Conclusion

The Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC is the best-sounding outboard digital-to-analog converter I’ve heard. The fact that it decodes high-resolution sources of any sampling rate and word length is icing on the cake. Although the Alpha DAC is spectacularly great on CD, this converter really shows its prodigious resolution, dynamic agility, and soundstaging capabilities when fed 176.4kHz/24-bit digital audio. Moreover, the Alpha DAC’s feature set, operation (instant locking to changing sampling rates, for example), and ability to drive a power amplifier directly expands the product’s utility and makes it ideal for the next generation of high-resolution music servers that is just around the corner.

The real story, however, is that this performance and functionality is possible at $4995. Although not inexpensive, the Alpha DAC nonetheless competes with, and outperforms, much more expensive converters. At $5k, the Alpha DAC is a spectacular bargain. It is my outboard converter of choice for both CD and high-resolution sources—regardless of price.