Parasound Zdac DAC

Parasound Zdac converter is made in 1/2U format. Despite the small dimensions of the body, you can find a fairly serious filling. The converter has a linear power supply based on decent in size toroidal transformer, with a margin providing clean energy for all circuits. The digital part is built on an AD1853 DAC chip with 24/192 parameters, and the Texas Instruments TAS1020B controller is used to receive the signal through the USB port. In addition, all incoming data is undergone forced upsampling to 24/422 (AD1895 chip is responsible for this), which is necessary for more accurate restoration of the original waveform. In addition to the already mentioned USB port (here it is version 2.0), the device is equipped with optical and coaxial digital interfaces. The installed output connectors are not only standard RCA, but also balanced XLR, which stand Zdac out from most converters for this cost. To listen to music in the headphones, there is an amplifier, assembled on a separate board, which, according to engineers, is capable to delivery full-fledged sound with any headphones.

Actually, Parasound Zdac has a very powerful headphone output, featuring by expressive sound, but with slightly smoothed edges of the range. Through the linear outputs, it sounds even more attractive - the dynamics immediately square its shoulders, the upper case becomes cleaner and airier. The low-frequency base is presented strong and accurate, but not radically deep. At the same time, the rhythmic basis and structure of low-frequency instruments are completely preserved. In the middle, which is almost neutral, you can notice a small digital touch, which is expressed in a certain simplification of the flow and slight rigidity of the timbres. The sound stage is formed without visible flaws. The space is perfectly built in width. Instrument positions are not broken.