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"Best Budget DAC" - What Hi-fi? Magazine, "Awards 2010" Issue
"One of the Very Best Around"
Soon after the birth of the CD player, Arcam was the very first company to add an outboard digital-to-analog converter as a sonic upgrade. Not only was the result a dramatic increase in sound quality, but Arcam’s ‘black box’ DAC went on to define a whole new product category that revolutionized digital audio playback. In recent years digital files and streaming audio have widely broadened the appeal of the outboard DAC. In response, Arcam has underlined its position at the forefront of this technology with the new rDac.
The rDac's sleek cast aluminum casework hides the very latest digital conversion using, at its core, the outstanding 24-bit, 192 kHz 8741 IC from Wolfson Microelectronics. Offering coaxial, optical or USB digital inputs the rDac renders music with stunning accuracy and delivers a performance of thrilling musicality.
"To sum up: handsome styling, great USB performance… Recommended," notes John Marks in the December 2011 issue of Stereophile magazine.
"A Must-Audition Product"
"This outstanding digital-to-analogue converter sound superb with plenty of media friendly inputs," notes England's What Hi-fi? magazine, which honored the rDAC the title of "Best Budget DAC" in its "Awards 2010" issue. "The market's not short of little DACs ready to bring your digital music collection to life. The rDAC, though, is one of the very best around: built sturdily, specified generously and, crucially, sounding every penny of the asking price."
"If you are in the process of going 'post CD' in your current system, then the rDAC is a must-audition product," reports Ed Selley in Issue 338 of Hi-fi Choice magazine. "It is able to achieve excellent results with computer audio and the lack of fuss or hassle – making it work with a variety of computers – bodes well for widespread compatibility."
"Three Big Things Going for It"
"The Arcam rDAC has three big things going for it, very good sonic performance, reasonable price, and great exterior design," says Chris Connaker in his November 22, 2010 review for Computer Audiophile. "The rDAC should be a really nice addition to nearly all computer audiophile's systems."
Asynchronous USB Technology
Internet radio, set-top boxes, and game stations receive a dramatic increase in sound quality via the rDAC’s coaxial or optical inputs. PCs and Mac computers running music programs such as iTunes or Windows Media Player can feed the rDac via its USB input; special re-clocking circuitry has been deployed almost eliminating the jitter (timing inaccuracies) and noise usually associated with music in the computer environment.
To achieve this Arcam has teamed up with dCS (Data Conversion Systems), licensing their Asynchronous USB Technology. The dCS technology allows a precision clock to drastically reduce the level of jitter from USB music sources and deliver a massive improvement in sound quality over the standard USB 'adaptive' system. The design of precision clock circuits and general digital and analog audio engineering are some of Arcam's key strengths. The results from the highly affordable rDac are stunning regardless of the digital audio source.
Wireless Version of rDAC
A wireless version of the rDac, the rDac / KW is also available, ready to be connected to the rWave wireless USB dongle or rWand iPad/iPod dongle. These helpful accessories enable music to be sent wirelessly to your audio system from a laptop or mobile music device via the rDac. The internal wireless receiver also features dCS technology and offers music lovers with large stored collections a level of performance that was previously only available from expensive audiophile systems. | 
