Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 | Portable USB DAC and Preamp with DSP (PEQ, Crossfeed, ...)
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 | Portable USB DAC and Preamp with DSP (PEQ, Crossfeed, ...)
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 is a portable USB DAC that delivers high-resolution audio. It supports PCM up to 32-bit/384 kHz and DSD256, and features advanced DSP capabilities including 10/20-band per-channel Parametric EQ (PEQ), Crossfeed, Frequency Response Correction (FRC, AutoEq headset profiles), and spatial audio processing (Ambiophonics R.A.C.E). It is one highest precision USB DACs in its class according to the Audio Science Review.
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 offers unparalleled flexibility. Use it as a high-precision Preamp to drive your amplifier, or connect your headphones or IEMs directly for immersive listening. Built on a foundation of audiophile expertise with Neutron Music Player development, the Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 offers exceptional sound quality and performance.
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 is a perfect blend of portability and performance. Its compact design belies its powerful capabilities, which can be fine-tuned with the NConfigurator app.
Consider protecting your device with Neutron HiFi™ Case for Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1.
We recommend using Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 with Neutron HiFi™ USB Cables for the best performance.
Free shipping for US$210+ order
Price includes VAT and import duties
Get 10% off Neutron HiFi Isolator V1
Get 10% off 2nd USB cable
If your country is not in the list of destinations, let us know!
Specification
Function | USB-C™ to 3.5 mm headphone jack audiophile audio adapter with extended DSP functionality |
Controller | NXP K-Series |
DAC | ES9219Q |
Digital Input | USB-C™ jack |
Analog Output | 3.5 mm single-ended headphone jack (24K Gold-plated) |
Output Level | 2 Vrms, 1 Vrms (optional) |
Output Impedance | < 0.5Ω |
Frequency Response | Analog performance: 0-300 kHz (all frequency components 0-192 kHz are passed without attenuation at max PCM frequency 384 kHz) |
USB Audio | Asynchronous |
Audio Clock | 2X ultra-low phase noise SPXO: 45.1584 Mhz [44.1, 88.2, 176.4, 352.8 kHz], 49.152 Mhz [48, 96, 192, 384 kHz] |
Channels | 2 (Stereo) |
PCM Bits | 16, 24, 32 |
PCM Frequency | 44100, 48000, 88150, 96000, 176400, 191500, 352800, 384000 |
Native DSD | 64, 128, 256 |
DSD over PCM (DoP) | 64, 128 |
DSP (Sound Effects) | Parametric EQ (20/10-bands, per channel) with Preamp Gain control, Graphic EQ presets, Frequency Response Correction (FRC) with AutoEq database, Crossfeed, Surround (Ambiophonics R.A.C.E.), Lossless Balance, DSP Effect Chaining |
Headset Microphone | Supported (CTIA) |
Headset Buttons | Supported (Play/Pause, Stop, Next/Previous Track, Voice Command, Volume +/-) |
Media Controls | Accelerometer: 2 customizable actions (double tap top/bottom or left/right side) |
OLED Display | Yes, with automatically rotating indication |
Compatibility | USB-C / USB Audio 2.0, Apple iPhone/iPad requires Lightning to USB Camera Adapter for devices with Apple Lightning port |
Firmware Update | Supported (OTA via Configurator utility) |
Color | Silver or Iron Grey |
Dimensions | 50 x 19.9 x 9.6 mm (L x W x H) |
Weight | 13 gr |
Get more details on device's product page.
Share
The Dac sounds great and having autoeq and crossfeed for all audio on your phone or pc is priceless! I recommend this Dac!
I travel quite often. This is the perfect super light weight solution for my needs. They give new life to my custom inears thanks to the peq function. The device is so tiny!
I really wanted to love this product. It has much to recommend it - tiny size, high power HP amp without requiring ext. power, nice display, touch/tap controls, and ability (using NConfigurator app via PC) to accept and store a huge number of DSP personalization settings. I was able to program it to implement my HD800 frequency response tuning.
First - a few words (direct copy from Stereophile Recommended Components 2024 publication):
"Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable. Occasionally we get letters of complaint from manufacturers who object to being included in, say, Class B—but inclusion in Class B is a thing to be proud of.
Class A Best attainable sound for a component of its kind, almost without practical considerations; the least musical compromise. A Class A system is one for which you don't have to make a leap of faith to believe that you're hearing the real thing. When hi-rez became available, we introduced a new Class, A+, for the best performance in those digital categories. Class A now represents the best that can be obtained from 16/44.1 resolution. We also created Class A+ categories for turntables and phono preamps, originally to recognize the achievements of the Continuum Caliburn and Boulder 2008, respectively. More recently, we created Class A+ for headphones.
Class B The next best thing to the very best sound reproduction; Class B components generally cost less than those in Class A, but most Class B components are still quite expensive.
Class C Somewhat lower-fi sound, but far more musically natural than average home-component high fidelity; products in this class are of high quality but still affordable." NOTE - their use of CLASS has nothing to do with amplifier design topology which is a very different topic.
I tested it with 16bit, 44Khz FLAC files ripped from well recorded CD's. I played the files using NEUTRON Player (my go-to player) on an Android phone's micro sD card. The phone digital output was via USB C OTG using the USB cable supplied by each DAC manufacturer. Each DAC/Amp I used for comparison was played thru my Sennheiser HD800 phones.
Compared to my $900 battery powered Group A (rated by me) DAC/amp, the Neutron DAC V1 had slightly less ability to deliver the "space" or "air" sensation separating the instruments and vocals from each other - most noticeable in the low and mid frequencies. It had a faster decay to silence when reproducing the reverberation decay of the sounds in the recording environment - thus losing a little bit of realism.
It is a bit unfair to compare the DAC V1 with a 3x more expensive product - that is 15x heavier (340gm vs 22gm) and 18x bigger as well. I needed a reference system for comparison. I would not hesitate to use the DAC V1 if I was traveling a lot and needed a powerful and small unit with lots of DSP features. Kudos to Dmitry and the Neutron team for a very well designed product.
Stupid good for size and price!! Using with Verum headphones giving outstanding quality of sound ! I don’t have measurements ability, just listening, so I suggest you try for yourself.
Tillman