DAC Musical Fidelity V90-DAC
This company's entry-level DACs have come a long way - not so long ago its V-DAC predecessor came in an unattractive metal box with lurid graphics, which rather undersold the respectable circuitry inside. Now though, the new V90 a very swish-looking affair - it looks like a high-end product that's shrunk in the wash! The quality of finish to the all-aluminium casework is superb, and this makes it a product you want to show off, rather than hide away - the fascia and case are both crystal bead shot blast to a fine textured moonstone finish, giving a lovely look and feel.
The minimalist fascia has tiny toggle switches for power on/off and source selection, while round the back there's quite a crowded rear panel, with two coaxial digital inputs, two for optical and one asynchronous USB, but it must be pointed out that this particular input only runs up to 24/96. Inside, there's a single circuitboard, which sports all the digital processing gubbins; the DAC runs up to 24/192 and all the signals are said to be upsampled to 192kHz. The V90 DAC is a very swish little thing then and the only thing that betrays its humble retail price is the supplied wall-wart power supply, which looks barely adequate for the job in hand.
Despite being the least expensive DAC here, the V90 DAC puts up a valiant fight - it just isn't going to be beaten comprehensively by all and sundry! As such, it puts its best foot forward and gives a jolly good account of itself, with a surprisingly civilised and even sound that is bristling with detail. In many ways quite similar to the Pro-Ject DAC BOX DS, the Musical Fidelity isn't a DAC that draws attention to itself in this group. Bass is decently strong - a bit more so than the Pro-Ject, but less so than the Arcam irDAC, Meridian Director and NAD D 1050 - its midband is very crisp and open and its treble detailed.
The Beth Rowley track shows her voice to be just a tad brighter than some others here, but not by much. The recording is decently spacious, with everything put tidily in its place and the track rolls along in an engaging if not quite inspiring way. Kraftwerk does pretty much the same, with plenty of nice, snappy rhythms and a decently open and extended treble that gives the recording a more spacious feel than some here. You might say it is quite a 'hi-fi DAC', as it ticks all the boxes and gives a detailed, proportioned, rendition of whatever you care to play through it - but it doesn't exactly set your trousers on fire!
One panelist comments that it is a little "restrained" on The Robots, and makes Kraftwerk "a bit sleepy sounding"; another comments that it is obviously engineer rather than musician-designed. It certainly has a slight sense of disconnectedness in the bass, but the mid and treble is generally pretty solid with nice soundstaging and separation very good indeed. A thoroughly decent and competent performer at the price then, every panelist agrees it survives the blind listening ordeal in a dignified way considering its lowly retail price - over 50 percent less than the Meridian, for example. If you have a very strict budget, you certainly won't feel cheated by buying the Musical Fidelity, even if you can do better by spending more money
