This board is a software-controlled version of W-DAC 4493, plus a few tricks added to improve it’s practical performance and usability especially in preamplifier applications. Another new feature not possible in HW-controlled version is DSD support. Here are the new features summarised:
- I2C-controlled – requires a microcontroller (e.g. Arduino) or any I2C host for control firmware
- Control firmware is not provided but there are code snippets on how to get it up and running
- Note that I2C control is required to get any audio out of the DAC
- DSD support
- Automatic hardware output mute
- Very useful in preamp application to avoid pops at power-up and shutdown
- Hybrid volume control – digital volume and one-step relay attenuation
- Greatly improves performance in practical volume levels in preamp use