AudioStream, under new management (Rafe Arnott), has reviewed the jewel in the Aqua line of DACs, the La Voce S3:
https://www.audiostream.com/content/aqua-acoustic-quality-la-voce-s3-discrete-dac-review
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Conclusion With a company-wide focus of hand building DACs in its native Italy, proprietary R2R DAC being fed MOSFET, JFET and BJT for analog and digital DAC power supplies, custom FPGA design, a fully discrete analog stage (no Op-Amps used) dedicated digital and analog power supplies, Galvanic isolation of inputs and construction with RF isolation as a priority coupled with a dictum that puts the natural reproduction of music first and foremost above everything else, Aqua seems to be on a road to music reproduction that I can vibe with. The fact that this, their entry-level offering, has all of these of these features (I’ll let the listed specs below flesh out the rest) bodes well for those looking for more of the same sound quality farther up the company’s line in the La Scala MK II Optologic or Formula xHD DACs. Few DACs at this price point are capable of honestly portraying dynamics, timber, tone and pitch with accuracy while not sacrificing ultimate resolution for the warmth that comes with reproducing the sound of real humans playing music. And even fewer have a built-in upgrade plan in place for future-proofing your investment."
cheers,
Alex
https://www.audiostream.com/content/aqua-acoustic-quality-la-voce-s3-discrete-dac-review
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Conclusion With a company-wide focus of hand building DACs in its native Italy, proprietary R2R DAC being fed MOSFET, JFET and BJT for analog and digital DAC power supplies, custom FPGA design, a fully discrete analog stage (no Op-Amps used) dedicated digital and analog power supplies, Galvanic isolation of inputs and construction with RF isolation as a priority coupled with a dictum that puts the natural reproduction of music first and foremost above everything else, Aqua seems to be on a road to music reproduction that I can vibe with. The fact that this, their entry-level offering, has all of these of these features (I’ll let the listed specs below flesh out the rest) bodes well for those looking for more of the same sound quality farther up the company’s line in the La Scala MK II Optologic or Formula xHD DACs. Few DACs at this price point are capable of honestly portraying dynamics, timber, tone and pitch with accuracy while not sacrificing ultimate resolution for the warmth that comes with reproducing the sound of real humans playing music. And even fewer have a built-in upgrade plan in place for future-proofing your investment."
cheers,
Alex