P-0.8 Dac

The "self-declared" claim in terms of musical quality is not at all modest, when compared with German manufacturing, as evidenced by the tests and tests of recent years. So I was really impressed with the sound of the Eco-Line amplifier, despite being so cheap. At the last high-end, the CEO of Audio Exclusive, Andreas Schönberg, showed the "pre-series" version of a new two-part preamplifier, which will be built with enormous attention and attention to detail. 
But we have to wait a while for that. It is absolutely appreciated if a high-end manufacturer decides to use its know-how within the economic range. In fact it is in this segment that we find the D / AP converter 0.8. Thefirst Digital-Analog converter Built in the territory of Hesse, it is technically very similar to the Classic-Line P 8 CD player converter, in which the conductors influence the sounds. This impressed me a lot in the fall of 2014, when I tested it, as soon as it arrived on the market. 
A technical choice requires the installation of USB drivers. Some are included on the CD, others are to be downloaded from the Web.

Aesthetically P 0.8 is small, simple and functional, despite being of high quality. This is also due to the solid and brushed aluminum front. On the back are the switches, which are also mounted on an aluminum body, creating a beautiful image. The whole body is made up of a metal profile, which allows a very good cooling phase also thanks to the specific fins. 
We find a small catch in the power cord that is integrated and non-removable, and is also ungrounded.

" As an audio enthusiast, you need to immediately set the power cord optimization option "; this is a choice that the head of Audio Exclusive, Andreas Schoenberg, and his developer had to block with the red pencil to contain the price. 
I have known Andreas Schönberg for a few years and I know that he and his team use extensive hearing tests to find out if it is necessary to make an effort on one device and how far the austerity choices can impact. With this assumption, I can swallow the cable toad, especially looking at P 0.8; everyone will realize that a power outlet is not at the center of expectations. This becomes even clearer when lifting the upper part of the metal housing, only after loosening each of the two front and rear Allen screws. The P 0.8 components are well structured. The power supply consists of a majestic transformer and large network capacitors with generously sized filter capacities.
The boards favor current flow with 105 micron thick copper conductors. Andreas Schoenberg and his developer attach great importance to the [starting phase]. This in P 0.8 is a sign of discrete construction, unlike what happens in low-cost amplifiers. The Class A circuit is equipped with high quality and tolerance coupling capacitors. They cost a lot, but they are musically better and consequently it is an important and inevitable choice. Finally, the reference of this stage is the counterpart equipped with valves in the P 8 CD player. 
4 digital inputs are available. Three can be used at the same time, because it is selected via an internal jumperbetween the Toslink cable and the S / PDIF coaxial.

P 0.8 is not an upsampler. It processes the PCM signal up to 24 bit / 192 kHz as it receives through one of the three inputs, without converting it. At the entrance, a Crystal Cirrus CS 8416 minimizes the audio flow with its precise timing. He then receives the signal for conversion to analog via the Burr-Brown PCM 1793 conversion chip.
The three rear inputs for the digital input signal are: USB, S / PDIF coaxial and Toslink. If you don't need the Toslink input - it makes sense for TV receivers due to galvanic isolation -, I recommend the second coaxial S / PDIF input always on the back side of the device. In this case a jumper must be inserted in the device. The variant can be ordered with the purchase of P 0.8, and is always a reversible option. One of the switches behind it acts as a selector for the three inputs. The two toggle switches are responsible for the mains current and completely separate the DAC from the network.
The USB input module comes from the Italian firm M2Tech, for many years one of the consolidated manufacturers in the field of Digital-Analog conversion with its own wide range of devices. The USB port, together with the appropriate driver, also processes PCM up to 24 bit / 192 kHz. This M2Tech module does not have Plug-and-Play, therefore it requires the installation of the correct software.

We can easily find it from the M2Tech website in the support section . It should be noted that some drivers are already present in the converter via the supplied CD. Users of the Apple system with the El Capitan operating system will not find any driver available, because M2Tech does not currently support Apple development; you can read on the support section of M2Tech at the link http://lnx.m2tech.biz/support/ that currently are not in a position to give any support and no definitive driver.

Things are better for Windows. It is currently updated and supplied with drivers for Windows 10 even up to the Creator Upgrade. The only thing to do is to disable the Exklusiv-Audio access mode from the sound control panel. After a while you get used to the three front LEDs while in operation. When P 0.8 is connected to a USB port on a PC or to a streamer that is turned on, the red LED on the USB lights up. This happens even when the converter is switched off and the corresponding power LED is not lit. It is irritating that the red block LED indicates the function for S / PDIF and Toslink but not for USB access. When one knows it and gets used to it, it no longer matters. In any case, it is easy to forgive some extravagances of P 0.8 as soon as you hear the result you are giving.

I started with the main CD player, connected via S / PDIF. It almost makes me uncomfortable to have to write about my enthusiasm for low-priced Audio Exclusive equipment repeatedly. I'm afraid it can almost undermine my credibility, but Dirk Sommer, who prefers to take care of the most expensive components, has no such different feelings for this producer. The Audio-Exklusiv electronics that I have been able to hear in recent years has exceeded my expectations very much. This is true for the P 0.8 which is not only good, but more so: the enthusiasm comes as much from the musical flow as from the dynamics, the absence of its own fingerprint in the sound, such a clean sound design and the fact of being successful to arrive at the "qualitative point required", in an almost unexpected way.

But let's keep our feet on the ground! Compared to the higher-end DAC like my Audio-gd, three times more expensive, something is missing in detail resolution. 
One hears, for example, the clapping of hands in "The Beat Goes On" in Patricia Barber's Companion album. Only once the P 0.8 is back in play, do you lose the details you just heard on the other DAC, because the musical coherence prevails over the P 0.8 You can't just relax, no, the music experiences an exciting vivacity with this Audio converter Exklusiv.

To explore the capabilities of the converter, I put the Mutec MC-3 + Smart Clock into play. Also, I let my Primare CD player work on the Mutec AES-EBU input both via USB and then with my Mac mini with Audirvana. These components have been combined with high-quality AES / EBU and SPDIF cables from JIB-Boaacoustic and USB AudioQuest Diamond with Audioquest Jitterbug.

This effort greatly exceeds the price of the converter and the result obtained was very pleasant. The small Audio Exclusive had no problems making this investment "audible". The sound gain I heard was extraordinary. Thus, the musical quality of P 0.8 depends very much on its users. When I, for the comparison, tried with my Audio-gd the piano concertos of Beethoven 1 and 3 with Ronald Brautigam on the grand piano, the reproduction obtained using the P 0,8 liked me better, because the orchestra was so powerful and rich, with structure and musical flow in the room, anyway, this converter, regardless of the musical genre it has to elaborate, seems to dominate the perfect times. The gd audio sounded slightly "boring" with Beethoven, reproduced the orchestra less warmly. So on this CD the Audio Exclusive seemed to be a little more authentic.

If you want to invest more than the required for the P 0.8, or 669 euros, I can imagine that buying the Mutec Clock, for about 1000 euros, makes more sense than spending the money for another more expensive converter. When I listened again to the resynchronized signal of "The Beat Goes On" by Patricia Barber, clapping was more detailed and very credible in terms of timbre. Incidentally, when using the Mutec all Apple users are not restricted regardless of the operating system they use. The Mutec also serves the P 0.8 with high resolution PCM formats and DSD in the appropriate 24-bit / 192 kHz resolution. Both from a technical and sound point of view, the two form an exceptional duo and "know" how to make music with enthusiasm.

STATEMENT

Once again, Audio Exklusiv has managed to launch a low-cost device that impresses with its sound. Judging from his musical abilities, the P 0.8 is a real bargain that deserves to get into the game with better components.

Listened with

Computer Asus Laptop U53Jc with Windows 10 Creator, Apple MacMini with OS X El Capitan, Audirvana Plus 3 and Qobuz 
Clock Mutec MC-3 + Smart Clock USB 
Converter -DA Antelope Zodiac plus, Audio-gd Master 7, Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 
CD -Player Primare DVD 30 
Audio-gd preamp Master 9 
Finale for bass: two Primare A-32, for medium-high: Air Tight ATM-3 or Spectral DMA-100 
Speaker Triangle Grand Concert
Audioquest Diamond or Carbon USB accessories, Audioquest Jitterbug, JIB-Boaacoustic Silver Digital Carbon SPDIF and Silver Digital Krypton AES / EBU, In-Acoustic Black & White NF-1302, Audio-gd NF Cinch and XLR, QED Genesis Silver Spiral LS with Enacom LS, MudrAcoustics Max Ciabatta, Mudra, pure copper AHP fuses, Groneberg wall sockets, mbakustik room absorber 
Creakive Audio cabinets with absorbent floors, finite element pads, basic dCd audio

Manufacturer's directions

Audio Exklusiv P 0.8 
Frequency response from 5 Hz to 20 kHz (-2dB) 
Noise ratio dBu 98.5 dB 
Noise ratio dBu 96.3 dB filtered 
0.025% distortion 
Power consumption 2 Watts 
Size 120 L x 190 P x 69 H mm 
Weight 1.2 kg