ILTW

iLoveTW 24bit/196kHz, Adaptive/Asynchronous USB DAC.
This is the brand new iLoveTW USB DAC from Firestone Audio, that incorporates components of top class inside the compactness of Firestone’s Cute series. This DAC has the well know WOLFSON WM8740 DA converter in cooperation with the TENOR TE8802 USB receiver, offering extreme good specifications.

Firestone Audio ILTW (iLove Taiwan) 24bit/196kHz Adpative/Asynchronous USB DAC

Take a closer Look ! (click to view)

The iLoveTW can perform Asynchronous as well as Adaptive, a feature mostly seen in far more expensive equipment. Of course Firestone Audio is presenting this unit at a very friendly price level. This quality at this price can only come from Taiwan. That is why the R&D Team of Firestone Audio is proudly highlighting this in the name give to this unit : “I Love Taiwan”. The iLoveTW is made in a beautiful Black housing with Black front plate. On top is a glossy black acrylic plate with the landmap-profile of Taiwan. When the iLoveTW is power-up, this top logo is illuminated, but when switched of, nearly not visible. The Audiophile Techno-Geeks among us, will notice immediately the following terms : Asynchronous USB, I2S, Wolfson-MW8740 and TENOR-TE8802 that will trigger the "I am interested"-part of the brain instantly. Here at Firestone Audio Europe, you will understand we play a lot with our equipment.
When the new iLoveTW entered our office and we connected it fist time to our test-rig, (even still in synchron mode) we had to support our chin to prevent our mouth from falling wide open. What a great precise well defined sound is coming out this new DAC. One thing is also interesting : the digital IS2 port ! Yes this DAC can connect to future Firestone Audio Equipment that will have this connection to. So one thing is sure, more candy is coming our way. The iLoveTW is the fine example of high-quality, proudly engineered in Taiwan by a "top of the bill engineering team", not scared to show its brand roots : Taiwan ! Thanks guy for this great product. :)

Specifications

	Amplifier Structure : Low pass filter with 2Vrms output
	Power Structure : High frequency switching DC-DC regulator
	USB Support Format :
	16 Bit : 44.1kHz / 48kHz / 88.2kHz / 96kHz / 176.4kHz / 192kHz
	24 Bit : 44.1kHz / 48kHz / 88.2kHz / 96kHz / 176.4kHz / 192kHz
	Digital Interface : Direct I2S data format transmission (MAX support up to 192kHz-24bit over 1 meter CAT-5E cable)
	Operation Mode : Support Adaptive and Asynchronous mode for audio stream transmission
	Circuit Protect : Output short / over current protect
	DAC Chip : WOLFSON - WM8740
	USB Chip : TENOR - TE8802
	LPF OP : NS - LM4562
	Audio Performance (1kHz sine wave, 2Vrms output, 24-bit / 48kHz) USB Input
	dB-Weighed Frequency response (From 40Hz to 15kHz) : 40Hz +0.02dB, 15kHz -0.12dB
	Total frequency response is of course much wider from < 20Hz till far over 20khz
	Noise level (1kHz, A-Weighted) : -106.7dB
	Dynamic range (1kHz, A-Weighted) : 106.7dB
	THD% : 0.012%
	Stereo crosstalk : -102.7dB
	Housing dimensions : 117 x 80 x 50 mm (D x W x H). Housing only without parts 'sticking out' like connector parts, swithes, etc.
	Weight : 286 gram (without the external power supply)

Connectivity

	Digital Input : 1 of USB jack
	Digital Output : 1 of RJ45 jack for I2S data format transmission
	Line Output : 1 of RCA jack

Scope of Supply

	ILOVETW
	CD-ROM
	DC24V 0.5A power adapter
	RCA wire
	USB cable
	User manual
	Warranty card
	Wrench

System Requirements

	Intel® Pentium® 2, Celeron® 800MHz or higher
	Microsoft® Windows 2000® (Service Pack 4) or Windows® XP (Service Pack 1), Vista and Windows7*(32 + 64 bit !)
	Apple MAC OS
	128MB RAM
	Available USB port
	Adpative performance without any driver
	Asynchronous performance need the driver as delivered on CD-rom with the unit for Windows and MAC OS.
	Attention : New driver for Win7-64 bit just released. Please check the "Drivers" download section.

More about Asynchronous operation

Synchronous (Adaptive) USB data transmission accords to the clock of the computer to be the standard. With the new new Asynchronous option, this feature, contribute to less jitter. Asynchronous USB data transmission technology is designed to buffer and to re-calculate and arrange the digital information to prevent jitter problems for transmission of music data.

I2S

The new iLoveTW has a digital I2S output. This port will interface to future equipment from Firestone Audio that will be presented 2nd half 2011.
If you want to know more about this take a look HERE