A US-Made DAC for $599
Capable of 32-bit / 384 kHz PCM, this slim-profile design gets you to high-resolution playback without the usual pain.
If you've been following the world of high-performance audio for more than, say, two weeks, you'll know how hard it is to find quality, US-built electronics for less than $1K.
Our friends at MoFi have surprised us this holiday season and done just that. The new MoFi Electronics StudioDAC is an impressive digital-to-analog converter at any price, but at $599, it's a ridiculously attractive product. You can find competitors in this price territory, but it may be a challenge to find one that sounds better while also being built in the United States.
Implementing an ESS9038Q2M Sabre DAC, capable of PCM up to 32-bit / 384 kHz and DSD up to DSD128 and DXD, along with full MQA decoding, the StudioDAC answers just about every question you might ask of its digital capabilities.
The project brief for Michal Jurewicz (audio engineer at Mytek), when he agreed to collaborate with MoFi, was to create a product that delivered music—not just a spec sheet. To that end, the StudioDAC uses an outboard power supply, a low-noise precision clock, and an apodizing filter. The result is anything but harsh or fatiguing. Instead, the sound is smooth, dynamic, and enveloping, with the kind of musical ease that encourages long listening sessions.