It also comes with a 2ft USB cable and a microfiber draw-string bag which comes in handy for commuting. The deck-of-cards sized D1 is solid with its rounded aluminum housing capped by hard, rubberized front and back panels. The front of the D1 has a lighted on/off button, headphone jack and volume knob. To be honest, I only use the D1 as a desktop device connected to my MacPro using headphones.

It can be paired with a TV, Apple TV, DVD/BluRay player or CD player. There are 3 input options: Standard RCA (red/white) for external speakers, Optical (toslink) and the already mentioned USB. Connect the USB cord, change your sound output setting (if necessary) and you are good to go. Setting up the D1 couldn’t be much easier. It’s unusual to have all that in one product. With so many companies making DACs, what makes Audioengine’s special? Not a whole lot, except that the build quality is really good, it sounds great and the price is affordable. DACs take what’s there and make it “more.” Cymbals can shimmer, bass notes will be crisp instead of muddy, emotion from vocals will sound intimate and involving. If you have higher resolution files in other formats, such as FLAC, AAC or WAV, then a good DAC can bring out more information. They get the job done and if your music collection consists of lower resolution – 128kb or less – MP3s, save your money. The DACs used in iPods, sound cards, etc., are relatively cheap. Music sounds better using an external DAC, period.

OK, then why would you want to spend extra money on a DAC if you already have one in your digital device? That’s easy: Quality. So your iPod, computer soundcard, iPhone or whatever you plug your earbuds into has a DAC.

When you listen to music that comes from a digital source, eventually it will be converted to an analog signal (soundwaves).

Before we get into the review, let’s look at why you might want a DAC at all.

Audioengine d1 dac