Source: Press Release, Last Accessed: 2014/06/25

Pioneer will release a headphone amplifier with built-in USB DAC. The U-05 will be available during this summer, offering audio streaming through asynchronous USB up to 24bit/384kHz (DXD) in PCM and up to 5.6MHz (DSD256) in DSD format, with a selectable digital filter and both single ended and balanced headphone outputs.
According to the published information, the new DAC features two 8-channel ES9016 chips from ESS in an 8-channel/per stereo channel parallel configuration to improve linearity, and discrete analogue circuits both for the line and the headphone outputs, the latter delivering up to 180mW/channel in 32 Ohm loads in single ended connection and up to 300mW/channel in XLR/balanced connection. Apart from the USB port, U-05 will include five standard digital inputs (AES/EBU, 2 coaxial and 2 Toslink) and both single ended and balanced line outputs with switch-selectable volume control via a second potentiometer.
The user will have control over both the input lock function, through a “lock range adjustment” (presumably for lower jitter susceptibility, no more information is given here) and the digital filter response (there are three modes, Sharp, Slow and Short -an apodizing response perhaps?) while there is, also, an upscaling option, up to 32bit/384kHz. The gain of the device will be user-adjusted to handle headphones with different load/sensitivity specs.

For more information: http://pioneer.jp/

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