REVIEW

HI-FI WORLD

Finding one’s Voce

Martin Pipe examines a very unusual

DAC from Italy.

W
hen designing a digital that boasts a range of interesting at least three other firms (MSB, Holo
audio product like a concepts – modular construction, Audio and Denafrips) making them.
streamer, CD player electromagnetic isolation of the Claimed reproductive advantages
or DAC it’s com- DAC circuitry with Optologic, the include a more immediate and open
mon to use bought- rejection of op-amps in the signal character.
in components to path, specially-developed timing La Voce, like its siblings, has
perform the critical function of chains and much more... that proprietary AQlink among its
converting digital data into analogue. La Voce, now into its ‘S3’ four inputs. The other three are
Companies like Burr-Brown/TI, incarnation, represents the most ‘modular’ (the review sample was
Cirrus, ESS, Analog Devices and cost-effective way of buying into fitted with an XLR for AES/EBU,
Wolfson specialise in designing chips this approach. Previous DAC boards although alternatives like optical can
for this task, pouring millions of dol- available for La Voce include DAC be specified), S/PDIF (BNC, rather
lars into their development. chips like the Burr-Brown PCM1704, than phono) and ‘bit-perfect’ USB for
But some companies prefer to Analog Devices AD1865 and even Class 2 computer audio. Analogue
design their own digital converters the Philips TDA1541A. But now the outputs are available in balanced XLR
in-house. In the UK, the best known La Voce has its own incarnation of and unbalanced phono form.
are Chord Electronics and dCS with an Aqua-developed multi-bit DAC True to Aqua’s word, the
their Ring DAC (they also came up that is fashioned from discrete analogue audio circuitry relies on
with DoP), whilst Prism Audio take components and underpins the firm’s transistors rather than op-amps for
a hybrid approach, hitching circuitry more exclusive La Scala (£5,990) and its capacitor-free signal path. Separate
to specific sections of a commercial Formula xHD (£11,990) converters. power supplies – each fed from a
DAC chip. It uses a technique, known as the dedicated toroidal mains transformer
And now, from Italy, we have ‘R-2R ladder’, that harks back to the – are provided for the analogue and
the mysterious Aqua (‘Acoustic very early days of digital-to-analogue digital sections. There’s no means
Quality’), who hail from Milan. conversion. At 16 or 24-bit resolution (front-panel LEDs, etc.) of confirming
Their £3,395 La Voce DAC I am it’s difficult to achieve required sample rate of the currently-selected
reviewing here. In appearance it's precision, meaning non-linearity – in source. La Voce is compatible with
very much the archetypical audiophile other words, distortion. In stereo, DSD64 and DSD128 (all inputs
product – substantial build quality, channels commonly differ for the support DoP), and PCM all the way
and an elegant aluminium frontage same reason. to 384kHz/24-bit. No MQA, though.
sporting the bare minimum of Modern delta-sigma DACs have
controls (power, input selection addressed the problem, but practical SOUND QUALITY
and digital-phase inversion). La Voce DACs built around discrete R-2R I used the Cambridge CXN V2
is the entry level model in a range ladders remain available – there are streamer I review elsewhere in this

HI-FI WORLD AUGUST 2018 www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

 REVIEW

Orchestra/Evgeni Svetlanov, CD rip)

HI-FI WORLD
a satisfying degree of musical scale
and space. It tended towards the
bright; I suspect that’s more down
to a recording over half a century
in vintage, than a vintage DAC
philosophy successfully brought up to
date.

CONCLUSION
Congratulations to Aqua for daring
to be different – and succeeding.
Although this unusual DAC design
doesn’t measure particularly well,
it’s an engaging listen from the
At bottom-right is the R-2R DAC board - count those resistors! outset – the claimed advantage of
Underneath it is a powerful DSD chip that does decoding and 'old-fashioned' ladder DACs. I was
conversion of serial data into the parallel form needed by the impressed and feel it is well worth
DAC section. auditioning.
Also, modular design ensures
issue (connected to La Voce via Cracked (Sleep Games, CD rip) that La Voce should be able to
coaxial digital) and a USB-interfaced and Mogwai’s Remurdered (Rave accommodate DAC fashions and
Windows 7 PC as sources. You have Tapes, 24-bit) were all resolved technological changes in music-
to download the Windows drivers, distinctively; the latter track’s drums delivery technology, for as long as
which also include a control panel and cymbal-crashes sounded clean, Aqua decides to support it.
program, from the Aqua website. with no sound of
Regrettably, there’s nothing in the overload. Orchestral
rather-inadequate manual to explain work also fares
how to set up playback software well, La Voce
like Foobar2000 (free) and JRiver managing to tease
Media Center (commercial) for use out of an archive
with the La Voce. I couldn’t find any (1967) Soviet-era
information on the firm’s website, performance of La Voce has four inputs, the AQLink being for their own trans-
either. Tchaikovsky's port. An optical connector would find more favour! In our review
Output was fed to an Arcam Fourth Symphony sample, the modular input is AES/EBU – you also get S/PDIF and
A49 integrated amplifier, driving (USSR Symphony asynchronous USB.
a pair of Quadral Aurum Wotan
VIII floorstanders – I also used
headphones.
MEASURED PERFORMANCE
Via its BNC socket S/PDIF digital input outputs (-60dB, 24bit) – around 10x
Test results for La Voce are
the La Voce produced 0.28% / 0.15% more than common and unbalanced
not inspiring, but in my view it’s
distortion from Left / Right channel between channels, via both XLR and
worth moving to a DAC that
Phono socket outputs. Input via AES/EBU
measures relatively-poorly if there’s a
FREQUENCY RESPONSE offered no improvement.
perceptible sonic advantage.
Dynamic range (EIAJ) was as a
And La Voce definitely delivers
that! One thing this converter has
result low, measuring at 104dB (Left) AQUA LA VOCE S3
above all else is energy, as tracks like
and 107dB (Right), little better than CD £3,395
(103dB) and well below the 115dB or so
David Bowie’s ‘Tis a Pity She Was a
common nowadays for hi-res, let alone
Whore (24-bit) amply demonstrate. EXCELLENT - extremely
117dB-123dB of top DACs.
Excitement abounds; in comparison, capable
Frequency response measured flat
the admittedly much-cheaper
to 51kHz (192kHz sample rate); there is
Cambridge player (attached to VERDICT
no optical input so frequency response Good sound, different from
another of the Arcam’s numerous line
wasn’t an issue. the norm.
inputs) sounds rather restrained and DISTORTION Output measured 5.5V from the XLR
polite. The more reflective track that FOR
(balanced) socket outputs and 2.6V from
follows it on Blackstar, Lazarus, also - energetic and musical sound
the phono socket (unbalanced) outputs.
engages the senses while acting as a - a beautifully-made modular
The Aqua measured poorly by design
showcase for La Voce’s other talents.
current standards, exhibiting high
Its presentation here is very detailed,
distortion and low dynamic range. NK AGAINST
and it’s easy to follow the sax line - no visual confirmation of
while the percussion thrashes away in Frequency response (-1dB) input signal type
the background. - no filter options
8Hz-51kHz
The individual atmospheres - documentation needs
Distortion (-60dB, 24bit) 0.28% improvement
and lush synthetic tones of Boards Separation (1kHz) 95dB
of Canada’s Reach for the Dead Noise (IEC A) -104dB Elite Audio
(Tomorrow’s Harvest, CD rip), Pye Dynamic range (EIAJ) 106dB +44 (0)1334 570 66
Corner Audio’s The Mirror Ball Output (XLR/Phono) 5.5V / 2.6V www.eliteaudiouk.com

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk AUGUST 2018 HI-FI WORLD