Furutech ADL Stride

The Furutech ADL Stride has been tested before, gaining a four-star rating for its efforts. But in a Supertest among its class rivals, its price, portability and sound quality take a beating. But first, let’s remind ourselves what this DAC  and headphone amplifier can do. 

Part of Furutech’s entry-level line  of products, the Stride supports native playback of up to 24-bit/96kHz music files, which is plenty of scope to boost the music playing from your iTunes collection or Spotify playlist. Any higher-resolution 192kHz files will  have to be downsampled to 96kHz. 

There are a number of ways you can use the Stride. First, plug your favourite pair of cans into the 3.5mm headphone output, and run a cable from your laptop’s USB port to the Stride’s mini USB input. Alternatively, you can use the headphone output to take the signal into a stereo amplifier and out to your speakers. Thirdly, feed the signal from your smartphone’s headphone output into the Stride’s 3.5mm line level input. Of course, that last application is a slightly clunky way of marrying a smartphone with this DAC – we reckon it’s more likely to be used in a laptop system. 

Adding to that set-up is the Stride’s rechargeable battery, which means it can deliver a claimed 80 hours of playback when charged (via mains or USB). There’s a slim volume wheel tucked  into the corner as well. 

The Stride has a wedge-shaped aluminium casing: it’s an odd shape and not as classy-feeling as its rivals. We find that the rPAC (its closest rival here in concept) has a nicer feel to it and is a neater, more compact option. £325 is quite a lot of money to spend on a DAC, especially for use on the move, and the comprehensively equipped Lindy is the only other one here over £300.

Bringer of balance 
So how does the ADL Stride sound? Play In the Cold, Cold Night by The White Stripes (Spotify, 320kbps) and there’s  a good sense of balance across the frequencies, with clear highs and weighty lows. There’s no unwieldy bass and the midrange sounds clear and direct. 

Meg White’s vocals are detailed and melodic, although we’d have loved a greater depth of detail to fully flesh out the moments when the song dips low into quieter passages. Go up the scale in sample rates and the detail quality hikes up, with instruments nicely spaced out, although the HRT microStreamer has better spatial awareness and a more open soundstage. 

What’s clear in this company is that the Stride doesn’t quite have the rhythmic precision to battle against the best in class. The rPAC isn’t the most insightful of DACs in this test, yet it is a notch above the Stride in delivering a musical and engaging performance. There’s a sense of solidity to the plucking of strings from the Stride, but we’d like tauter and more agile rhythms with precise edges to tie all the instruments together. 

It’s by no means as dull a performer as the Lindy, but the Stride is outclassed by cheaper, more portable and much more sonically talented performers.

There’s a sense of solidity to the plucking of strings from the Stride, but we’d like tauter and more agile rhythms with precise edges

Rating ★★★ 
FOR Flexible connection; clear, well-balanced sound; decent detail; 80 hours of playback
AGAINST Class leaders offer more detail, nicer build quality and greater convenience; price
VERDICT Better-sounding, cheaper rivals mean the Furutech is not the best portable option

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