Introducing EL DAC II+ Balanced

EL DAC II+ Balanced pairs with EL Amp II+ Balanced, running on our latest XMOS based UAC2 engine with ASIO support for both PCM and DSD. Its balanced outputs are in addition to single-ended RCA outputs, giving you the flexibility to connect to any amplifier.

Firmware

EL DAC II+ Balanced arrives loaded with our latest firmware branch v2.1.0, with support for all major operating systems:

Version 2.1.0 is a complete overhaul containing updated core USB and I2C libraries, improved USB host error handling, faster mode detection, auto S/PDIF emphasis, and general improvements to master clock handling.

Please Note: EL DAC II+ Balanced requires different harmonic tuning values compared to the default EL DAC II+. Tuning values are defined in firmware. While it’s safe to install EL DAC II+ firmware on an EL DAC II+ Balanced or vice-versa, doing so will alter tuning. All DACs ship with latest firmware, meaning no updates are necessary upon delivery.

Performance

Adding balanced outputs to EL DAC II+ leaves performance similar to the default version, with a slight increase in SINAD via the TRS outputs.

EL DAC II+ Balanced
Frequency Response, 20Hz-20kHz +/- 0.12dB
SINAD @ 1kHz, 20-22.4kHz, TRS Output > 113 dB
THD+N, 20Hz-20kHz < 0.0004%
SNR, 20Hz-20kHz > 120 dB
IMD CCIF, 19/20 kHz -6 dBFS -115 dB
Noise, A-Weighted -110 dBV
Dynamic Range, AES17, A-Weighted 122 dB
Linearity Error -90 dBFS +/-0.02 dB
Crosstalk, 1kHz, 100k Input -122 dB @ 200k
USB Jitter Components @ 12kHz -129 dB
Maximum Single-Ended Output (RCA) 2 VRMS
Maximum Balanced Output (TRS) 4 VRMS

 

EL DAC II+ Balanced SINAD @ 1kHz, TRS Outputs

As noted above, THD compensation is tuned for the Balanced TRS Outputs, meaning RCA Outputs perform a few dB differently in terms of SINAD (inaudible!). If you intend to use the RCA Outputs exclusively, optimal THD tuning can be set by loading v2.1.0 firmware for the default EL DAC II+.

Availability

EL DAC II+ Balanced can be found in the dropdown options menu on the EL DAC II+ page. Inventory is limited, with more arriving in June!

4 thoughts on “Introducing EL DAC II+ Balanced”

  1. I’d love to see a future El DAC with more inputs. Hard to find a reasonably priced DAC with good performance that has >1 TOSLINK input. Just something I hope you’d consider one day !

  2. Dear JDS-Team,

    since the balanced EL DAC II+ needs a different harmonic tuning via firmware than the unbalanced/Bluetooth version, would recommend flashing the unbalanced/Bluetooth firmware when i aim to use RCA outputs to a tube amp?
    Or is it possible to have harmonic tuning based on output?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Mario – The difference in THD compensation parameters is inaudible (only a couple dB impact on SINAD), so I would not worry about flashing firmware for short-term mode changes.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.