Country of Origin
Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea, COS Engineering D1, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.GRand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx + Dynaudio S18 sub; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
2nd headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 work station Win11/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC/headamp: iFi iDSD Pro Signature; Speakers: DMAX P61 Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: TBA
Fall 2024. "The first twenty PCB are assembled. The housing production is in the starting blocks. I then have to write code to bring that thing to life. Only then will we see whether my idea really sounds the way I imagined. I think this DAC will be available for purchase by the end of this year. Vince wants to appear at October trade fairs with it. But I'm sceptical. I don't know if I can program it that quickly. I've also been tasked with designing a cost-effective version. Work upon work. You'll be the first to know anyway. Vince wants to send you the DAC to test. That was clear from the start!"
That was Roland Krammer, former head engineer at Austria's Crayon Audio. Years ago he'd moved to Romania's Bucharest; for love. He since has partnered up with Canada's hifi distributor Vince Saw of Red Dot Audio. Vince continues to represent Crayon. It's the core of their connection. And, Roland's original CFA.1-2 has long been one of my favourite mid-power amplifiers. So I kept tabs on the man who designed it. When it became apparent that Crayon had stopped introducing new product, I hoped that it didn't signify the end of Roland's career. I then learnt that he'd found a new home. At lazy intervals I learnt of progress with that collaboration. Finally the first new Krammer product was 'round the bend. If Roland engineered it, I needed to hear it. Thankfully my name was in the sorting hat.
This time it's a D/A converter, not current-feedback amplifier. A few hours after one Roland email, reader Peter B. checked in. "… last year I was in contact with Roland Krammer who told me that he and my friend Vince are collaborating on a new DAC. Now it's my understanding that it's gone into production. Do you know anything about it?" The hifi rumour mill was printing premature bills already but the currency was solid. With my enthusiasm for the earlier amp, I expected a sterling exchange rate on performance despite the notoriously weak Canadian dollar against the €uro. Speaking more to this was Vince's taste in hardware imports. They tick off Cube Audio, Enleum and sound|kaos. His big digital brand is Playback Designs by DSD guru Andreas Koch. On what price branch would this collab with Roland position? Vince's champagne tastes in DACs probably didn't leave much room for beer-budget concessions? If I read these cards right, Roland felt no pressure. None.
July 2nd 2025. Once again reader Peter B. checked in. "Vince Saw asked me to send you these photos of the DAC he and Roland Krammer have developed." Whatever pressures Roland may have been under seemed finally over? Time for Vince and I to hash out logistics, Roland to have some plum brandy with sarmales. Google calls them Romania's national dish of cabbage rolls filled with minced pork and rice all cooked in a rich tomato sauce served with polenta and sour cream. Red Dot Audio's house brand had become Viro for Vince + Roland. It's short, evocative and rolls off the tongue just so. That the Latin vir equals man or hero—hence our word virile—is another layer. Whilst on the surface far removed from virus/virulent, audiophilia is often called a form of virus. But if people could instead be bitten by cocaine, alcohol, porn, SM (social media not sado-maso) or Romanian vampires, being afflicted by good sound seems altogether more harmless; except perhaps for the household budget. On the matter of which, what's today's damage? As for hifi porn, what goes on beneath these covers? The back panel shows I²S catered to via HDMI and RJ45, pin-config adjustments not by dip switches, various button presses or selectable menu item but control code copied to memory card then inserted into the back slot. The separate clock input must be for the coaxial input since I²S already runs a discrete clock line? The need to program the thing suggested conversion by FPGA code not run-of-the-mill D/A chip from AK, BB, ESS or TI? Let's ask Roland to do better than speculate and get it all wrong.
First Vince gives us the basics. "We've been diligently working on the Virotech G.1 DAC for the past two years and are incredibly excited to introduce what we believe is a truly next-gen digital-to-analog converter. This is a highly advanced proprietary design that does not rely on off-the-shelf DAC chips. Its key features are:
The remote promises on-the-fly switching between DSD and PCM processing | Roland's 'super' clock dubbed Viro Tact as ensconced in this building block next to the I²S pin configurator.
Vince's overview lines up their G.1 with competitors from APL, Cen.Grand, Meitner, Nagra, Playback Design and PS Audio whose D/A converters too practice on-the-fly DSD resampling via proprietary FPGA code. Unlike them, Roland's forthcoming second DAC module will bolt on parallel PCM processing. Might its hybrid nature mirror my iFi iDSD Pro Signature from Thorsten Loesch? Virotech's native DSD512 module affords us the option of prior PCM⇒DSD conversion in software like Audirvana, HQplayer or Roon. This exploits a computer's bigger CPU for the resampling math. It's what Cen.Grand's JianHui Deng recommends experimenting with. Coax obviously limits to DSD64 but USB and I²S easily handle high-rate DSD. Meanwhile the twin-DAC concept will delight purists who prefer hearing mixed PCM/DSD or CD/SACD collections in their original formats. Being able to play back native DSD beyond the data density of physical SACD whilst sidestepping USB¹ transmission as a protocol which some hardcore extremist call sub par means I²S. Absent a standard for externally cabled I²S transmission, adjustable pin assignment is key to vouchsafe a perfect handshake with transports of dissimilar wiring conventions. To get more granular now hands the mic to Roland.
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¹ To generate an I²S signal from my PC, iMac or upstairs SD-card transport, I use USB bridges from Singxer and Soundaware. Think USB in then AES/EBU, coax, BNC and I²S on HDMI and/or RJ45 out. Such devices act like a moat for computer-induced noise and in that function have become a mainstay for my digital streaming. 'Audiophile' servers internalize the same USB isolation/reclocking. I simply prefer the far bigger displays and fully hardwired option of computers to bypass WiFi for tablet remotes. All this to explain how to use I²S with standard computers. To optimize them for audio, I run Audirvana Studio in extreme hog mode.
