Hello conclusion. The DA 256 is shockingly small but superbly styled and fabricated. It works on basic 5V/0.2A USB power but for me really perked up on a €299 15V/3.5A SilentPower iPower Elite supply. Consider upgrading from pale USB milk to be mandatory. USB gets you started in a homogenized way but can't take you all the way to full-fat fresh milk. Backed by a higher power, this Henry Audio piece champions sophisticated fleet-footed sonics which don't belong to the type which measures superbly but leaves one cold. With Sonnet's Pasithea my benchmark for extreme but organic resolution, coming in second was pretty much foregone conclusion. If Børge Strand-Bergesen had thrice the budget to work with, he'd be in hot pursuit given what he managed on today's bill of materials. For me his DA 256 performed far more advanced than its half-empty PCB let on. It obviously embeds more engineering trickery than this techno peasant can parse. A DAC like my iFi iDSD Pro Signature is more overtly voiced by someone openly fond of valves. This even telegraphs when its valves bypass fully. It's still thicker and fuzzier. My Cen.Grand champions the high-rate DSD flavour. That too differs from Henry Audio's NOS PCM which by contrast plays up separation, inner organization and clarity without getting sharp, crisp or mechanical. It's frankly too elite for casual use of USB-C off a dumbphone streaming 320kpbs Spotify. It's simply a good sport about offering such plug'n'play convenience. But make no mistake, that's not the end of its ambitions or potential. Had it more voltage gain, came with analog volume control and was more impervious to PC multi-tasking, I'd really fancy it on my desktop!
To return to the beginning like the Nordic Jörmungandr sea snake which encircles the world and bites its own tail, the DA 256 is a bit of a Hooray Henry. It really has something to brag about; and to collect on deceit receipts. That it goes about this quietly shows Scandi restraint more hygge than hyper. Just like its outers—unassuming of size, very clean and top quality of style and assembly—the sound follows suit. It's refined to not hit one over the head with cheap short-lived razzle dazzle. It's highly resolved, just not extreme. Its tariff wouldn't support that. To fully acknowledge its quality could actually take partnering hardware unlikely to be the case for its target audience. But it scales up should that audience take ancillaries to the next level. Its functionality is deliberately basic to woo the less-is-more crowd which appreciates its focus on bare essentials done right. For me this was a left-field assignment. Had Børge not rung my bell, I'd not have known about this DAC. It wasn't on my radar at all. Neither had I really played with DACs in this price range for a bit.
It was a good reminder. Well-informed discerning shoppers can still find truffles between all the Trumpian tariff tripe gone mad. Kudos to Børge's engineering chops and commitment to get this sound quality to folks of far more multi-tasking than single-minded wallets. "Henry Audio is named after my grandfather Henry who was a boat builder all of his life. He built them solidly, very solidly. Anything I make that carries his name must be solid and reliable like the things he made." I dare say that the DA 256 follows that family tradition beautifully. May it take many an aural voyager on thrilling journeys around the musical worlds. That even gels with the Buddhist concept of Mahayana aka the great boat through which many reach the goal, not just one extraordinary super-committed individual on the solitary path of Theravada, the one-seater kayak on the endless sea of karma.
So really, the DA 256 is both a Hooray Henry and Good-Times Charlie. It's no either/or matter. It makes things easier financially whilst delivering more sonic sophistication than that would suggest. That answered the question of the very beginning five pages ago. Six pages later, we've arrived at the end. Over and out.
PS: Two days after publishing whilst making the return arrangements, Børge let me know that one of his foreign distributors had already read the review, liked it a lot and wondered whether the DA 256 was eligible for an award; in which case he wanted a graphic to use for his promotions. The sound as described would warrant an award but required a €299 aftermarket outboard power supply that's not included. The difference over USB power is sufficient enough to consider off-board power mandatory. And that simple fact advised against an award for this DAC as is. If such a power supply were included or optionally available from Henry Audio for one-stop shopping, it'd be different.
