UK company Computer Audio Design debuts with £6,900 USB DAC

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The CAD 1543 DAC promises "no compromise" sound and is designed for high-resolution digital music files

CAD 1543 DAC

Computer Audio Design, a new British company, has launched with the CAD 1543 DAC, a USB DAC designed for high-resolution music with a tasty £6,900 price tag.

Designed and hand-built in the UK, with 90% of the components supplied by UK companies, the CAD DAC claims to deliver a "sonic performance far beyond that of even the most luxurious CD players". A bold claim indeed.

Aiming to deliver a high quality sound reminiscent of the best analogue sources, this USB DAC deliberately keeps things simple.

There's a solitary asynchronous USB input and a single set of analogue RCA outputs, keeping the signal path from USB board to DAC short: just 1cm.

Aimed at computer music listeners, the DAC aims to deliver the best possible results from hi-res music files.

Designed by Scott Berry, a self-confessed "vinyl junkie" with a career in electrical engineering in the US, the CAD 1543 DAC has extensive internal isolation, power supplies with dedicated mains conditioning and visco-elastic polymer feet for superior damping. The devil's in the detail.

Modular in design, the Computer Audio Design USB DAC allows for future upgrades and updates to be added over time.

The CAD 1543 is available now priced at £6,900. Computer Audio Design will be exhibiting at this year's Bristol Show.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).