AshKI was impressed with Firestone Audio’s Fubar 2 USB DAC when I reviewed it (review here) and now I’m angling to get my hands on the Spitfire MkII, now available in a Christmas box at $499, which makes it only a hundred bucks more than the Fubar 2.
What’s the difference? Unlike the 16 bit USB only Fubar 2, the Spitfire MkII handles USB (16bit) as well as coaxial and optical digital signals (at up to 24/96 resolution). A neat feature of the Spitfire MkII is the front mounted power switch, which saves rooting around the back if you’re one of those types who turns everything off. It also has the op-amp mounted in an 8-pin socket to allow for easy op-amp rolling, which while it isn’t as sexy as tube rolling does offer the tweakers some room to fiddle.
This type of low priced DAC is changing the way I think about digital sources – the source can now be cheaper than the interconnects in a system and it can still sound great, which would spin the head of most Linn devotees.
I’ve got a review unit coming, seeing as Gary Pearce has scarfed up the Moon 100D DAC for himself.
