Audiophile Product Of The Year Awards 2003 by the
Enjoy the Music.com™ Staff

Dodson DA-218 DAC
Price: $8,800

Ralph Dodson is throwing down the gauntlet to…SACD and DVD-A. He asserts that standard 44.1 KHz CDs reproduced through the DA-218 are sonically at least equivalent to the newer formats.... All input digital signals — 32, 44.1, 48 or 88.2 KHz — are upsampled to 96 kHz and the oversampled to 768 kHz and 24-bit word length... a signal-to-noise ratio of -117dB. The music emerges out of infinite 'blackness'. There is none of the slight bleaching of harmonics that signals my subconscious that I am listening to CD... I am filled with admiration for its phenomenal sound and uncompromising execution. The DA-218 has enough processing power and parts upgradeability to accommodate high-bit-rate digital formats in the future. The thing is addictive, and I am [loving] the sonic refurbishing of my CDs. -- Wayne Donnelly