Apogee's small unit is as small as a thumb drive actually

Jan 23, 2015 16:16 GMT  ·  By

Digital-to-analog converters usually need a considerable amount of extra room in order to boost the audio quality normally produced by a PC before finally feeding it to headphones/speakers.

Some of these things are small enough to fit in a pocket, even smaller sometimes, but others are as large as a media player all on their own.

Apogee has just released one that could very well be the smallest ever made. Called Groove, it is no larger than a USB flash drive, and even looks like one.

Indeed, it looks a lot like a slightly oversized volume and track control module that many headphones possess naturally.

Compatible with both PCs and Mac systems, the device supports 24 bit/192kHz audio on both headphones and speakers and has on-board controls for not only volume, but for muting as well. Quad Sum DAC tech at its best here (four converters per channel).

Power is received via the USB connection itself, which means that you won't have to spend time recharging anything. It does, however, also mean that your laptop battery power will be drained faster if you use it on a trip.

The Apogee Groove small USB digital-to-analog converter should be up for sale this spring, but hasn't been priced yet.

Groove 30th Anniversary Models
Groove 30th Anniversary Models
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Apogee Groove USB DAC
Groove 30th Anniversary Models
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