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Gold Note DS-10 Plus Streaming DAC/Preamplifier

Gold Note DS-10 Plus Streaming DAC/Preamplifier

Sometimes a component has all but one of the features you require, such as a DAC/preamplifier that can take virtually any currently available digital input, but lacks a way to include an analog source. The Gold Note DS-10 is a perfect example, ideal for a digital-only audiophile, but not quite right for anyone who can’t surrender his analog playback devices. For these folks, Gold Note has another version of the DS-10, called the DS-10 Plus. The Plus has an analog input that keeps the source all-analog from input to output. The DS-10 Plus can be used as a single-box DAC/pre, or you can add the Gold Note’s PSU-10 EVO power supply for a potential upgrade. We will look at the DS-10 Plus both with and without the PSU-10 EVO power supply.

Although this is my first published review of a Gold Note product, this is not the first Gold Note digital device I’ve used. Quite a few years back, Gold Note introduced a DAC at CES that I looked at reviewing. It worked perfectly until one day Apple updated its OS and bricked all the USB receiver chips from a particular OEM manufacturer. The Gold Note DAC was using that chip. It took over six months (I returned the DAC after four) for the problem to be rectified, and I decided to wait for a later generation of Gold Note DACs to review. Although it took a number of years to get around to it, that time has finally arrived.

Tech Tour

The $3695 DS-10 Plus is almost identical to the DS-10 except for two things—the DS-10 Plus adds one analog stereo input while removing one of the two Bluetooth antennae from the back panel to make room for the new mini-stereo input. Digital inputs include an Ethernet port, USB-A, AES/EBU, RCA coaxial, USB-B, Bluetooth 5.0, and two TosLink inputs. For outputs, the DS-10 Plus offers one pair of balanced XLR and one pair of RCA single-ended on the back, and a single-ended ¼” headphone jack on the front panel. The DS10 Plus uses an AKM AK4493 DAC chip, which supports up to 768/32 PCM and DSD512. Specifications indicate it has a 125dB SNR and 120dB dynamic range, which places it among the best in basic specifications for a current-generation DAC. While these specs don’t guarantee good, great, or any particular flavor of sonics, they do indicate that the basic digital device is solidly engineered.

GoldNote DS-10 Plus Rear Panel

The Gold Note 10 Series components are almost eight inches wide, which makes it easy (and tempting) to situate two units side by side. But you don’t want to put the PSU-10 EVO power supply right next to the DS-10 Plus. Instead, I advise “best practices,” utilizing the nice long cable connecting the two units to locate the power supply (as well as any signal-carrying cables) as far away as possible. The Gold Note PSU-10 EVO evolved from the PSU-10 power supply created for the PH-10 phono- stage. While the power supply inside the DS-10 Plus utilizes a SMPS switching mode, the PSU-10 EVO is based on a linear power supply. It has a four-transformer layout that merges dual choke, inductive, and cascade designs.

Ergonomics and Setup

I employed the DS-10 Plus in three different setups. First, I connected it to a pair of April Music S1 monoblock amplifiers driving a pair of Elac F-61 Adante floorstanding loudspeakers and a pair of JL Audio d110 subwoofers. In this system I used the Ethernet connection as my primary source, while the analog input was connected to a Sony HAP-Z1ES digital player. After listening to the DS-10 Plus in this system for about a month, I moved it into my nearfield, computer-based office system, where I used its USB inputs as the principal source connected to a Benchmark ABH-2 power amplifier driving a pair of Audience 1+1 loudspeakers and a Velodyne DD-10+ subwoofer. After another month the DS-10 Plus was put into my main system, replacing the Mytek Manhattan and PS Audio DSD Jr. DAC/preamps, where it was connected to a Pass X-150.8 amplifier driving a pair of Spatial X-2 loudspeakers and a pair of JL Audio f112 subwoofers. All three systems used Audience AU24 speaker cables, Kimber KACG ½-meter single-ended analog cables, and Wireworld Series 8 balanced cables. All three systems also employ AC power conditioning.  

Because I installed the DS-10 Plus in three different systems, I had three opportunities to see if there were any operational or set-up quirks that impacted installation. In each case installation went without a hitch. Gold Note has an app available for both iOS and Android that is necessary for the initial setup. This app allows you to do the basic DS-10 Plus configuration, including the ability to input your Wi-Fi passwords and streaming-account information. The Gold Note control app also proved to be a solid music-playback app that supports both Tidal and Qobuz, as well as your home-music libraries on NAS; however, if you already use Roon, as I do, you will find, as I did, that Roon offers a far superior ergonomic experience. Since the DS-10 Plus is completely Roon-compliant and a recognized and certified Roon endpoint, that’s the way I operated the DS-10 Plus most of the time.

The front panel of the DS-10 Plus includes a generously sized full-color display, a single control knob, ¼” headphone connection, an on/off LED, and a small Gold Note medallion. The rear panel has both single-ended and balanced analog outputs and a mini-stereo analog input. Digital inputs include two TosLink, one USB, one coaxial SPDIF, Wi-Fi, Ethernet RJ-45, AES/EBU, and a USB-A host connection. The rear of the DS-10 Plus also has both an IEC AC power connection and a DIN connection for the Gold Note PSU-10 EVO outboard power supply. 

Most DACs and DAC/preamps nowadays have options for different digital filters, but the DS-10 takes this to a higher level with 192 different set-up options. These combinations of three parameters—equalization curve, de-emphasis curve, and DAC power settings—allow for subtle variations in the DAC’s sonic personality. Gold Note calls this feature its “chameleon DAC,” because it has so many different user-selectable “flavors.” You can, after exploring all your options, save your three favorite combinations for quick recall. You could, for example, have a filter set optimized for one pair of headphones, a second filter set for a second pair of cans, and the last one for your loudspeakers. You can also turn off the filter options and run the DS-10 straight, with no additional sonic flavorings.

To access these filters as well as other menu options, you must push the control knob in once, then navigate through the display’s menus. Another push gets you into a particular option’s control set, such as DISP, which lets you dim the display or turn it on/off. Other functions, such as whether the DS-10 Plus operates as a DAC/pre with variable output or as a basic fixed-output device and selecting whether the headphone output or line-level output is active, are also available through the control knob. The DS-10 Plus remote allows you to perform all the control and set-up functions from your listening seat. The supplied remote can not only be used with the DS-10 Plus, but also with the other components in the 10 Series, including amp, CD player, DAC, and preamplifier.

Sound

How do you discuss the sound of a DAC when, in theory, there are 192 different ways it can sound? Perhaps “flexible” would be the best one-word description. If you bypass all the offered flavorings, the DS-10 Plus sound is neutral, which is a good place to start, especially if you plan to alter the sound in some way. While I could bore you to tears trying to describe the subtle differences between the myriad sonic options, I will cut to the chase…none of these filter options resulted in a drastic change to the sound, and I found that the program material dictated which settings I preferred. 

All the systems I used with the DS-10 Plus had power conditioning. The Elac Adante system utilizes a PS Audio P12. The Spatial X-2 system uses a PS Audio Premier Power Reconditioner on the front-end components, while a PS Audio Quintet hosts the power amplifier and subwoofers. Because I employ power conditioning that, according to my two AC-line-noise measurement tools (a Monster Entec and Audio Prism Noise Sniffer), are quite effective at reducing AC line noise, I questioned whether the additional outlay for the PSU-10 EVO would result in any sonic benefits. Well, I was wrong. Even with my conditioned AC power, the DS-10 Plus sounded far more dimensional and lost a slight edginess on female vocals and treble information with the PSU-10 EVO installed. On the Jacob Collier single “The Sun is in Your Eyes,” which was recorded as a voice memo, vocals had less harshness and more natural harmonic complexity when the PSU-10 EVO was employed. After several more A/B sessions on separate days, comparing the DS-10 Plus with and without the PSU-10 EVO, I continued all my listening with the PSU-10 EVO attached. Without the power supply the DS-10 Plus is okay, but to fulfill its sonic potential, you’ve got to pony up for the PSU-10 EVO power supply. With the supply employed, I found the DS-10 performed on a reference level.

Since the DS-10 includes a single-ended ¼” headphone output, I ran my usual tests to see whether it would support a wide range of earphones. For headphones that need plenty of power, such as the Audio Technica DT-990 600-ohm version, the DS-10 Plus proved to be an excellent match, with normal listening levels requiring a setting of 60 (the volume scale is 0–100). The background was absolutely silent. High-sensitivity in-ears, such as the 115dB-sensitivity Empire Ears Zeus, fared less well. Normal listening level was around 20 with the low-output headphone setting. But there were numerous noises—hums, intermittent buzzes, and other signs that the background noise would never, ever be silent. So, high-sensitivity earphones are a DS-10 Plus no-fly zone. One nice feature that I did appreciate was that the DS-10 Plus automatically switches into headphone mode when you plug in a pair of ’phones, muting the line-level outputs without requiring any additional steps by the user.

I used the DS-10 Plus’s analog input primarily with the Vincent PHO-500 external phono preamplifier. The DS-10 Plus was as transparent and noise-free as what I’ve heard when the PHO-500 was running through the Mytek Manhattan II. I also used the analog input with several basic DACs. In every situation the DS-10 Plus’ analog stage had more than sufficient gain to drive the system well past loud, and didn’t audibly limit the fidelity of sources routed through it.

Competition

With a price of $4994, the DS-10 Plus/PSU-10 EVO combination has plenty of competition. Priced a few hundred dollars more than the recently discontinued PS Audio DSD jr, which has been my reference for several years, the DS-10 Plus combo does offer several additional capabilities, including an analog input and headphone outputs. Sonically, while different, they were both excellent sounding, and in many systems you will be hard-pressed to find one objectively superior to the other. Both are fully capable of delivering the same high level of musical involvement, but the DS-10 Plus does offer more source-selection options than the DSD Jr.

My other current reference DAC/preamp is the Mytek Manhattan II, which is almost twice as much money ($8395, fully loaded) as the DS-10 Plus/PSU 10. While the Manhattan offers a balanced headphone option, otherwise their feature sets are quite similar (once you add the Ethernet board to the Manhattan). The Manhattan does offer the option of a decent internal phono section (an additional board), as well as two additional analog inputs. But after many hours of listening, I did not find the Manhattan II to be sonically superior to the DS-10 Plus. They both delivered a similar reference level of fidelity on my own live concert recordings of the Boulder Philharmonic and Rockygrass field recordings. In ergonomics, I much preferred the control setup of the DS-10 Plus over the Manhattan, which isn’t nearly as easy to navigate. Given the age of the Manhattan II (discontinued in June 2021), the DS-10 Plus ranks as a several-years-newer design. The only negative I see with the DS-10 Plus is the fact that it uses the latest and last generation of DAC chips from AKM, and due to a large factory fire it may be quite a while before we see the next generation of AKM chips. 

Summary

When the DS-10 Plus and PSU-10 EVO arrived, I was not instantly enamored, due primarily to my previous experience with a much earlier generation of Gold Note DACs. But after living with and using the DS-10 Plus/PSU-10 EVO combo for several months, I must admit that my initial misgivings were misplaced. The Gold Note DS-10 Plus/PSU-10 EVO combination is capable of producing reference-level sonics and has a feature set that includes all the essential options, including Ethernet and Wi-Fi, a true all-analog signal path, and those 192 different filter settings. When you factor in the dedicated remote and headphone capabilities, as well as Roon and MQA compatibility, you have a component that does everything that a current-generation DAC/preamplifier needs to do, and does it well.

Specs & Pricing

Type: Streaming DAC/preamplifier
Inputs: AES/EBU, SPDIF RCA, TosLink, USB 2.0, analog mini-stereo
Formats supported: PCM 24bit/192kHz, DSD64: DSF, DFF, AIFF (.aif, .aiff, .aifc), MQA, ALAC, WAV (.wav) packed/unpacked, FLAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, OGG, Monkey’s
Output: Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA
Dimensions: 200mm x 80mm x 260mm
Weight: 8 lbs. net
Price: DS-10 Plus, $3695; PSU-10 EVO, $1299

RUTHERFORD AUDIO INC. (U.S. Distributor)
G108, 14 Inverness Drive East
Englewood CO 80112
(303) 872-6285
rutherfordaudio.com

Tags: DAC GOLD NOTE PREAMPLIFIER STREAMING

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