We are very excited to bring you the long awaited DAC kit 2.1. It takes DAC kits to a never before heard of level of performance.

Audio Note Dac 2.1
Level A and Level B

Here are some of the things that make this DAC kit a clear cut above the rest:

The M2 power supply is taken from the Audio Note finished products line. This uses the Audio Note Trans 0103 Mains transformer/Choke combination with 6X5 for tube rectification and the ECL82 for regulation. This powers a high quality and specially developed 6922 SRPP analog output section.

As with all the very latest Audio Note DAC's, the DAC Kit 2.1 comes without an analog filter in all its available versions.



General Specification

The USB interface option allows you to use your computer as a transport system to supply the digital signal. The board is powered from the computer (via the USB lead) so installation is very simple. The USB interface take over from one of the standard input options so you can still have either S/PDIF (RCA) or AES/EBU (XLR) as your other input source and switch between the two at will.

XLR input option

The digital borad accepts AES/EBU (XLR) input. For this input option a special made balanced rear faceplate is available


Signature Digital Board

The signature Digital Board includes an Audio Note Digital Interface Transformer
(with toroidal core made from very thin laminate spun 80% nickel strip).
Digital Interface Transformers are used in all Audio Note's finished product DAC's from their Level 1 range upward.







Different levels

Before we go on, the DAC Kit 2.1 actually comprise of several different base versions.
The most basic version will be referred to as 'Level A', followed by 'Level B' etc.

Level A includes Signature Digital Board and on the analog board AN Tin foil coupling capacitors and Panasonic FC Electrolytics
Available upgrades for Level A include Tantalum Resistors, AN Copper foil coupling capacitors, Black Gates for the analog line board and for the Digital Power Supply.

Level B improves on level A with Audio Note I/V transformers and AN Copper foil coupling capacitors.
Available upgrades for Level B include Tantalum resistors and Black Gates.



Anatomy of the DAC Kit 2.1 - Level B version





Level B's I/V Transformers



The I/V transformers were specially designed by Audio Note engineering to provide an affordable yet highly effective transformer for the DAC2.1 Kit. I/V Transformers are used to maximize the energy transfer during the Current-to-Voltage phase of the conversion; resulting in increased dynamics.

An extract from the article 'Why is Audio Note's 1x oversampling unique?'
Andy Grove describes the use and advantages of the I/V transformer:

The output of most resistor ladder DAC chips is in the form of a current rather than a voltage. There are many ways to convert the current into a voltage but the most commonly used system is that of an op-amp connected as an I to V converter. This system requires the use of a high degree of feedback, and as a result there are problems associated with it. One of those is internal slew rate limiting of the op-amp itself. The rate of change of current at the output of even an audio DAC is very fast indeed. Even modern fast op-amps will slew limit internally and that affects sound quality. Some engineers have found that using extremely fast op-amps improves the sound quality, but we have completely sidestepped the issue by using a transformer I/V system. The transformer not only provides an I to V function but the way it is used in our latest DACs transfers maximum energy from the DAC chip itself. This in itself reduces overshoot and ringing and because the system is slightly overdamped the rise time is reduced to an acceptable rate as well.

What customers are saying about the DAC Kit 2.1 Level A and B

Pierre Murray
DAC2.1 Level B is sounding fantastically well! The best source i've heared yet.

"My kit is sounding just incredible right now."


Paul Lederberg (click here for the full review)
..."Using the USB connection causes no fatigue at all, you can listen for hours and hours. The sound quality of fine recorded Jazz and classical music is truly wonderful and organic sounding."...


Frank Egan
"Now that I've had some time living with the DAC 2.1B, I can say it is a terrific performer. It has the ability to get out of the way of the music and is very transparent in the sense that it conveys only what the source is feeding to it and doesn't seem to infer any of it's own personality to what is heard. This has become clear from using several different sources with it.
I'm really impressed with the 6922 output stage as well. It is really clean and clear, and homongenous as well , i.e. with no single attribute of the music being emphasized. Those EH 6922's are really well-balanced also, or is it just the character of the output stage that the brand of tube isn't critical?"


Jim Watson (click here for the full review)
...ideally suited to the acoustic blues that I spend most of my listening time with...
...Of interest to the kit builder is the quality of components and support; Both are absolutely first rate and I would have no hesitation in recommending this kit to anyone else...

...Overall though, it's good fun to build and is very easy on the ears... Isn't that what it's all about? Ten out of Ten.


Marcello Lasalvia
My DAC is working wonderfully; I had noticed on my first 100 hours burn a big stretch on frequency levels. After 200 hours burn I experienced many of details coming true, The final tests revealed a fine tune on tonal balance.


Heinz Gabriel
"The DAC 2.1 is ready! Worked with no problems from the beginning absolutly quite! Then I took him 1 day without interruption in electricity supply. The first aural impression has exceeded my expectations.
After 200h I will make an audio report.

The Manual is very good and easy to use."

Many hours later...

"Unbelievably (from) a CD so much music. I understand the world no longer. I know many brands Conrad Johnson, Audio Research and many other expensive audio equipment. I have never heard music so natural, not from CDs!"


Peter Guarino
Hope everything is well with you and the kit business. I just got a used transport, a PS Audio Lambda, for my DAC 2.1 instead of my DVD player and it makes a world of difference. I just love this DAC, it has that analogue just-want-to-hear-more quality that is so hard to get in digital, even more than my old Sonic Frontiers cd player.


Randy Morgan, Atlanta
I've been 'burning in' the DAC all week, guess 170 hrs now, it sure is sweet. I REALLY like it , a lot, and am so glad I bought it and built it. Definitely worth the money, CD never sounded so smooth and lifelike. Have to admit I was a little skeptical, but I greatly prefer listening with the DAC


Adam Stanhope
Firstly I am totally blown away by the Dac 2.1 kit, it has easily surpassed my expectations...
The kit is brilliant - I finished it today and it all works extremely well.
It is early days but it does sound very good - extremely refined and detailed.

Kind regards and thank you for such a truly excellent product.


Charles Southwick
took delivery of the DAC 2.1 kit yesterday and got around to unpacking it. I must say that this is the most well organized kit I have encountered. I was shocked to see all the wire actually cut and twisted. Visual inspection of everything reveals it is of the highest quality. Thank you


Richard Carter, UK
Brilliant! Just stunning. Fired up and working with all instruments naturally present and detailed and smooth.
Thanks so much for your help.


Michael B. Haener
The DAC went together very well. The manual is well though out, easy to read, and the pictures are a great tool for the beginner. The component and build quality are equally excellent. All in all a superb kit.


Brian Pyplacz
I swear that I can hear passages of music that I have never heard before on some of my cd's, it's uncanny!


Mark Leece
...As for the sound, it's noticeably different from my Arcam CD player, which I am now using as a transport. I am struck by how much the bass has developed and tightened, and how the sound-stage has grown - resulting in my classical recordings sounding more balanced and realistic...


Jackson Hui, Australia
...Since I am not a techno head, I started off slowly and read the manual 5 times before I actually put the first screw through the chassis. The manual is an excellent document with colour photos and detailed explanations. I guess I had been a pain to Brian as I kept emailing him about all kinds of questions and uncertainties and he kept his promise by answering every single one of those “stupid questions”. Within 2 weeks, I had the kit completed and I can still remember the joy when it was first switched on. It worked the first time and the sound was just astonishing - so much more information coming out from the DAC and the sound stage now is much much open. I can say it's even 200% better than my friend's DAC 1.1 (in my opinion). It's probably one of the best investments I’ve made in my continual search for sonic improvements in the last tens years...


Rifat Gürsel, France
...The result is really unbelievable. The sound is extremely homogeneous on the entire spectrum. The basses are deep enough and all the details which give live to music are present. The instruments are sounding as they are near you. You will be surprised by the realism without any exaggeration, the transparency, the dynamism and the perfect special localisation of the instruments. The natural sound of the DAC is very close to vinyl sound. I am convinced that this level of sound quality is very difficult or impossible to obtain with classical over sampling methods which introduce jitter and loose of information’s with their complicated filtering methods. You had to spend at least 3-4 times more to reach an equivalent result. I am now in the phase of discovering of all my old CDs and I have really the impression as they were new ones...


Tony Landry (click here for the full review)
...The soundstage is plenty wide and deep enough but what really comes through for me is the added space between instruments and vocalists. This allows the true details and nuances to be heard. What had always seemed to be unintelligable vocal passages now came clearly into focus. This also applies to the instrumentalists. One can hear more of the details and energy that they put into the performance. The dynamics are also surprising as one listens to oft heard recordings and gets stunned by how much dynamic range there really is. Part of this is due to the very low noise floor and "black" background that the music has as it's base.
This DAC allowed me to hear more layering in older jazz recordings which were sometimes recorded with bass and drums in one channel making it difficult to follow individual players. Try Bill Evans' "Live at the Village Vanguard" to get a sense of this. You should be able to hear the players at different depths of the stage instead of on top of one another...

...The overall sense that listening to this unit gives me is that the performers are not just performing, they are performing for you. I cannot count how many times I have been listening and have had an involuntary reaction in my gut to passages I have heard a hundred times before. There are some discs that have languished in my collection that have found new life with this unit. If you haven't found yourself listening to a CD from start to finish for a while, skipping all but your favorite cuts, give this DAC a try. It is not the music you are tired of, it may be the presentation of it. Just be sure that you don't have to get up early the next morning, it may be morning before you finally stop listening...


Richard Rose - Glendale, CA
...After completing the kit, it worked the first time I plugged it in. That alone was amazing to me. But the sound was astounding. The single biggest improvement in sound I have ever experienced from a single component. My Spendor SP 100s have the imaging I always expected. Detail was far greater, tonality richer without being muddy.
There was an aspect beyond the specific description of the sound. It had a natural quality, harmonic. The dimensionality was unlike I have experienced before. Quite amazing – maybe I could have heard this much sooner if I had tripled my investment years before… I am a hopeless tinker but I have had no interest in modifying the DAC 2.1 (I purchased all the extras)...


Paul Brookes - UK (click here for the full review)
...The Audio Note DAC Kit 2.1 is a world beater - even before it has fully broken in. It is, by far, the best digital that I have ever heard in my system and manages to pull out a huge amount of detail from those CD's as well as creating an extra sense of space and involvement within the music...


Isaku Higa
...I am very happy that I decided to get DAC 2.1. It is an excellent value as I feel it outperforms many other much more expensive "high -end" digital front-end products that I auditioned in the past couple of years. It is the product that I feel I can use and enjoy for a long time to come not only because of its performance but also because the kit offers many opportunities for DIY upgrade. When I feel that the sound can be improved, I can just upgrade to the next level with a minimal cost for the parts...