Berkeley Alpha Ref3

Every so often something special comes along, and when you listen to it, you’ll know that this time that something special is the Alpha Ref3 DAC!

Every so often something very special comes along — and right now that something is the Berkeley Alpha DAC Reference Series 3 digital-to-analogue converter. Admittedly at $35,000 this extraordinary piece of technology is not going to be on everyone’s shopping list, but it is regarded by many as the finest DAC in the world — and there are several $100k+ DACs vying for that crown.

Every piece of your audio chain has an impact on the eventual performance of your system, and this includes the DAC. We have the Berkeley on audition in our hi-end room — and the impact it has on any system we assemble in that room is undeniable.

We are far from being the only ones who are impressed with this unit:

“The Series 3 extends the Alpha DAC Reference status as the ne plus ultra in digital decoding, and will remain at the front end of my reference system… The Series 3’s deeper bass, wider dynamic expression, superior bottom-end articulation and textural resolution, and enhanced top-end openness are clearly major advances…With less accomplished DACs, it sounds as if a whole layer of very low-level information has gone missing”.

Robert Harley, The Absolute Sound.

“The Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3 takes the flag for the best DAC I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing… To the truest encapsulation of the word ‘Reference’, when it comes to the Alpha DAC Reference Series 3, I can but add one succinct word to celebrate its purest meaning: Triumph.”

Edgar Kramer, Editor-in-Chief, Soundstage! Australia, December 2020

(SoundStage! Australia subsequently awarded the Alpha

DAC Series 3 the 2020 SoundStage! Australia Outstanding Performance Award).