Prism Sound Callia DAC Review – Beautiful voice
Callia DAC
£1,795
8
Pros
- Solid robust build, high end quality components
- Neutral, detailed musical style signature
- Multiple inputs supported, impedance control and simple functionality
Cons
- Design style a little dated
- Tough competition at this price level
- Lacks direct WIFI streaming/APT-X support
Detailed Technical Specifications – Inputs/Outputs
For the technical minded that really want to see the low level specifics, below are some interesting tech specs.
ANALOGUE LINE OUTPUTS
| Configuration | Fully-balanced analog signal path to electronically-balanced XLRs, RCAs pseudo-balanced |
| Output amplitude | XLR: 0dBFS=14dBu; RCA: 0dBFS=2Vrms |
| Output impedance | 50Ω (both balanced and unbalanced outputs) |
| Unbalanced mode | Automatic, with bootstrapping level compensation |
| Total harmonic distortion | -107dB (0.00045%, -0.1dBFS) |
| THD+N | -106dB (0.00050%, -0.1dBFS) |
| Dynamic range | 115dB (-60dBFS) |
| Gain accuracy | ±0.05dB |
| LF roll-off | -0.05dB at 8Hz, -3dB at <1Hz |
| HF roll-off | fs = 44.1kHz: -0.05dB at 21.4kHz; -3dB at 22.0kHz fs = 48kHz: -0.05dB at 23.2kHz; -3dB at 23.9kHz fs = 96kHz: -0.05dB at 32.0kHz; -3dB at 47.8kHz fs >= 192kHz, incl. DSD64/128: -0.05dB at 32.0kHz; -3dB at 76kHz |
| Output balance | >50dB |
| Inter-channel cross-talk | 1kHz: <-135dB; 20Hz..20kHz: <-120dB |
| Inter-channel phase | 10Hz..5kHz: ±0.4°, 5kHz..20kHz: ±0.25°, 20kHz..50kHz: ±0.5° |
HEADPHONE OUTPUT
| Output amplitude | 0dBFS=18.0dBu (HiZ), 14.45dBu (MedZ), 8.45dBu (LoZ) measured at top (maximum setting) of potentiometer |
| Output impedance | 4R |
| Total harmonic distortion | -104dB (0.00045%, -0.1dBFS) |
| THD+n | -103dB (0.00050%, -0.1dBFS) |
| Dynamic range | 113dB (-60dBFS) |
| Gain accuracy | ±0.05dB at top of potentiometer |
| LF roll-off | -0.05dB at 6Hz; -3dB at 1.45Hz |
| HF roll-off | fs=44.1kHz: -0.05dB at 20.3kHz; -3dB at 22.0kHz fs=48kHz: -0.05dB at 21.1kHz; -3dB at 23.9kHz fs=96kHz: -0.05dB at 27.0kHz, -3dB at 47.8kHz fs=>=192kHz, including DSD64, DSD128: -0.05dB at 27.0kHz, -3dB at 71.0kHz |
| Inter-channel cross-talk | 1kHz: <-120dB; 20Hz..20kHz: <-105dB |
| Inter-channel phase | 10Hz..5kHz: ±0.1º, 5kHz..20kHz: ±0.25º, 20kHz..50kHz: ±0.5º |
USB INPUTS/SUPPORTED FORMATS
| Interface protocol | USB Audio Device Class 2.0 (UAC2) |
| Audio formats supported | PCM audio of up to 32 bit word length at sampling rates of 44k1, 48k, 88k2, 96k, 176k4, 192k, 352k8, 384k and DSD64, DSD128 in DoP frame |
S/PDIF INPUTS
| Interface formats | S/PDIF (RCA and TOSLINK); RCA also accepts AES3-ID |
| Audio formats | PCM audio of up to 24 bit word length at sampling rates of 44k1, 48k, 88k2, 96k, 176k4, 192k and DSD64 in DoP frame |
SYNCHRONIZATION/JITTER
| Clock recovery technology | Prism Sound CleverClox hybrid PLL |
| Synchronization sources: | Local or S/PDIF input (automatic selection) |
| Local clock accuracy | ±50ppm |
| Jitter rejection | >60dB / decade above 100Hz |
Performance graphs
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