Denon DA-500 (1989)
The Denon DA-500 is a standalone D/A converter from 1989, a two-channel unit built around Burr-Brown PCM61P DAC chips. It handles the standard sample rates of the period — 32, 44.1, and 48 kHz — and offers both optical and coaxial digital inputs, with a single unbalanced analogue output. De-emphasis is included among its functions. Physically it's a compact, low-slung component at 340 x 73 x 283 mm and 3.5 kg.
The record on this model is thin in places. Sources disagree on the exact DAC configuration (two PCM61P chips per Audio Database, possibly four per hifi-wiki) and on the precise input count (one optical and one coaxial versus two Toslink and one SPDIF). I've left those specifics out rather than guess. What's consistent across both databases is the basic identity: a late-1980s Denon outboard converter, a category that made sense in an era when CD players were still improving their internal DACs and an external box was a legitimate upgrade path.
HiFI-Stereo (March 1995, p.28) took a look at the DA-500 well after its release and found its inherent hum level very low and unaffected by which input was chosen. The reviewer also noted the unit "stood up very well" in measured performance and mentioned some peculiarities in its behavior — a characteristically honest Denon-era review that suggests the converter was a competent performer, if not a flawless one. The same review noted that Denon supplied a three-disc set of test CDs (PG-6013/15) for evaluation purposes.
No original price, production run details, or user reception information have surfaced. For a collector, the DA-500 is a reasonably obscure piece of late-1980s Denon digital history — one that was evidently competent enough to earn a favorable technical review, but not so celebrated that much documentation has survived.
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