Apogee’s new Groove portable amp uses four DACs to match different headphones

Your personal music collection is one of the most, well personal, things that many of us have in our lives. Everyone has different tastes and likes to listen in their own way. What many consumers do not realize is that they are typically not hearing the music as it was intended. We’ve covered the importance of digital-to-analog converters (DAC) before, but today we are seeing a new option that packs everything a DAC offers into a smaller, portable package.

Apogee, makers of recording industry leading microphones, audio interfaces and more, has announced the newest addition to its line of products with the portable USB Groove DAC and headphone amp for Mac and Windows PC. It comes packed with intriguing features and will launch with a special edition model you’ll certainly want to see.

The Groove has a small digital design that features a “quad-sum DAC”, which has four digital-to-analog converters built-in and is manufactured here in the United States. The Groove also has a “constant current drive” which is particularly intriguing to us, it “dynamically molds” the output wattage based on the needs of the connected headphones. So while the DAC is creating a better audio experience by taking the pressure off your Mac or iPhone, the constant current drive adjusts the output specifically for your favorite cans.

While this all sounds like a lot of marketing speak, the potential here could be very beneficial for those that switch between a high-end pair of headphones and EarPods. It’s all conveniently packed into a small package that looks more portable than traditional DAC options.

The Apogee Groove will be available this Spring at an unannounced price point. One particularly cool aspect of this product is the limited edition run of Gold and Silver models that will accompany its release, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Apogee. This is certainly a product that we will have to keep our eyes on when they release.

[9to5-press-release]

Apogee Introduces Groove – Portable USB DAC and headphone amp for Mac and PC

Anaheim, California, January 22, 2015 – Apogee Electronics, industry leader in digital audio recording technology since 1985, is pleased to introduce Apogee Groove™ – a new portable USB DAC and headphone amp for listening to music on your Mac or PC. Built upon Apogee’s 30-year history of award-winning digital audio technology for music creation, Groove unlocks the highest possible quality of any headphones or powered speakers you have, allowing you to listen to the music you love with incredible lifelike clarity.

Apogee’s digital audio technology has been trusted by professional recording artists, producers and engineers from around the world to create countless GRAMMY® and OSCAR® winning recordings since 1985. For the first time, Groove puts this same technology into a compact, durable, easy to use interface for consumers, providing a music listening experience of unparalleled quality, as it was originally captured in the recording studio.

Groove’s unique circuit design

Constant Current Drive™

Groove’s Constant Current Drive output stage is a truly revolutionary approach to dealing with the wide impedance variations of headphones available on the market today. With Constant Current Drive topology, Groove’s output stage’s voltage is dynamically “molded” to the impedance variations of the connected headphones, thereby smoothing out frequency response non-linearity that occurs with traditional headphone outputs.

Quad Sum DAC™

Groove also features a Quad Sum DAC design which employs four digital-to-analog converters per channel to achieve the highest  dynamic range and lowest distortion (THD+N) of any device in its class.

Groove 30th Anniversary Models

Apogee Groove and Groove 30th Anniversary Edition will be available Spring 2015. Visit apogeedigital.com for more info and sign up for product updates.

Apogee Groove Highlights

• USB 2.0 connection to Mac and PC
• Up to 24 bit / 192kHz audio
• ESS Sabre DAC
• Constant Current Drive™, Ultra-smooth frequency response for any headphones
• Quad Sum DAC™, 4 DACs per channel for highest dynamic range and lowest distortion
• Asynchronous clocking
• Max output level: 225mW into 30 Ohm
• Multi-color LEDs for status and level indication
• Powered by USB
• Top panel buttons for adjusting output level and muting
• Compact and portable (95mm H x 30mm W x 16mm T)
• Premium aluminum build quality
• Built in the USA 

Price: TBA

Availability: Spring 2015

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