The new Weiss Helios DAC

Although I by no means managed to fulfill Daniel Weiss over two days of making an attempt—his son, Joschka Weiss (above), even took me to the corporate’s sales space to indicate me the discrete analog operational amplifier used within the new Weiss Helios DAC ($18,000) and introduce me to his dad, who was elsewhere—I used to be mighty impressed by what I heard.

Through a system, assembled by WOD Audio, that consisted solely of unfamiliar elements—an Ypsilon CD transport feeding the Weiss Helios DAC, Alieno amps, and ultra-limited-edition audio system from Cessaro—a CD of Eva Cassidy singing “I Know You By Heart” possessed lovely heat and pristine readability. It was fairly displaying.

I wished to listen to extra, however Joschka whisked me off. At the sales space, I realized that the Helios, based mostly on Weiss’s profitable collection 50 elements, accommodates all their DSP options and features a Roon streamer. What’s new is its analog stage and discrete operational amplifiers.

“It’s an 8-channel D/A converter with 4 DACs per channel,” the youthful Weiss defined. “The housing is totally anodized aluminum. The 502 that Stereophile reviewed additionally has 4 channels, however they’re cut up between the speaker feed and the headphone feed. The Helios has 4 channels on the left and 4 on the appropriate. What’s most vital, nevertheless, is the unit’s analog stage, whose new discrete operational amplifiers are of the utmost significance.”