled with a RF attenuator which reduces cable induced jitter - see here The JKDAC32 integrates, via I2S, a 32/384 Burr Brown DAC together with a MK3 into one box. It handles 32/384 signals natively - no upsampling & outputs a stereo analogue line level signal via it's RCA connectors.! Probably one of the few truly 32/384 end-to-end capable DACs available. See here
The JKDAC integrates, via I2S, a 24/192 ESS Sabre DAC together with a MK3 into one box. It handles 24/192 signals natively - no upsampling & outputs a stereo analogue line-level signal via it's RCA connectors!
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Latest Press Reviews:
 In many respects how the JKDAC32 presented music reminded me of those great Decca recordings of the 50s and 60s which are so rarely matched these days - a wonderfully large airy soundstage combined with exquisite precision and clarity that wasn’t the last word in warmth and body. Think of Solti’s Ring and all those awesome Karajan/Vienna recordings; and of course those of Ernest Ansermet and his delightful L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Particularly impressive was that clarity and incisiveness did not come at the expense of treble smoothness and ease. No glare, no edge, no brittleness, no digital nasties.
Over the last several weeks I've been enjoying Bertrand Chamayou’s incandescent reading of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage [Naïve 16-bit/44.1kHz WAV], a truly staggering piece of music interpreted with exceptional verve and passion. I thought the JKDAC32 admirably captured the attacks and sustain of Chamayou’s instrument—there was real thunder on those huge dynamic peaks—and revealed the light, nuance and beauty of the softer moments. On a recent recording of Kalevi Aho’s Chamber Symphonies [BIS 24/44.1 WAV] I noted a distinctly open, clear and very involving sound. Strings came across clean, clear, crisp and extended without any undue edge or shrillness. . .............. More Reviews JKDAC32 (April 2012) John Kenny JKDAC32 (M2Tech Hiface + PCM5102 + LiFePO4) See here
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Latest User Reviews:JKDAC32 Vs Audiophileo
The JKSPDIF Mk3 is working out very well with my Berkeley Alpha DAC Series 2. My initial impressions have pretty much held true since the beginning. The most noticeable impact has been the solidity and definition of images and instrument separation. There is great detail, but above all it sounds natural and organic, which is something I could not say at all about the Audiophilleo 2. There is a refinement and depth to the sound that is difficult to describe. It just sounds more real is all I can say. More analog-like vs digital, to use an abused cliche. But, it is unlike a turntable in that at the same time there is enhanced clarity to the sound. Great job with this device! I can't imagine more expensive products like the Alpha USB or Off-Ramp offering any considerable gains and am not even thinking about upgrading the transport aspect of my system............ Eugene
JKDAC32 Vs M2tech Evo Since listening to the JKDAC32 for a good week or so in my own system, I've put the M2Tech Young (w/ Teddy Pardo power supply) out to pasture. I have been amazed how much the JKDAC32 DAC has opened up. I am not one for all the hi-fi jargon but the best way I can describe the sound is something like this: it now has a weight, body, depth and detail that had hitherto eluded my PC-based setup. This evening for the second time I ran an experiment using my analogue set up against the JKDAC32 using Jplay. For the first time the PC based system left the analogue system behind. I used a fresh vinyl copy of Van Morrison’s “His Band and the Street Choir” against a FLAC rip from the CD for comparison. After repeated switching back and forth with both playing simultaneously all I could hear were the weaknesses in the analogue setup. Now I understand why people spend such crazy money on cartridges, turntables and phono stages. The analogue system sounded soft and lacking real separation. Don’t get me wrong here: if you had not heard the PC based system, the turntable setup is a sound you could easily live with and enjoy daily ...............(More)
JKSPDIF MK3
I'm really quite impressed. After playing music with my TagMcLaren combo(AV32R + DVD32) for years I thought it couldn't get any better. Well, not by a margin anyway. Burning in took about a day. To me the whole experience resembles that of switchting from Redbook to 24/96, but still playing Redbook. The level of detail is stunning and very addictive. Some songs sound so profoundly different, more clear, more real, it makes you wonder whether you heard it before even when you know you have. It's the always pleasing experience of listening to all your music over again, like you do after every significant upgrade. There's also an ease to the sound that is quite pleasing.
At first you feel like cranking up the treble, but then you realise it's all there, and then some. All the bells and tinkles I've never heard before! The bass is solid and deep, giving the proper feel of a full range system. It feels like a shock to find out there's so much more to Redbook recordings than what I've been listening to for years. Even the recorded piano's sound a lot closer to live and they are so difficult to reproduce. The TagmcLaren DVD32 is arguably one of the better players on the planet but a 300 euro laptop and the 335 euro MK3 leave it in the dust all together. The full scale of improvement is not yet clear I as need my DEQX repaired. Right now I'm using a BSS Minidrive, a professional DSP crossover, but this works through AD/DA and only at 48kHz, compared to the digital in/96kHz of the DEQX........... More Reviews JKSPDIF MK3 (May 2012)
I finally installed your MK3 in my setup, it is definitely better than my previous hiface EVO.
The sound is more relaxed, I'd say more analog and real, vivid, the soundstage is thicker, the sound is meatier, more solid. I will never know what's inside the box but I think the EVO gives a more digital, "upsampling" sound, while yours has got the sound I really like best! ........... More Reviews
JKDAC32 (May 2012)
Bass, is as the reviews already indicated, very nice instead - fast, tight, very detailed, basically all the things I was hoping it would improve on compared to the DACMagic I was using before. And I got that in spades. Bass has always been important to me, not that it needed to be extremely deep or overbearing, but it's apparently very difficult to find a DAC, or transport and amp for that matter, that accurately presents the recorded bass material. The JKDAC32 does do a wonderful job do, very pleased with that side of the DAC.
Mid range is wonderful, voices always intelligible, centered when it's recorded that way and good, stable placement when not. Tom's have punch and the initial striking "tock" of the drums presents a good presentation of the force the drum was struck and accurately represents the specific sound the material drum head is made of. Bass guitar slaps, piano notes, drums, percussion, vocal body, all have a substantial quality to it which is how I like my mid range to sound. In most cases I am not impressed with orchestral strings, but with your DAC they have that warm quality and at the same time the initial strike of the bow on the instrument as well as the string and body noises you can expect of such an instrument.
The higher regions of the frequency spectrum are well presented. Cymbals, bells, shakers have a nice ring to them (pun intended). The sound is airy and is very impressive in how it reproduces these sounds - not hard or harsh, but ethereal, rounded and easy to listen to. I think other DACs might provide more insights into what material the cymbal is made of, but this is eminently listenable and not fatiguing at all.
JKDAC32 (Mar 2012)
The thing sounds amazing! A day of solid play did wonders to sort the sound out, but after 24 hours, it seems to have found it's voice.
Probably the most tonally correct and gently detailed sound I have ever heard from digital, that's just as easy for me to groove out to, as it is for me to read a book while listening to. Every time I try to listen analytically to music coming from this thing, I just get lost in the music. That's the biggest wow factor of your dac for me...that it excels at all the audiophile stuff (soundstage, black background, blah blah), but I'm too busy enjoying the music to get wrapped up in that stuff.
Even typing this out, with it playing music in the background, I've stopped writing for minutes at a time, cause it just sounds soooo good!
The one audiophile thing I want to mention, that has impressed me most, is that I can't see the bottom on this thing! Here's what I mean..................... More ReviewsJKSPDIF MK3 (Mar 2012)
John: I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying the MK3! It is fabulous. I have been using it with my Macbook Pro, with several DACs (PSAudio Perfectwave, Centrance DacMini, Burson, Benchmark DAC-1 HDR)--it sounds superb with all and is a significant step up over the USB inputs on each, with a very smooth sound--extended highs, tight bass and very nice soundstage. I would put the Perfectwave with the MK3 very close to the Metric Halo ULN-8 firewire DAC (the USB implementation on the Perfectwave DAC is not very good), which is my reference. I haven't spent as much time as Ihad planned with A/B tests simply because I have been enjoying listening to the music too much!............... More Reviews
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