General
Fostex have spent recent years working hard to create a complete series of high-quality, audiophile-approved gear and this HP-A4 headphone amplifier is a great example. The logical successor to the popular HP-A3, this new and improved headphone amp is able to run on nothing but the power provided by a USB port.
The Fostex HP-A4: Superior Sound
This headphone amplifier supports the DSD protocol, which stands for Direct Stream Digital and most of all, makes sure that signals coming from a DA converter aren't too 'angular'. When it comes to the highs, the sound of a regular DAC at a 44.1 kHz frequency can get stretched a little too thin because the sample rate simply doesn't suffice. DSD, however, operates on a frequency of up to 5.6 MHz and as such, fortunately doesn't suffer from this issue. After all, the higher frequencies are essential to add a sense of depth to the sound.
The Possibilities
The Fostex HP-A4 headphone amp can also serve as a high-quality DAC. Using the RCA outputs on the back, you can easily hook up an amplifier or a pair of active monitors or even run your digital sound through it via the S/PDIF ports. Special digital filters are built in to reduce any distortion that pops up as a result of digital-to-analogue conversion and to finish, Fostex have included an SD card slot to load in firmware updates.
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- Please note: This product includes the headphone amplifier only. Any other products seen in the images serve illustrative purposes only and are not included.