NuForce DAC80

Named The Absolute Sound’s 2016 Editors’ Choice and “one of the products that should be on anyone short list,” the NuForce DAC80 is built to extract every bit of nuance and detail from your digital music collection. It has the sleek, minimalist design of its predecessor, the original DAC100, with an improved noise floor that provides a silent background for your tunes to shine against. Along with support for virtually all file formats up to 192 kHz/24-bit PCM, it offers three different connectivity options and the capability to connect to four devices at the same time.

At the heart of the DAC80 is an audio-grade toroidal transformer, which delivers stable, low-noise power to the audio boards with virtually no jitter. The convenient rotary volume control offers extremely precise channel tracking, with a 32-bit dynamic range that eliminates loss of low-level resolution. Finally, the analog buffer preamp stage—combined with top-quality parts and a full 2.0 Vrms signal level at the RCA outputs—ensures only the purest analog music signals will be present in your preamplifier.

Audioholics says, "One of the most beautiful sounds, possibly ever, is hearing the DAC80 automatically switch from 16-bit/44 kHz when one of your standard FLAC files is playing, to 24/192 when it detects a high-resolution audio file. It gives off a satisfying audible snap, letting you know it’s switching to different modes to facilitate the higher res.” To learn more about the NuForce DAC80, read the full review.