This is a review and detailed measurements of the Music Hall Dac15.2 audio DAC. It is on kind loan from a member that sent it to me back in spring of this year! For one reason or the other (mostly because he didn't complain ), it has been sitting in a box until now. The Dac15.2 is an older product which I think came out in 2013. I still see it on sale though. The cost is around US $200.
From the outside, the DAC doesn't distinguish itself from myriad of other DACs other than the brown color of the fonts which look kind of nice:
Here is the back panel:
The main unusual thing is S/PDIF out which is not always seen on such DACs.
Power is provided by a heavy 12 volt, 1 amp external brick. This day and age it would have used a switching power supply.
Despite its age, the Dac15.2 was plug and play with Windows. And contrary to what the manual says, it was happy playing 192 kHz sampling rate.
DAC Audio Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard of 1 kHz full amplitude tone:
The Dac15.2 uses TI PCM1796 spec and achieves its THD+N right on the money. This places it in the competent category of all DACs tested:
I am not too happy about that spike at 120 Hz which indicates power supply noise. That hurts the noise performance of the unit as it almost rises to the level of harmonic distortions. Luckily we don't hear too well in low frequencies so it is not an audible concern.
Speaking of noise, here is our dynamic range:
We are not close to matching chip specs which likely used a much cleaner power supply. Still, what is there is ample good enough for everyday use.
Intermodulation distortion+noise shows slightly elevated noise level relative to our reference DAC but otherwise good:
Jitter test shows a lot of interference sources but levels are way too low to worry about:
Linearity follows the same class of performance:
As does our 32-tone test:
Filter response is not programmable and pretty standard for what comes in DAC chips by default:
THD+N versus frequency shows much higher levels than it should:
This test uses 90 kHz bandwidth (the dashboard uses 22.4 kHz). So let's look at that broader spectrum and see what is going on:
Ah, we see classic rise noise level due to "noise shaping" used in the DAC. In brief, noise from audible band is pushed out to ultrasonic/inaudible band. And that hurts the measurement and the eye, but not the ear.
Conclusions
Despite its age, the Music Hall Dac15.2 turns in competent performance showing that even back then, one could design a good DAC. Today, it is not competitive with much more optimized designs we see at even lower prices. So for new purchases, I suggest looking elsewhere. If you have one though, or can find one used at low price, then it is a good option.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Tomorrow we have to take all the panthers to the vet for their annual check up. They are going to charge us extra money because the panthers don't move so it is hard to examine them. In short, it is going to cost a fortune so I appreciate you all donating using : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
From the outside, the DAC doesn't distinguish itself from myriad of other DACs other than the brown color of the fonts which look kind of nice:
The main unusual thing is S/PDIF out which is not always seen on such DACs.
Power is provided by a heavy 12 volt, 1 amp external brick. This day and age it would have used a switching power supply.
Despite its age, the Dac15.2 was plug and play with Windows. And contrary to what the manual says, it was happy playing 192 kHz sampling rate.
DAC Audio Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard of 1 kHz full amplitude tone:
The Dac15.2 uses TI PCM1796 spec and achieves its THD+N right on the money. This places it in the competent category of all DACs tested:
I am not too happy about that spike at 120 Hz which indicates power supply noise. That hurts the noise performance of the unit as it almost rises to the level of harmonic distortions. Luckily we don't hear too well in low frequencies so it is not an audible concern.
Speaking of noise, here is our dynamic range:
We are not close to matching chip specs which likely used a much cleaner power supply. Still, what is there is ample good enough for everyday use.
Intermodulation distortion+noise shows slightly elevated noise level relative to our reference DAC but otherwise good:
Jitter test shows a lot of interference sources but levels are way too low to worry about:
Linearity follows the same class of performance:
As does our 32-tone test:
Filter response is not programmable and pretty standard for what comes in DAC chips by default:
THD+N versus frequency shows much higher levels than it should:
This test uses 90 kHz bandwidth (the dashboard uses 22.4 kHz). So let's look at that broader spectrum and see what is going on:
Ah, we see classic rise noise level due to "noise shaping" used in the DAC. In brief, noise from audible band is pushed out to ultrasonic/inaudible band. And that hurts the measurement and the eye, but not the ear.
Conclusions
Despite its age, the Music Hall Dac15.2 turns in competent performance showing that even back then, one could design a good DAC. Today, it is not competitive with much more optimized designs we see at even lower prices. So for new purchases, I suggest looking elsewhere. If you have one though, or can find one used at low price, then it is a good option.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Tomorrow we have to take all the panthers to the vet for their annual check up. They are going to charge us extra money because the panthers don't move so it is hard to examine them. In short, it is going to cost a fortune so I appreciate you all donating using : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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