American headphone specialist, Audeze has launched the Deckard headphone amplifier and DAC, with the claim that it “drives any headphone with power to spare”. Deckard is named after Harrison Ford’s lead character in Blade Runner; Audeze’s engineers are big fans. BMW Designworks designed the metal exterior, while inside you’ll find pure Class A circuitry and a “high-quality” DAC (digital to analogue converter).
The Deckard’s DAC handles 16 to 32-bits and sampling rates from 44.1kHz to 384kHz. There’s a volume control and front-panel switches to choose gain and input, so you can also use the Deckard as a line-level preamp. The Deckard is designed to partner Audeze’s latest EL-8 headphones (also designed by BMW Designworks), but can also transform the performance of a wide range of headphones, as well as your computer audio. The Audeze Deckard is on sale now at a range of audio retailers, including Richer Sounds, price is £599.