Onkyo’s new Rubato is their smallest DAP yet
Onkyo’s new Rubato is their smallest DAP yet
Onkyo’s latest DAP – the Rubato DP-S1 measures just 63 x 94 x 15 mm and weighs just 130g, making it much smaller than their flagship DP-X1. (That weighs 203g and measures 129.0 × 75.9 × 12.7 mm.) Smaller doesn’t mean any less powerful though, as the Rubato boasts Dual ESS SABRE Digital to Analogue converters (ES9018C2M) as well as 16GB of internal memory.
Like the DP-X1, the Rubato also has twin microSD card slots, allowing you to expand the total memory to 416GB, which should be more than enough for a portable music library. Also, the DP-S1 features a 2.5mm balanced headphone jack as well as the usual 3.5mm one, thus supporting a wider range of headphones.
In terms of file support, the DP-S1 supports DSD 5.6 MHz/2.8 MHz, FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF (up to a maximum of 192 kHz/32-bit), AAC, and MP3, with MQA support coming via future firmware update; impressive for a player at this price point. A dual digital clock arrangement (using independent 44.1kHz and 48kHz clocks) also helps to drastically reduce jitter noise.
The DP-S1 also comes with dual-band Wi-Fi (5GHz/2.4GHz) capabilities, so you can stream music from the likes of Tidal and TuneIn to your heart’s content. Other streaming services will be added in time to come, and the Rubato also uses these Wi-Fi capabilities to provide wireless casting of music, so you can get your favorite audio in the car, or on your hi-fi system. Get the free DapController App, and you can even control the DP-S1 from your phone, so you can leave it your bag and stream away while on the go.
The Rubato DP-S1 is available now from Stereo, Zeppeline and Anson Audio for $699.