Outboard DACs

Power To The People
Set to work, the Violectric DHA V226 gave a very good account of itself – I used a range of transports including iFi Audio’s excellent little ZEN Stream unit and a stripped-back Mac mini computer, the latter giving me the choice of Roon or Audirvana Studio for music playback, fed by my two QNAP NAS devices. Moreover, the ‘sound’ of the DHA V226 was reliably solid whether used as a pure DAC into my usual amplification, connected direct to a power amplifier as a minimal-input preamp where its power amp section plays no part in the proceedings, or as a headphone solution.

In analogue-through mode, admittedly fed from my reference Naim ND555 network player and with the gain DIP switches set to their default 0dB, the DHA V226 provided the kind of transparency that gets fans of passive preamps rather excited, and bringing the onboard DAC into the equation did nothing to dispel this fine performance. For example, with Iiro Rantala’s 2023 Veneziana, recorded live with members of the Berlin Philharmonic [Act Music ACT9971-2], the detail in all the instruments was striking. The balance between soloist and ‘band’ sounded beautifully natural, and the piano was well-weighted without any sense of it being spotlit or unnaturally forced forward.

Yes, using the Naim network player/DAC into the DHA V226’s analogue inputs delivered just that bit more ‘pop’ to the performance, with a more vibrant sense of the concert-hall ambience. However, via the V226’s USB-C input and Violectric’s own internal conversion, the plaudits far outweighed any reservations, even with a mix as dense as the good-time pop of ‘Noel Groove’ from Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album [V2 Records Benelux; 44.1kHz/ 24-bit]. Meanwhile ‘How 2 Dance’ powers along with an unstoppable ’80s groove courtesy of producer Nile Rodgers, who, while able to do this stuff in his sleep, still succeeds in adding to this set’s retro appeal, which sounds more like Duran Duran in its pomp the more you listen.

Heads Up
By this point I was confident the DHA V226 had proved its ability in its ‘side hustle’ as a DAC/preamp, so it was on with the cans and time to examine how well it accomplished its prime directive. Lined up were various models, from the relatively easygoing Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature [HFN Mar ’17], with its big, bold but lush sound even at low levels, to the venerable and late-lamented planar magnetic Oppo PM-1 and Focal Spirit Pro [HFN Dec ’15], the last of these being ruthlessly revealing but, in my experience, prone to sounding a bit brash if under-driven.

The review also coincided with the arrival of Austrian Audio’s oh-so-cultured but also highly analytical The Composer headphone, albeit without the company’s partnering The Perfect Score analogue headphone amp, which at the time of writing was still listed as ‘arriving soon’. No matter: from the off, the headphones from Vienna proved a fine partner for Violectric’s first-rung DAC/headphone amp, especially when hooked up via the balanced connection. This lent the pairing a useful uptick in grip and control to add to the mix of warmth and information in evidence through the usual single-ended 6.35mm socket.