Balanced Audio Technology - BAT REX 3 DAC
BAT’s REX 3 DAC delivers sparkling vitality, natural instrumental separation and commanding dynamic swing without sacrificing ease. HiFi News found it remarkably adept at untangling dense arrangements, while Audiophilepure praised its immersive, long-listening appeal. With its all-tube balanced output stage, this is a deeply musical digital front end for revealing systems.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
92/100
Build Quality
82/100
Features Connectivity
81/100
Value for Money
81/100
Pros
Combines crisp transients, speed and dynamic power with an effortless, musically involving presentation.
Creates spacious, natural separation that keeps individual instrumental lines intelligible in complex recordings.
Draws listeners into an immersive sonic landscape that encourages extended listening sessions.
Cons
The six-tube design runs hot and requires generous ventilation.
Its $20,000 price places it firmly in high-end territory.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 92/100
Reviewers describe a vivid, highly involving converter that combines sparkle, speed and dynamic force with an unusually effortless presentation. It is especially praised for letting complex performances breathe, making individual instrumental lines easy to follow while retaining a coherent, immersive whole.
Tonal Balance and Musicality
94/100
Hi-Fi News calls the sound “sparkling,” fresh and vital, yet marked by “total ease,” while saying it brings the listener closer to the music without calling attention to itself. Audiophilepure likewise describes the sonics as “simply glorious” and praises its ability to draw the listener into the musical landscape for extended sessions.
Resolution and Detail
91/100
The REX 3 gives instruments and individual lines of a score ample breathing room, allowing the listener to focus on single performers or take in the full spread of the performance. That separation is presented as natural and spacious rather than as an artificially etched form of detail.
Digital Performance
90/100
Reviewers hear a notably easy, lively presentation with convincing speed and dynamic power, even from CD-quality material over coaxial input. The available comments do not specifically address measured noise, jitter, or the background silence, but they do not describe glare, grain, or other overt digital artifacts.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
82/100
The six-tube output stage is substantial enough that the unit runs hot and needs generous ventilation in use. Reviewers say little about chassis construction, internal layout, parts quality, or long-term durability.
Features Connectivity
81/100
Connectivity is comprehensive for a dedicated DAC, with AES, two coaxial, two optical and USB inputs, plus balanced XLR outputs. It handles PCM to 24-bit/384kHz and DSD256, and reviewers report straightforward USB operation with a Sony music server, Windows with BAT drivers, and plug-and-play Mac use.
Value for Money
81/100
At $20,000, this is a firmly high-end purchase, and Hi-Fi News explicitly calls it “unashamedly expensive.” The same review considers its musical ability special, but neither publication makes a direct case that it outperforms rivals for the money or represents exceptional value in its class.
Reviews & Sources
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Specifications
- Inputs
- AES, 2 Coaxial, 2 Toslink, and USB
- Outputs
- 2x XLR
- Resolution
- 24-bit/384kHz PCM, 4x DSD (11.2896MHz)
- Global Feedback
- None
- Output Impedance
- 1K
- Power Consumption
- 160VA
- Tube Complement
- 6x 6C19
- Dimensions
- 19" x 5.75" x 15.5"
- Weight
- 32 lb.
Manufacturer's Description — Balanced Audio Technology - BAT
Available in silver or black
The BAT third-generation SuperPak is now standard
REX 3 DAC now incorporates BAT’s third-generation SuperPak as standard. For the first time, the BAT SuperPak features hybrid construction that incorporates two capacitors built and potted into each individual shell. An additional silver-in-oil capacitor—arguably the finest-quality capacitor offered at any price—is used as part of the Gen 3’s construction. The two capacitors are then assembled into a new low-resonance shell. The REX 3 DAC SuperPak assembly features the largest SupoerPak ever offered by BAT in a preamp or source component. REX 3 DAC’s Gen 3 SuperPak dramatically adds to the open and transparent sound from this world-class DAC.
Zero negative feedback for supreme purity and six 6C19 vacuum tubes
REX 3’s analog output stage follows the Balanced Audio Technology purist approach of using zero negative feedback to achieve the desired goals of wide bandwidth and circuit linearity. No buffers or followers are used anywhere in the signal path. REX 3 also features a high-current output stage with a total of six 6C19 vacuum tubes. One pair of 6C19 tubes serves as current sources for the power supply of the elegant, trademarked Unistage design. Just as in BAT’s REX 3 preamplifier, REX 3 DAC also employs amorphous-core second-generation transformers for output coupling. No capacitors are utilized in the signal path.
Proprietary DAC module runs at an ultra-high clock rate, uses custom filters
With REX 3 DAC, BAT wanted to create the most compellingly natural reproduction of the musical source. Ringing from filters that provide a perceived albeit false excitement in playback have no place in REX 3’s design. Instead, the proprietary DAC module runs at an ultra-high clock rate while employing custom filters to reconstruct the analog signal in a way that specifically complements REX 3 DAC’s unique high-current vacuum-tube output stage.
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Authorized dealers for Balanced Audio Technology - BAT REX 3 DAC
- The Music Room — online and in-store — Erie, Colorado, United States (website)
- A/V Solutions — in-store — Pleasanton, California, United States (website)
- Atelier 13 Audio — in-store — Forest Hills, Tennessee, United States (website)
- Audio Nexus — in-store — Summit, New Jersey, United States (website)
- Audio Solutions — online and in-store — Indianapolis, Indiana, United States (website)
- Elevation Sight and Sound — in-store — Park City, Utah, United States (website)
- Excel Audio — in-store — Newport Beach, California, United States (website)
- Glenn Poors AV — in-store — Champaign, Illinois, United States (website)
- Guildford Audio Ltd — in-store — Guildford, England, United Kingdom (website)
- HiFi Handyman — in-store — Anacortes, Washington, United States (website)
and 20 more verified dealers