Resonessence Labs Concero HD REDUCED PRICE

Wonder ful small DAC with outstanding sound. Originally $850.. Read the reviews it sounds wonderful. Reduced price !

Conclusions

Is the Concero HD perfect? Of course not. If it was, Resonessence Labs would have little success in selling their nearly-six-times-more-expensive Invicta. Yet it remains blindingly impressive for the price and especially for the size. Any weaknesses it may have are subtractive rather than glaring – I could always do with more low-end texture, better instrument separation, more immersive soundstage, more air up top… that’s just the greedy, insatiable nature of our hobby. But none of those areas are weak spots in the first place, and taken on its own the Concero HD is highly enjoyable. It’s detailed enough to do justice to good recordings but not so detailed that it becomes obnoxious. Or, put another way, it keeps the Resonessense Labs house sound I find so appealing in the Invicta.

As it stands, I see but a few conceivable stumbling blocks for the potential customer. First, the amount and type of inputs. If you absolutely need multiple coax inputs, or other types like Toslink and AES/EBU, well, obviously the little Concero HD won’t cut it. It’s a highly focused design and it does what it does very well, but I can see how it wouldn’t be adequate for some users. Second, the existence of the original Concero is a bit of an interesting situation. It’s quite good in its own right, and folks without very high quality ancillary equipment might not take full advantage of the difference. Don’t get me wrong — the HD is clearly superior to the original, but it takes a reasonably good system to appreciate the full extent of the improvement. The original retains much of the charm of this new model, and for second (or third?) systems or folks on a budget it could be all the DAC that’s necessary. Still, if you can spring for it, the HD is superior in sound and more future-proof in terms of DSD support.

So let’s recap for a minute here. Concero HD. Tiny USB powered DAC with bleeding edge ESS Sabre chip, advanced format support, selectable upsampling with proprietary filters, excellent build quality, and bonus USB to SPDIF functionality. All for under a grand. Its simplicity and size make it highly transportable, while its sound quality makes it plenty capable for home use. Another giant slayer from Resonessence Labs? Absolutely.

Highly recommended.