Review on 🔊 Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital - Black: High-Performance Audio Converter with Sleek Black Finish by Alicia Thomas

Spacious, clear, detailed sound for MQA and non-MQA tracks. The best quality is the complete freedom from listening fatigue, even during long listening sessions at a volume that borders on the unreasonable. Only the Pre Box S2 Digital (otherwise PBS2) is used as the DAC, so I can't say anything about the performance of the headphone amplifier. Like a DAC, it lights up. Rich and detailed, with a wide and deep soundstage, without the slightest hint of copper, harshness, glare, etc. Soundstage. Compared to the AudioQuest Dragonfly Red with the latest MQA firmware, the PBS2 is more refined, slightly smoother, and has a more three-dimensional soundstage. It is powered by TIDAL HiFi/MQA from Lenovo laptop via JSAUX USB AB cable. The output is via KabelDirekt Stereo Cinch on ARCAM AVR360. Speakers: Paradigm Reference Studio 20 v5 in main listening area (all Paradigms have additional channels on ceiling with sound field controls) and 4 Paradigm Stylus 370s in rear, controlled from Zone 2 in ARCAM. I mention the backyard because the improvement with this DAC can be heard there as well. A few friends noticed the difference without being asked. PBS2 is also powered (for Zone 2) by Sony BlueRay over coax and by TV Box over optical (barbecue soccer games!). The hub-based Harmony remote works great with PBS2, so I no longer need a wireless keyboard to control every movement on the laptop while listening to music - I can use the Harmony remote and have PBS2 control the laptop to pause/ play/skip forward/backward as well as switch inputs. Very convenient! If you're streaming TIDAL from a laptop, you'll need to go to TIDAL settings, go to "Streaming" and make sure "MQA/Highest Quality" is selected. After that there is one more step and I hope I described it correctly - scroll down to "Sound", click on "Advanced options" and 3 more buttons will appear - make sure all 3 are enabled, otherwise your MQA wins. t Feed from your player to the DAC. I don't have DSD files so I can't comment on this functionality. The only downside was that PBS2 came with old firmware that didn't pass the MQA. The update was more difficult than it should have been, but after that PBS2 works fine. I noticed a significant improvement in sound after a few hours of playing. Not sure if it was burnout or if my ears/brain had just learned to use the increasing information they were receiving. I think it was a burnout as friends immediately noticed an improvement. This thing is really amazing for $400. Highly recommended.