http://www.needledoctor.com/Furutech-GT-40-Headphone-Amp-DAC

Good review of this unit in the new issue of Tone Audio. This thing is a serious swiss army knife:

-24/96 DAC over USB

-Headphone amp

-MM/MC Phono Stage! nice.

-ADC! handles needledrops up to 24/96.

All for $480. This is cool because I was just thinking it would be cool if more of these "all in one" type audio devices (benchmark, peachtree, etc) started incorporating phono stages. I could see this unit sitting on a desktop next to a Rega RP-1 or some other budget deck making a really awesome rig.

The review in Tone Audio is worth a read, but in a nutshell they say any of the individual features (DAC, phono stage, ADC) would be worth the price of admission alone (they didn't comment too heavily on the headphone amp), so together its a real deal.

I saw it and thought it was cool.

^I saw that you saw it, and thought it was cool.

Cool.

You're right, if it sounds good (it wasn't hooked up), it seems like it would be a good match for my ProJect 6 TT. I'd love to play with some needle drops.

Well I just placed an order for one. Its the kind of thing I've been wanting in my desktop system for years, but I didn't expect to pay so little for it.

In general, the reviews I've read say:

-The MM phono stage is exceptional for the price (very important to me)

-The DAC is pretty darn good for the price

-Hi-rez files sound good

-Needledrops sound good

And they don't say shit about the headphone amp because nobody knows anything about headphones. They just reach in their closet and blow the dust off their decade old pair of SR125 and plug it in and say "IT HAS GOOD TIMBER".

I'll be sure to post impressions after I receive it.

"IT HAS GOOD TIMBER"

If I ever post a review over at HF, I'm going to have that as my summary.

"IT HAS GOOD TIMBER"

If I ever post a review over at HF, I'm going to have that as my summary.

That would be an excellent summary of the RA-1.

OK, got the GT40 on my desk as we speak! Initial impressions are its not perfect but I am pleasantly surprised and am enjoying what I'm hearing. I'm using the GT40's headphone amp right now, haven't tried running it to the MiniMax yet. As it stands, the sound is surprisingly spacious on my HF-2, if a tad strident and without total clarity in the bass region. It handled the 24/96 file I threw at it without a hitch. Tonally its just really quite airy and pleasant and clear.

So far so good. Looking forward to setting the 1200 up in here and giving the phono stage a whirl. I'd like to listen for a while longer before I give the unit a thumbs up or down.