CES 2015

Auralic's Vega USB DAC does a lot to earn its $3500 pricetag. It allows adjustment of balance and phase. There are adjustable filters, four for PCM use, two for DSD. And the clock has four settings: coarse, for your crummy MP3s and AACs; fine, for your lossless FLACs and WAVs; exact, which requires a "perfect file" (with no dropouts or noise anywhere in the system); and auto, in case you'd prefer the DAC to exercise its own judgment about the incoming signal. The Vega is sitting beneath Auralic's Taurus headphone amp, which we ought to have reviewed by now.