BORDER PATROL SE-i DAC -REVIEW
The Little DAC That Did—Incredibly Beautiful, Natural Music!
The Border Patrol SE-i DAC is quite petite. Two, red bricks side by side would give some measure to its volume, though the bricks would weigh far more. It is clean, well made, comely, though some would say cute, and it embodies the adage “do not judge it by its size or its cover.”
Do good products suffer bad reviews from poor equipment synergies? One has but to look across a reviewer’s supporting equipment to see how that might be true. And this is yet another reason why we do not pen bad reviews, because what if our synergistic pairings—cables, amps, DACs, headphones, etc.—were simply not copacetic with the piece of equipment in question? Then the error would be ours.
In my research of the Border Patrol SE-i DAC there were feuds, incriminations, calls of heresy for parts selection, multiple-same-periodical-testings/reviews, etc. heaped upon this “Little DAC That Did” and at times with vigor! The seed that I was able to discern from this research was that the Border Patrol SE-i DAC was musical and simple and old school. And that was enough to write Gary Dews of Border Patrol and ask for an SE-i to review. Soon a Border Patrol SE-i was on its way.
From first hearing to last, I would smile, shake my head, and laugh out loud, as the detractors appeared not to have found the magical synergies within the bounds of their collective equipment/systems, nor did the testers find the sublime musicality embodied within the Border Patrol SE-i DAC. But then, when has testing ever uncovered musicality, sublime or otherwise?
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the headphones actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The Sound
The “Little DAC That Did”—the Border Patrol SE-i DAC—brings the music naturally, organically, with great coherence and resolution. And, depending upon the system configuration and synergy, the SE-i DAC would convey outstanding treble reach, subterranean, sub-bass depth, and air-filled-ambience.
With the solid state integrated—Bakoon AMP-13R—the SE-i walked side by side, as companions, into the stygian depths of the holy-bass-head-grail, which is to say—the bass response was spectacular and thunderous! It was a planar and a dynamic driver only affair, however, as the AMP-13R does not support electrostatic headphones. And the midrange rendered by the Border Patrol SE-i and the AMP-13R was detailed, transparent, and engaging. There was quite good extension of the treble which had a sunlit glow, but this would be bettered, in other synergistic pairings. Few, however, would want for more from this combo as allied to a flagship set of headphones, dynamic or planar.
The LTA Z10e from its traditional headphone outputs as coupled to the Border Patrol SE-i was also exceedingly musical as well as transparent. The bass response of the Z10e and the SE-i, however, could not match the bass response of the AMP-13R’s and the SE-i’s. And while the bass of this combo was taunt, fast, and exceptionally well resolved, it would take a power cord changeout to make this so. Synergy. The midrange was another story altogether, as rendered by the Border Patrol SE-i and the LTA Z10e. The midrange was transparent, natural, dimensional, and sublimely musical, for which the prior combination was no match. And the treble of this synergistic duo reached high, provided volumes of air, and was suffused with ambient details.
However, the magic sauce for the Border Patrol SE-i DAC was when it was paired to an electrostatic headphone amplifier and a pair of electrostatic headphones. It was a “game over” event, noted by the pairing’s transcendence of all prior synergistic/combo descriptions—transient speed, whole-cloth frequency coherence, transparency, treble extension, air, ambience, tonal richness. And given the proper electrostatic earspeaker/headphone, a tautness of bass with rumble, speed, resolution, and transparency was provided and the combined, synergistic traits could not be touched.
The Border Patrol SE-i DAC’s volumetric cube—its soundstage—is quite large and can be vast, synergy providing. It is wide, deep, with quite good height, and excellent separation. And then there’s its resolution, imaging, sunlit musicality (not fluorescent, nor LED, nor interrogation lighting) that is as glorious, as a sunlit morning or afternoon or late summer evening—natural. The SE-i DAC was allied to every integrated and headphone amplifier available and it never failed to draw one in. Though there were some synergies so hypnotic, so mesmerizing, and enchanting, that there collective grip would be almost impossible to walk away from or ignore or forget!
The Border Patrol SE-i DAC for the purpose of the review was allied primarily with the electrostatic headphone amplifiers—LTA Z10e, STAX SRM-700T—and the the electrostatic earspeakers/headphones—STAX SR-009S, STAX SR-007A, Dan Clark VOCE—to tease out, fully, that incredibly resolving, musical genie living within.
Bass
Emerald Tears (Emerald Tears, ECM), from one of my favorite Dave Holland albums plays and the deft movement of Dave’s fingers, along the bass is easily captured and superbly resolved. The transient-quick pluck of strings and their reverberation across waves of air and ambient space bring a tactile reality. And the resolution and tonality from the Border Patrol SE-i DAC is topflight and would not be embarrassed in nearly any pricey DAC neighborhood. Eiji Out’s V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey (Stravinsky, Reference Recording) startles as it enters from this well known playlist and this was unexpected! Dynamics?! The taunt, percussive bass notes of the timpani and kettles and their pummeling by mallet are not just heard or felt, but seen or, at least, clearly imagined as three-dimensional constructs. The timpani are deep within the sound stage and even as they thunder, the balance of the orchestra set before them and to either side is rendered transparently, with amazing dimensionality, coherence, and nuance. Suffice to say, that “Little DAC That Did” is doing it and beautifully so. I look across at the Border Patrol SE-i as sits upon the desk so humbly, tranquil, yet it delivers both scale and impact well above its price point! Synergy. Marcus Miller’s Power (M2, Concord) powers in and it is rhythmic, thumping, tight, and quick. Without missing a beat the SE-i and friends are all over it, every note and every start-and-stop transient beat.
Midrange
One of my favorite pieces for male vocals Olafur Arnalds’ Árbakkinn (Island Songs, Mercury (Universal France)) plays and Icelandic poet—Einar Georg Einarsson—recites his poem, very familiar to me, and there is a calm ease and naturalness to his recital, that is clearly reminiscent of analog, a turntable to be clear. And yet the resolution of this piece is quite incredible as the SE-i teases out all sound that issues forth—instruments, movements, wildlife—regardless of how deeply it may be buried in the mix or how shyly it participates. Rises Tracey’ Chapman’s Don’t Dwell (Where You Live, Elektra Records) which glides in and is ethereal, her voice haunting, real, and the mix of instruments and players are all laid bare and all heard. Katie Melua’s Fields of Barley (Live in Concert, BMG) is an incredible, live rendition of a Sting song. The song as rendered by the Border Patrol SE-i DAC is open, ambient rich, filled with microdynamic cues, and so natural, it conjures incredible realism, with Katie Melua front and center. The SE-i does midrange like so few are capable regardless of price range. In our Modus Operandi I mention my encounter, long ago, with an incredibly expensive, solid-state, DAC/Transport combo, exquisitely built, solid, of notable origin, that stole the life from each and every CD smoothly ingested into its top-dollar-transport mechanism. It did not last long in my system. The Border Patrol SE-i DAC to this transport/DAC combo would be as David with a slingshot to Goliath. But it is not the only expensive DAC, even now, for which the above metaphor would still apply.
Treble+
To make things interesting the splendid Roon Nucleus Plus is removed from the combo and a simple MacBook Air now takes its place, as paired to the Border Patrol SE-i, the STAX SRM-700T, and the STAX SR-009S. The synergy is still incredible. A piano comes alive, its transparency, tonal/timbral naturalness, its outstanding clarity, and a wealth of microdynamic cues make it so. Enters Laura St. John’s violin on the Gypsy Nocturne (Gypsy, Well Tempered) and this is far more than just simulacrum. There is weight and a resonant tonal truth, as violin bow crosses violin strings and frees notes, waves of textural and ambient information into space and air. It is gorgeous music. Synergy! Christoph Poppen and the Hilliard Ensemble’s Partita for solo violin NO. 2 in D minor (MORIMUR, ECM) plays or, perhaps, more accurately it is played and the Yellow-Chair-Tardis has delivered me to the event. How could it be otherwise as the various notes, tones of the violin reach to the high ceiling of the Monastery of St. Gerold in Austria, spun by the Border Patrol SE-i, amplified by the STAX SRM-700T, and delivered by the STAX SR-009S. The you-are-there truth of a live event unfolds to closure once again, with every ambient and microdynamic cue, every freed note, every tonal/timbral shading making it so. Understand, the Border Patrol SE-i DAC is the conductor of this incredible musical truth, the score handed to it by the, aforementioned, MacBook Air and then passed on to its fellow players or band mates. Truly beautiful!
The Wrappings and Accessories
The Border Patrol SE-i DAC comes in a small, brown, cardboard box. Opening the box one finds substantial foam slabs that hug and protect the “Little DAC That Did.” There are no compelling graphics or glitz or bling. Its wrappings are a simple affair charged only with protecting their precious cargo for delivery to reviewers and its adopting parents.
Inside the box one finds the Border Patrol SE-i DAC and, I believe, that is all, as if there was a stock power cord, it would be ignored, immediately and completely.
Design—Look and Feel
The Border Patrol SE-i DAC sports a simple, quiet, and understated design. It bares a silver facade and its copper-metal body is wrapped in black. There is but a single eye—on/off button—at the center front of its silver faceplate (black is an option), which powers the rectifier tube. Above and below are its logo, logotype, designation—digital to analog converter—and that’s it.
On its rear panel you’ll find the same kind of simplicity. At the top left is the on/off button that actually powers the unit and an IEC connector with fuse. On its top right are RCA outputs (left and right) and below them, depending upon one’s selection at purchase 1) an RCA (SPDIF) digital input 2) a USB digital input or 3) both. The review sample came with both. And on left of its top face is a copper-colored well wherein is seated a EZ80 tube (rectifier).
The Border Patrol SE-i DAC is unassuming, well made, petite, with a huge, musical genie living in that “itty bitty living space.”
Functionality
Simple. The Border Patrol SE-i DAC is available with with asynchronous USB input, SPDIF(COAX) input or both and is then switchable.
There is no over-sampling, no digital filtering, no output buffering, but there is an R2R DAC chip. There are also “high quality signal capacitors that couple the chip to the output of the DAC.”
It is a “tube/solid state hybrid choke input filter power supply featuring over-sized power transformers, high speed low noise diodes with resistor-capacitor snubbing, a high inductance choke and a EZ80 tube rectifier.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
And both the USB and the SPDIF inputs and the DAC have “ independent voltage regulation.” The version sent to AudioKey Reviews—SE-i version—uses “Jupiter Beeswax film and foil output capacitors.”
Okay. It will play up to 24/96kHz and Tidal Masters to the same 24/96kHz, but no more. For those who mainly stream and have rather large CD collections, with the occasional high resolution CD you and your music will be very well served. For those who understand the relative paucity of music sampled at greater than 24/96kHz to that which is not, you and your music will be very well served.
The Specifications
Inputs (digital): 1 x USB (24/96kHz & TIDAL), 1 x SPDIF(COAX - 24/96kHz & TIDAL)
Outputs (analog): 1 x RCA (pair)
Weight: 8lb/4kg (shipping)
Dimensions: W x D x H: 9 x 7x 3in (226 x 173 x 78mm)
Available with asynchronous USB input, SPDIF input or switchable USB and SPDIF.
The USB version of the DAC features a SPDIF output which enables it to function as a high quality USB to SPDIF converter.
R2R DAC chip which has no over-sampling (NOS), no digital filtering and no output buffering.
Plays files up to 24/96kHz via USB or SPDIF including TIDAL Master recordings.
High quality signal capacitors couple the chip to the output of the DAC.
Copper metal chassis.
Tube/solid state hybrid choke input filter power supply featuring over-sized power transformers, high speed low noise diodes with resistor-capacitor snubbing, a high inductance choke and a EZ80 tube rectifier. It feeds both the USB/SPDIF and DAC cards which each have independent voltage regulation.
The SE version features a novel BorderPatrol twin transformer power supply system (as used in the BorderPatrol EXS amplifier PSU's), ELNA Cerafine power supply capacitor and film and foil signal coupling capacitors.
Conclusion
The Wizard of Measurements, the various high priests of sound, those unable to find synergy with the “Little DAC That Did”will not be happy with this review, for it flies in the face of their pronouncements and beliefs and measurements and therefore it will be found heretical. But then, So What (Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia).
Depending on the technology of the system—electrostatic, non-electrostatic—the SE-i DAC’s treble would reach to the sky, waving a hello as it passed Asgard, then Olympus, or it would end, impeccably, at some lessor point, below the heavens, with resolution and musicality and openness very much intact. Or it would walk into the stygian depths of the holy-bass-head grail, side by side, with synergistic partner—Bakoon AMP-13R—and laugh at those who thought less of it in this respect. And its midrange musical gold—transparent, natural, coherent, organic—would draw you in until you were captive, immobile, and planted firmly on sofa, sectional, or comfy chair.
The Border Patrol SE-i DAC is a true gem, that hides its wondrous capabilities beneath a simple, clean, unadorned facade. To look past it though is to look past the tattered, dirt-crusted Van Gough, at a garage sale, posing as nothing more than an amateur's well-intentioned, paint-by-numbers work. Don’t do that.
The simplest thing to say about the Border Patrol SE-i DAC is that it never disappointed or failed to amaze. However, to carry on about SE-i DAC is to speak to its whole-cloth coherency, its top to bottom frequency reach (dependent on system configuration/synergy), its natural and wholly transparent rendering of the music, and its beguiling, analog ease across the entirely of the frequency range.
It’s limitation, for some, will be that it will not play the various high resolution formats or DSD or DXD or anything above 24/96kHz, despite the relative paucity of actual recordings, currently. Though as Spock might be moved to say, “That is highly illogical.” And there you have it. Millions of tracks that cannot (or have not) cross(ed) over to the high resolution dimension, but that would be incredibly well served by the “Little DAC That Did”—the Border Patrol SE-i DAC. Hmmmm… It is a definite short, short lister for any and all who have CDs, stream their music, and/or have libraries replete with non-high resolution files and who can muster the, relatively light, scratch (clams, loot, coin, potatoes, Franklins, cabbage, greenbacks, quid, dough, etc.) to adopt and love this sweet, little music maker.
We, AudioKey Reviews, highly recommend the Border Patrol SE-i DAC and award to it our HIGH NINES AWARD for musical excellence, its incredible ease of use, and its old school, analog-like charm, that extends far above its price point.
Pros: musically sublime in the tradition of good analog, wondrously transparent, and incredible engagement (and especially so with electrostatics!).
Cons: Does not abide high resolution formats above 24/96kHz (and…?)
The Systems
1.
Roon Nucleus+
LTA Z10e
MEZE 99 Classic
Obravo HAMT-Signature
MEZE Empyrean
Rosson Audio RAD-0
Dan Clark VOCE
STAX SR-009S
STAX SR-007A
STAX SR-L700MkII
ANTICABLE/CARDAS cabling and wires
TORUS TOT MAX
2.
Roon Nucleus+
STAX SRM-700T/S
MEZE 99 Classic
Obravo HAMT-Signature
MEZE Empyrean
Rosson Audio RAD-0
Dan Clark VOCE
STAX SR-009S
STAX SR-007A
STAX SR-L700MkII
ANTICABLE/CARDAS cabling and wires
TORUS TOT MAX
3.
Roon Nucleus+
Bakoon AMP-13R
MEZE 99 Classic
Obravo HAMT-Signature
MEZE Empyrean
Rosson Audio RAD-0
Dan Clark VOCE
STAX SR-009S
STAX SR-007A
STAX SR-L700MkII
ANTICABLE/CARDAS cabling and wires
TORUS TOT MAX
THE MUSIC
The Company
BORDER PATROL
Border Patrol SE-i ($1950)
BORDER PATROL
Waldorf, MD
Tel/Fax 301 705 7460
borderpatrolaudio@gmail.com
http://borderpatrol.net
