Bonsai pleasure
VINCENT Van Gogh once said that “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” Pro-ject Audio Systems’ Herr Heinz Lichtenegger must have inclined his ear (oops, make that “ears”, to avoid any unintended inferences) to this pearl of wisdom when conceiving his company’s “Box Design” range of electronic components.
Pro-ject, in spite of being renowned for its range of affordable turntables, is clear-minded enough to know that regardless of the superior musical enjoyment vinyl LPS may presently bring (or so its die-hard supporters claim!), the future of music sales and distribution to the masses surely lies in digital form.
And regardless of format, the end goal is ultimately to listen to music, so Herr Lichtenegger tries to bring as much highend audio quality to the potential customers of the Box range as possible, the “lost” ipod generation being squarely in his sights (Box Design’s tagline is “Next Generation Hifi”).
Sujesh recently reviewed the Dock and Tuner Boxes and, nd, here, I get to do Pro-ject’s entry to the component category, which surely is in dire need of being subjected to a non-proliferation treaty – the Usb-capable digital-to-analogue convertor.
Apart from the obvious USB input (limited to 16/48), the DAC Box USB also has optical and coaxial inputs (these allow for 24/96).
Construction is excellent, with the sturdy 10cm x 10cm x 3.5cm sleeve-over-tray metal and aluminium casing feeling substantially weighty too.
Only having heard Pro-ject’s vinyl-related electronics, I wasn’t sure what to expect sonically. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
No, this is no giant-killer wannabe which has its slingshot aimed at the likes of the Audiolab 8200CDQ or Rega DAC level of components – it, understandably, doesn’t reach that level of performance, but it certainly doesn’t leave you disappointed either.
Playing WAV files from a Compaq laptopl and also CDS, results were competitive with the better budget digital gear of today. Everything was well balanced with no nasties – sounds cameca out clear and fairly detailed, treble being clean with no sense of emphasised brightness and working with the mids to give some measure of insight into the recording.
There was a slight sense of warmth to the lower mids and bass, which most would welcome but here things did not sound as solid as a M2tech hiface Evo connected to a I2S Monica 3 used for comparison – rock tracks that were positively driven by bass guitar and drums sounded less sure-footed with the Box. Music also did not have the same sense of flow compared to the more expensive combo.
However, listening to the Box on its own within a budget-oriented system with the laptop as main source, I was able to enjoy the results without inclination to want to nitpick particular aspects of the sonic results, which, in short, means that it is devoid of any irritants while managing to sound engaging enough.
Given its price, build, provision of multiple inputs and sound quality, the DAC Box USB ticks the right, uh, boxes to earn itself a firm recommendation for audition.
Obviously, there is no shortage of competition, which has to be borne in mind, but the DAC Box USB is still an interesting proposition, especially for those who like their components small and cute and not built in China. Danke, Herr Lichtenegger.