Mary told me the other day that people who have our DVA A2D analog to digital converter are incredibly happy with them. This motivated me to say a few words about its origins, explore some of the decisions that went into its design, and answer some relevant questions.
I was an early adopter of the "digital preamplifier" concept -- and by this I mean a DAC with a level control that's connected directly to a power amp. It took some work to get everyone at AVA on board with this idea. But eventually everyone saw the light, and the DVA Digital Preamplifier came into being. As the release of the DVA Digital Preamplifier drew near, we realized there might be people who listen to digital sources primarily but who still have one or two analog ones they want to listen to (say, a phono preamp and a tape deck). To make it easier for these folks to adopt a digital preamplifier setup, I started a skunkworks project to create an inexpensive solution. This became the DVA A2D.
At its core, the DVA A2D is simply an audio analog-to-digital converter (ADC). This means it takes an analog audio input, converts it to digital, and then outputs that digital signal. This hardly makes it remarkable; there are heaps of audio analog-to-digital converter products on the market today. However, a few critical aspects differentiate the DVA A2D from these converters.
First, the DVA A2D is optimized for conventional, single-ended "unbalanced" line level signals found on most of the analog gear that users will want to use use with it. In contrast, nearly all other high-performance audio analog-to-digital converter products target the professional audio sector, which means they are designed to work with "professional" balanced audio signals. Some have additional circuitry that also lets them accept single-ended inputs by placing additional active stages in the signal path.
By designing an ADC that takes only single-ended input signals, we were able to eliminate unnecessary active stages -- along with their attendant colorations. But we're still able to use and fully reap the rewards of the kind of fully differential, reference-quality ADC ICs found in high performance studio and mastering equipment. We do this by using an input stage that's a close cousin of the DVA R2X single-ended to differential converter. It uses the same basic topology but with some clever tricks to implement the DC bias and anti-alias filtering needed by the ADC IC.
Second, the DVA A2D's feature set is laser-focused on the intended application. It was meant for a very specific mission: to provide users of digital preamplifiers an affordable, high-performance means to connect analog sources to their systems. Because of this, it has only a coaxial S/PDIF output. This sometimes catches people out. The lack of a USB or other interface isn't an oversight. It's by design.
Third, the DVA A2D costs a fraction of typical professional high-performance audio ADCs. We were able to do this by a combination of the first and second items above. In other words, the entire product budget was put into serving the one single role it was intended to serve.
With the DVA A2D, I was hoping to achieve a level of performance that merely made it possible for music lovers with digital preamplifiers to listen to analog sources without being offended. Instead, we ended up with an analog preamplification chain (DVA A2D → DVA Digital Preamplifier) that rivals a majority of fully analog preamps. It's really hard to convince people of this until they hear it for themselves.
If you've been putting off making the digital preamplifier leap because you don't want to leave your records or tapes behind, you don't have to. Put your digital prejudices aside and listen with an open mind. The DVA A2D can open up worlds of sound for you.
Q&A
Q: Does the DVA A2D work only with the DVA Digital Preamplifier?
Not at all. If you're using someone else's DAC as a digital preamplifier and have a spare coaxial S/PDIF input, you can use the DVA A2D to listen to your analog sources.
Q: I have a DAC with an analog input. I don't need a DVA A2D, right?
It depends. The ADCs built into DACs that have them typically have mediocre performance. If you want improved sound, the DVA A2D might be for you.
Q: Can't I simply use a "prosumer" audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 as an ADC in a digital preamplifier setup?
There are a few issues with this. First, prosumer audio interfaces typically provide only USB connections. Since neither prosumer interfaces nor typical DACs function as a USB host, connecting the two via USB is problematic. Second, if you do manage to connect them, it will eat up the precious USB input on the DAC. Third, prosumer audio interfaces are designed for cost, and it shows in their performance. While they typically deliver impressive noise figures, their linearity tends to suffer, especially at the frequency extremes. In short, the DVA A2D will be much easier to use and sound better.
Q: Can I use the DVA A2D to record things to my computer?
To do this, you'll need something to convert the DVA A2D's S/PDIF output to USB, unless your computer is a rarity and has an S/PDIF input.
Q: Why, then, doesn't the DVA A2D have a USB output?
We covered this above. The DVA A2D is laser-focused on its intended application so we could deliver it at a reasonable cost. Adding a USB interface would have raised the price considerably.
