![]() Available in Black or Natural (ARC’s term for silver), the DAC9 borrows stylistic features from previous ARC gear - rack handles, a styling groove around the edge of the front panel, and a digital display with green alphanumeric characters - and adds some new ones, including a panel of black glass at the center of the faceplate, surrounding the display. ![]() Along with the price, the DAC9, LS28, and PH9 also share a similar appearance. Except for the VT80 ($8000 USD), each Foundation model costs $7500 - they are very nearly the least expensive models ARC makes. The DAC9 is part of ARC’s Foundation line, along with the LS28 line stage, PH9 phono preamp, and VT80 amplifier. It can, however, play DSD files previously, the only ARC component that could do that was the GSi75 integrated amplifier. The DAC9 is ARC’s first standalone, popular-level DAC since 2010 - in DAC years, an eternity - and, like most DACs, it doesn’t include the latest development in digital audio playback: the ability to decode Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) files. That was before files with such exotic initials as DSD, DXD, and MQA appeared. For a conservative company like ARC, that feature was somewhat innovative, it having only recently emerged as the sonically preferable way to play recordings at what was then the highest resolution available: 24-bit/192kHz. ![]() In March 2011, I reviewed Audio Research’s DAC8 DAC on SoundStage! Hi-Fi, which used a now-ubiquitous asynchronous USB 2.0 input to play files of sampling rates higher than 96kHz.
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