L.K.S Digital Audio DAC

You may not have heard about this DAC. But it does show up on a blog or two and has garnered quite a following. What I can say about it is that it is a very analogue sounding DAC, smooth and sweet. It uses two of the latest ESS ES9038pro chips, one for each channel. Which does seem to make a difference compared to one chip handling of both left and right channels. The quality of the build is amazing given the price point (or any price point). Sonically, it’s detailed but without any digital “edge”. Only reason for sale is Ive ended up with two of these, for reasons I wont go into here. Its about one year old and I am the original owner. From a smoke, pet and kid free home.

Specs:

• Dual mono-mode ESS ES9038pro chips


• Ultra-low-jitter 82fs clock at 100 MHz


• Up to 13 groups linear power supply for different circuit part


• Discrete shunt power supply for analog output part


• Discrete circuit for I/V and LPF circuit


• Cardas rhodium-plated RCA output connector


• Furutech AC power socket


• 2 I2S Input Ports: RJ45 type and HDMI type for I2S/DSD source input


• Amanero Combo384 USB card: DSD64, DSD128, (Windows, DSD256, DSD512), PCM44.1K~384K


• AES/EBU, COAX, BNC, OPT support: 44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96K, 176.4K,192K S/PDIF input (DoP acceptable)


• XLR: 5 Vrms


• RCA: 2 Vrms


• Digital Volume Control: 0–127 dB (0.5 dB step)


• Large VFD display


• THD: <0.0003%


• Dynamic Range: > 125 dB


• SNR: > 120 dB


• Dimensions: 17.3 x 12.6 x 3.5 in (440 x 320 x 90 mm)


• Net weight: 17.2 lbs (7.8 kg)