Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista DAC

The Musical Fidelity Nu-vista DAC is the flagship DAC in the Nu-Vista range. It uses the acclaimed ESS 32-bit HyperStream II DAC architecture. Moreover, the unit uses Nuvistor 7586 triode valves in a balanced Class A design. As a result, there are both RCA and Balanced XLR outputs.

There is also a USB and professional AES/EBU input. Next, there are individual power supplies for the digital and analogue circuits as well as a low-noise toroidal transformer. Nuvistor valves provide the ultimate in sound quality along with the high-end DAC processing.

Data rates and DSD

Musical Fidelity has masses of experience building DACs and the Nu-vista DAC uses 2x ES9038Q2M chips in dual differential mode. The design is dual mono and supports files up to 768kHz in PCM mode. It also supports DSD256 via DoP. DSD is used by SACD and DoP stands for DSD over USB. The Musical Fidelity Nu-vista DAC can play any possible file format. Moreover, the SPDIF inputs have been upgraded and support MQA up to 384KHZ.

Low noise power supplies

The power supply in the Musical Fidelity Nu-vista DAC features an extremely low-noise, low-dropout regulator. This was designed specifically for high-end audio applications and uses a dual regulator architecture. There are also separate power supplies for the analogue stages as well as the op-amp stages. This isolates the analogue amp from any digital HF interference. Moreover, the toroidal transformer is super silent with no hum or magnetic radiation. There are also interference and DC blocking filters on the mains input to further reduce noise.

Upsampling, reclocking and digital filters

The Musical Fidelity Nu-vista DAC uses the CPLD MAX II (Complex Programmable Logic Device) Altera to re-clock all of the supported formats. This high-quality programming provides a superb signal-to-noise ratio and a detailed sound with a great transient response. Additionally upsampling and re-clocking can be individually turned on or off for PCM signals. PCM signals also have eight selectable filter settings to fine-tune the playback. Lastly, DSD and MQA files have their own settings as well.

Nu-visitor valves

Transistors were invented in 1947, however, they did not take over for high-end audio until the late 1960s. As a result of valve size and unreliability, Nuvistor valves were developed in the 1950s. These were an attempt to eliminate some of the problems of thermionic technology, such as microphony and a lack of consistency. Nuvistor tubes exhibit low noise and have low power consumption.

They are also very small. Four nuvistor valves are used in the output of the Musical Fidelity Nu-vista DAC. Historically nuvsitor tubes were used in iconic studio equipment such as the Ampex MR-70 tape recorder and the AKG/Norelco C12a studio microphone. Today Musical Fidelity is one of the few companies to combine valves and modern op-amps in a high-end DAC.

Exemplary build quality

The build quality of the Musical Fidelity Nu-vista DAC spares no expense. The rigid and solid enclosure shields the internal components from interference and makes the unit immune from vibration. Notably, the front and side panels are milled from solid aluminium making the unit massive.

Additionally, the heavy casing acts as a Faraday cage blocking all radiation. Lastly, the Nu-Vista remote control is also machined from solid aluminium and has a long-range design.

Connectivity and PSU upgrade

The Musical Fidelity Nu-vista DAC has an input for an upgraded PSU known as the Nu-Vista Uni PSU. This will remove any possible interference from the internal power supplies for the ultimate in performance. Digital inputs include three optical and one coaxial input. There are also I2s and USB inputs. Lastly, the analogue outputs include left and right XLR balanced connectors as well as standard RCA connectors.