From a Soundstage review:
So with all this going for the DAC1, why has Bel Canto replaced it with the new DAC2? A company has to keep its product line fresh to maintain brisk sales, but in the case of the DAC2, there were a few circuit changes that John Stronczer, Bel Canto's head designer, wanted to implement as well. Chief among these was an upgrade from the DAC1's Crystal 8420 sample-rate converter to one from Analog Devices, the AD1896, which allowed true 24/192 conversion/upsampling and an improved signal-to-noise ratio.
Now what?
So with all this going for the DAC1, why has Bel Canto replaced it with the new DAC2? A company has to keep its product line fresh to maintain brisk sales, but in the case of the DAC2, there were a few circuit changes that John Stronczer, Bel Canto's head designer, wanted to implement as well. Chief among these was an upgrade from the DAC1's Crystal 8420 sample-rate converter to one from Analog Devices, the AD1896, which allowed true 24/192 conversion/upsampling and an improved signal-to-noise ratio.
Now what?