The Shanling DAC 50
By Marc Philip | Published 28 April 2010

This week we fell in love with the Shanling DAC 50, which made its public appearance a few weeks ago at the 2010 Montreal Salon du son et de l’image.

DAC 50 by Shanling

Description

The DAC 50 has a full set of inputs: AES/EBU (XLR), coaxial digital, optical and USB.

There is a headphone output near the back on the right side. It has a volume control, and the neat thing about this is that the knob is integrated into the top of the foot pillar. Very nice indeed.

back features DAC 50

The on/off button on the front left is built into the foot pillar the same way. Ergonomically this is well thought out.

Headphone section

Digital-to-analog conversion is done with a Burr-Brown PCM1796 chip and the signal from the audio input goes through a CIRRUS LOGIC CS8416.

Upsampling is done with a Burr-Brown SRC4192 but this can be bypassed in 24 bit / 96 KHz and then upsampled to 192 KHz. You do this with a touch on the remote control and the result is audible.

Switch ON/OFF and remote control

The internal clock is very precise, which seems to be borne out in listening.

Cost : 999$

We tried out the DAC 50 in several systems for this report. We took it to Claude’s place and also Jacques “the progger” Vignault’s. The third person didn’t have anything special to say and we won’t include him.

Specifications (from the manufacturer):
Dynamic range: (16bit) >96dB, (24bit) >120dB
Signal to noise ratio: >110dB
Total harmonic distortion: <0.002%
Unbalanced output voltage: 2.1V
Balanced output voltage: 4.2V
Dimensions (L x W x H): 262 x 457 x 75 mm
Net Weight: ~4.8 kg

Feets coupling management

To judge by these figures it’s no wonder the DAC 50 is so musical.

Jacques (the progger’s) impressions

Wow! What a great piece of gear this is.

I completely rediscovered my CD player. You would have thought I’d got a new one, more up-to-date and more expensive too.

In 192 bits the sound quality is really incredible in my system. It’s also a very classy-looking piece of gear which looks like it costs a lot more than it really does. It has really beautiful build quality for a unit under $1000.

Top cover

Jacques (the progger’s) system for this test

• NAD 3020A integrated amp
• Rotel RCD855 CD player
• Nuance Tablet speakers
• QED balanced loudspeaker cable
• RG179 silver digital coax cable with Furutech connectors
• DIY interconnect cable with gold plated connectors
• inovaudio Tri-Pod Double rack in steel and Russian birch

Recordings used for this test

- Edgar Winter – Jazzin’ the Blues (2004) – Joe Bonamassa – The Ballad of John Henry (2008) – Hadouk Trio – Live à FIP (2003) – Fabian Anderhub – Left Line (2009) – Roger Waters – Amused to Death (1992) – Stanley Clarke & Friends – Live at the Greek (1994)

Conclusions

If your source is still decent, the DAC 50 will bring it to life. If not, let it go and replace your player instead. This, by the way, is what Yves, our third tester did, and he’s now having a second honeymoon with a higher-resolution system.

His trial, with the DAC 50 converting the signal from his venerable 20-year-old Sony 707 ESD, was the only time we heard nothing really worth noting. (The Sony has been replaced by a Wadia drive and Wadia 15 DAC.)

The best results came with Claude’s Oracle CD 2500. The “little” DAC 50 transformed this old but splendid player into a modern machine, at least in 192 KHz upsampling mode.

What improvements did we hear exactly?

Everything in the sonic spectrum, or just about, as long as we used the 192K upsampling feature. This was a wonderful surprise, none of us would have predicted so much from connecting this “little” DAC to a high end player of an earlier day.

DAC 50 with Oracle CD 2500

Definition and dynamics. These are the major gains you can expect.

The soundstage widened, gaining in depth and 3-D quality.
Vocal timbres became natural and at the same time had a harmonic richness that the player did not provide when we listened to it alone. A veil was lifted, like a kind of mist on the sonic landscape; the higher resolution gave Claude’s system a serious boost.

We had the feeling that the music was louder with the same volume setting, the bass was tighter and better controlled than before, that we could turn up the volume without our ears’ starting to bleed. In short, the DAC 50 brought more musicality to a system which was already good and only needed to be woken up.

How is it possible to get so much from a piece of equipment costing less than $1000?

Probably the Shanling people know what they’re doing and after many years of experience are able to build high-performance equipment—that’s my guess.

I have to mention that we didn’t have time to try the headphone output properly but without a doubt, in view of the performance in treating digital signals, I would be surprised if it weren’t at the same level.

With the DAC 50 Shanling has succeeded in giving new hope to everyone who had given up on their present CD player or other digital source. On top of that, it’s a handsome piece of gear whose elegant lines should match any environment.

A detail that matters
The DAC 50 is a high-performance converter and it will do even better if you replace the stock power cord with a premium one. The improvements we heard came across best this way, with our Silver Triton and its Furutech FI-50 connectors.

Furutech Power Cord with FI-50 Carbon

From our trials, this converter has a high potential—don’t be fooled by its low price. I would have no hesitation in comparing it with higher-end and therefore more expensive units.

The appearance of the converter is also exemplary, and this was the first thing that struck me—its impeccable design and finish.

Strengths :

• Performance
• Astonishing dynamics in 192 KHZ upsampling mode
• Almost inaudible background noise
• Luxurious appearance
• Headphone output
• Easy-to-use, multifunction remote control
• Very reasonable price considering performance and looks

Weaknesses :

• No iPhone/iPod dock

The DAC 50 is a best buy for looks and performance.

DAC 50 win a Best Buy 2010

Contact and information

Charisma Audio

Manager : Bernard Li

Suite 86
4261, Highway 7
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3R 9W6
Telephone: (905) 470-0825
Fax: (905) 470-7966

E-mail: charisma@rogers.com

Web site : www.charismaaudio.com

This article has been written by Marc PHILIP, independent editor and reviewer, all rights reserved, copyright 2010, the text and photos are the property of the author and the magazine,under the creative commons license.

Have a great day and enjoy the music.

Boulder Officially Announces Immediate Release of UPnP & DLNA Network Capability Upgrade for 1021 Disc Player.
New software revision allows existing and future 1021s to be connected to a home computer network to decode streaming digital audio.

Boulder 1021 media player

Boulder is proud to announce the official release of the 1021 Disc Player’s UPnP Network Upgrade software. This upgrade will allow the 1021 to connect to a home computer network and act as a decoding renderer or DAC using UPnP and DLNA protocols.

When doing so, users can access their iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries to asynchronously stream music files stored on a home computer or NAS server to the 1021 at resolutions up to 32-bits or 192 kHz with no loss of fidelity.

Supported audio file types are ALAC, AIFF, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, MP3 and WAV. In addition, a user interface control point application on an iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone or Droid can be integrated into the network to assemble playlists and control the system from any location with access to the network.

The UPnP Network Upgrade software once again demonstrates the versatility of the 1021 Disc Player. The second upgrade for the 1021 instantly and conveniently gives users access to their complete library of music at their fingertips.

Standard resolutions and ultra-high resolution files are supported with none of the drawbacks of USB-based computer audio systems.
Upgrade software kits will begin shipping from the factory on 15 March, 2010.
Upgrades will be installed by authorized Boulder dealers and distributors.

Boulder will not be charging for the upgrade. All units shipped from the factory from 15 March forward will have the UPnP Network software installed.

Boulder Amplifiers was founded in 1984 to produce the world’s finest professional studio amplification and preamplification equipment before creating a full line of unparalleled home audio equipment. Boulder products have been used in hundreds of projects, including soundtracks by Skywalker Sound, recordings from Sony Studios and in the making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. In addition to the 1021 Disc Player, other notable products include the 865 Integrated Amplifier, 1060 Stereo Amplifier and the world-renowned 2008 Phono Preamplifier, widely considered to be the finest phono preamp ever produced.

Contact:

Rich Maez
Boulder Amplifiers
3235 Prairie Avenue
Boulder, CO 80301
Tel: 303-449-8220, x110
Fax: 303-449-2987
E-mail: rmaez@boulderamp.com
Web: www.boulderamp.com