Although it's not something most entry-level producers consider investing precious pounds in, D-A (digital to analogue) conversion is an important process, especially when using outboard gear. A digital to analogue conversion takes place in all audio interfaces (where analogue monitor cables are used), and at the cheaper end of the scale it's performed by little more than a single IC chip. In general, transparency has been seen as the ultimate goal of the conversion process, but with growing popularity of DAW mixes being sent out of the box for analogue summing, JCF Audio have released a D-A convertor designed to impart a certain warmth to the sound.

Packing eight transformers and 17 valves into the 3U box, the heavyweight DA8V converts eight channels of digital to analogue. A single AES/EBU input is provided to feed digital data into the box at sample rates up to 192kHz, and outputs are on D-Sub looms. The unit also comes with two power supplies: one digital and one analogue. The DA8V drew quite a crowd on demonstration at AES, and currently has US distribution via Mercenary Audio, with no UK distribution confirmed. With all those valves and transformers on board it doesn't come cheap, and currently retails for $6,750 in the US.