Onkyo, one of the world’s leading home entertainment specialists released its second generation Digital Audio Player, the Rubato DP-S1. Considerably more compact than the existing award-winning Onkyo DP-X1 model, the DP-S1 is milled from a solid block of aluminium (for durability and rigidity) and boasts Dual ESS SABRE Digital to Analogue converters (ES9018C2M) as well as 16GB of internal memory that’s expandable to 416GB – nearly half a Terabyte – courtesy of twin side-mounted MicroSD card slots.
Rubato DP-S1
Onkyo has placed a particular focus on tailoring and enhancing sound quality for this model. To that end, selected components – including high quality film capacitors – have been employed after careful and extensive listening. The result is a DAP that conveys an uncommon level of rich musicality.
Remarkably at its price point, the DP-S1 also comes with a 2.5mm balanced headphone/line jack as well as a standard 3.5mm unbalanced output, allowing it to power a diverse range of headphone types.
Rubato DP-S1
As you’d expect, the DP-S1 supports an extensive range of digital audio files including MQA (to be activated via a firmware update scheduled in June). Formats that can be handled include DSD 5.6 MHz/2.8 MHz, FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF (up to a maximum of 192 kHz/32-bit), AAC, and MP3. A dual digital clock arrangement (using independent 44.1kHz and 48kHz clocks) drastically reduces jitter noise.
Expanding music options yet further, the DP-S1 incorporates dual-band Wi-Fi (5GHz/2.4GHz) to allow streaming from services such as Tidal and TuneIn (support for further streaming services – including Tidal MQA – will be added in the future).
Rubato DP-S1
Wireless casting of music from the DP-S1 to a home hi-fi system, wireless speaker or car stereo is also straightforward, thanks to the provision of Bluetooth. What’s more, if owners download a free DapController App, they can also control the DP-S1 while it’s in a bag or pocket, simplifying day-to-day use and operation.
Onkyo’s Rubato DP-S1 is available now for $699.
Rubato DP-S1
