Digital Sound: I began testing with the
Black Ops mainboard without its native audio card. Without the soundcard the Block Ops has no sound system at all. The card doesn’t use the typical PCI or PCIe slot, seen below the board uses a connector substituting for a hard wired ad-on chip.
With the Sonar installed (Realtek
ALC885 (jpg)) all connections are analog and of the 1/8" mini-jack type. The Sonar audio card is mandatory for any sound. Under the WinXP operating system the device is described under volume or audio as "USB Speakers /Audio."
I began with streaming audio, for this feed I chose the website
Deezer.com. Very few sites offer this level of sound quality. Among their streaming offerings/stations they I chose the French station
Chanson Françoise the song in particular
Pierrot - Loic Lantoine simply sounded amazing. While there are countless words, terms and expressions which have no counterpart translation in English (especially in German philosophy,) fortunately the beauty, the mathematical prose in music transcends this obstacle. Listening through the GLOW Amp One, Tunami Nigo cables and Cain & Cain Abby single driver speakers, every guitar string, every instrument and nuance was clear, these products drew me in
Compared to the
Tecon Model 55 (integrated single ended tube Pentode featuring Burr Brown DAC)
reviewed here recently. The Glow had a more stable frequency range although the Tecon did image more precisely. The tune by Corlalie Clement
Ça valait la peine has some close mike vocals which vacuum tubes simply love. Saliva, lips and the entire repertoire of guttural intonations are all present in palpable 3D. The gift of tubes and single ended just wrap it in a tighter package with air between each inflection.
Analog Sound:
Using the Foxconn Black Ops ad-on card (Sonar) and a 1/8" mini-jack to RCA splitter I was able to bypasses the Amp One's C-Media 102S USB DAC. Oddly enough many details absent in the on-board DAC jumped out using the Realtek ACL885 DAC through the 1/8" to RCA connector. It’s debatable, but the Realtek ACL885 DAC is considered superior in sound to the C-Media 102S. Of course a DAC in-and-of-itself means little in the world of Audio. Though their advertised because of sampling rate or bit rate, Digital to Analog Conversion as well as Analog to Digital Conversion play a smaller role then you may think.
Playing the exact same tunes I found a marked improvement in everything except imaging, while there were subtle improvements here, none of these were as extreme as the bass tightening up or sweeping frequency control. Highs were smoother and midrange had a somewhat analog flavor to it. Not turntable analog, but an improvement.
Conclusive Thoughts The
Glow Audio Amp One is still a great value at its current reduced list price of $488, although that may be difficult to find. The current improved 2009 model sells direct for 648USD free shipping in the Continental US. Glow ships Internationally
return policy, information and warranty info can be found here. With money back 30-day satisfaction guarantee policy you would have to toss the amp down a flight of stairs to go wrong. Entering the tube amp level of Audio sophistication (especially Single Ended) would be difficult if one were investing 2,000USD. To find an integrated, hard-wired, valve amp with an Alps potentiometer, internal USB DAC for PC and RCA connections for analog at 648USD (shipped in USA) is very rare indeed. Of course the best part is the sound, it has its limitations but so do 5,000USD integrated tube amps single ended or ultra linear.
As far as shortcomings there is the DAC itself which honestly falls short. Then there's the power, of course there are of any SE amp requires careful speaker matching. It's a vacuum tube amp and won't shake the foundation it’s better for small rooms and PC-Users usually keep their PC in a private area. Mated to a pair of bookshelf or high efficiency floor standing transducers like the Abby’s, the Glow will involve you. You’ll be amazed at what you may have been missing and most likely frustrated you’ve been missing out. Well designed audio is supposed to be about experiencing music, not just listening or listening loudly. For 2009 the
Amp One replaces the DAC, improves shielding and headphone circuitry. For $648 shipped within the USA you have 30-days to give it a listen. I can tell you when I first heard tubes I was immediately convinced of their attributes compared to transistors or Mosfetts. You'll know in the first few days, so long as you’ve made the correct speaker choice.
I would like to thank Patrick Cherry for his excellent photography and Amery Martinet for all their help in this article.
