Bel Canto e1X DAC/Control Preamplifier

STREAMING D/A PREAMPLIFIER

- JOHN ATKINSON

My late father-in-law used to say that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the quicker it passes. I was reminded of that when I was asked to review Bel Canto’s new e1X DAC/Control Preamplifier ($6800). It didn’t seem that long ago that I favorably reviewed the Minnesota company’s e.One DAC3, but Google told me that it was 15 years ago! “Other than the jitter performance via its USB input, the Bel Canto e.One DAC3 is the best-measuring digital component I have encountered,” I wrote in November 2007,1 adding that it “offers some impressive audio engineering in both the digital and analog domains.”

The e1X DAC

The first product from Bel Canto’s e1X series to be reviewed in Stereophile was the e1X power amplifier, in June 2020, which got a thumbs-up from Tom Gibbs.2 The e1X DAC was shown at the 2019 AXPONA,3 but production was delayed by pandemic supply-chain issues. A sample became available for review in the spring of 2022. of 2022. The e1X DAC is a smart looking, full-width component in looking, full-width component in a black-anodized aluminum case. The front panel features a large, rectangular, white-on-black alphanumeric display, a control knob, and a 1/4" headphone jack. The rear panel features AES3, coaxial and optical S/PDIF, and USB digital inputs as well as a UPnP/ DLNA-compatible Ethernet port. The USB and Ethernet ports support MQA-encoded data and DSD data in the DoP format (DSD64 via the network connection; DSD64 and ’128 with the USB port). There is also a USB-A port for plugging in a FAT32formatted drive.