Outboard DACs

The Violectric name may be new to you, as it was to me, but behind the brand is a company getting on for four decades in business, principally in the pro audio field, where it operates under the rather unusual moniker of Lake People – inspired by the company’s location in the Lake Constance region of Germany. Like many an audio brand from that country, the company designs and manufactures its products in-house, and is proud of the ‘Made in Germany’ label.

Since 2009 it has been designing products for what it calls ‘the private sector’ under the Violectric brand, using the technology of its pro models to address the consumer audio market. It offers a wide range of headphone amplifiers covering just about every usage requirement, from the pocket-sized USB-powered Chronos at £185 all the way up to the £5140 US 5 PRO from sub-brand Niimbus.

Flexible Friend
The DHA V226 we have here is its least expensive mains-powered DAC/headphone amp, at £1230, and while it may be compact in its desktop-friendly black, it certainly has a purposeful air about it, both in its chunky build and in the layout of the front panel. It may not be pretty, but it does look like it means business.

Measuring an accommodating 170mm wide and 55mm high – although quite deep at 290mm – and weighing just 3kg, the DHA V226 packs a lot in, being able to fulfil the functions of a fixed-output DAC to plug into a conventional amplifier, as well as those of a minimalist preamplifier, and, of course, a headphone amp. However, there are some limitations here: the only digital input is on a USB-C port, with not a sniff of optical or coaxial connections, and while the headphone section is able to support both single-ended and balanced headphone designs, the analogue inputs and outputs are on unbalanced RCAs only.

The Choice Is Yours
Two sets of line-ins are also provided, with a front-panel flip-switch selecting between these and the DHA V226’s USB-C input, while a similar selector lets you decide between using the headphone output, the line/pre output, or no output at all (mute). To the rear, a push-button selects between a fixed preamp output, or a variable level controlled by an Alps-branded attenuator and a 38mm knob made from the same aluminium as the thick casework, and which has a smooth, precise action.

Built around a Cirrus CS43131 DAC chip, the digital section can handle PCM data up to 384kHz/32-bit and DSD to x4 (DSD256), with a front panel LED glowing green for PCM and blue for DSD. Meanwhile, the headphone output is available via four-pin XLR and 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced sockets, and a 6.35mm unbalanced output. However, while the power amplifier driving the headphone outputs may be balanced, the variable-gain preamp is unbalanced, with no option of connecting a balanced in/out chain direct to your power amp or active speakers. If you want to do that, you’ll have to look further up the Violectric range, for example to the £2010 DHA V380, which offers balanced outputs (as well as adding coaxial/optical digital inputs and a USB-B connection for a computer or digital transport), or the £2910 DHA V590, which also has a set of XLR analogue inputs, and an AES/EBU digital in.

In addition to the front-panel controls, two sets of DIP switches on the rear, one for each channel, can set the preamplifier gain over a range of ±18dB in 6dB steps. This lets the DHA V226’s output, and its volume control, be tailored to the headphones in use, without altering the gain of the discrete headphone power amp itself. The latter’s rated output is sufficient to drive all types, and is met in practice, this little amp being powered by a rather hefty toroidal transformer – at least by headphone amp standards!