See entire thread at www.my-hiend.com – link here

ADL Esprit DAC and Digital Preamplifier Review

….Furutech under their ADL line has produced a winner with the Esprit!  by George de Sa

Audio-head H118 website review

Audio-head H118 video review

Audition the H118 headphones and X1 portable amp/DAC in Hall 3 C14

See you there!

Stereophile comments here

ADL—Alpha Design Labs—a bargain division of Furutech, arrived at AXPONA complete with the ADL H118 headphones ($299) and ADL X1 portable 24/192 USB DAC and headphone amp ($550). The latter, which supports Apple’s iOS and Android digital at up to 16/48 for iPods, iPhones and iPads, and runs 24/192 S/PDIF with high-resolution files from a PC, comes complete with a Li-ion battery that lasts 80 hours before recharging. Expect its appearance in early May.

Audio-head comments here

Alpha Design Labs brought along the yet unreleased X1 portable USB DAC and headphone amplifier.  This 24/192 asynchronous DAC is capable of translating the digital signal from an iDevice from either the traditional 30 pin or the new Lighting connection.  The DAC can also act as a USB to S/PDIF converter via the line out which doubles as a TOSLINK optical output.  ADL had the X1 paired with the new H118 closed-back headphone that should be released into the wild in the next few months.

Audition these products at our booth
on the Mezzanine Level

Tokyo-based Alpha Design Labs by Furutech aims high with an expanding line of Japanese-designed precision products including the superb sounding and unimaginably comfortable H118 Headphones making their official debut at CES 2013 along with a prototype of the ADL X1 Portable Headphone Amplifier and new upgrade cables for some of the world’s top-selling headphones brands.

ADL H118 headphones paired with the GT40 amp/DAC

Esprit DAC, ADC, preamp and headphone amp with the H118

Some external links to CES press for ADL.

Stereophile

Soundstage

Audiostream

ADL will be unveiling the ADL H-118 headphones, a prototype of the exciting X1 portable headphone amplifier and upgrade cables for some of the world’s top selling headphones brands.

Find us in Venetian Tower Suite 30-209 from Jan 8th~11th.

Look forward to seeing you there!

ADL’s H118 sound is balanced in a completely audiophile way. Scintillating tonal colors and textures, intimate and close harmonic interplay, the sense of space, the resonance of music itself creates an involving emotional experience as you’re THIS CLOSE to the music!
Technical tidbits abound; high noise attenuation, 40mm high-resolution extra-large high-flux neodymium drivers, a ring engineered to keep ultra-high frequencies in coherent phase and excellent transient response from extremely light-weight coils made with copper-coated special aluminum alloy wire. But that’s not why anybody buys headphones, you buy them because of their sound and H118 sounds… scintillating!