Friday, June 5, 2026
Home Review Sonnet Pasithea d/a converter – the beauty of silence

Review Sonnet Pasithea d/a converter – the beauty of silence

Door
Jaap Veenstra
-
17

Pros

  • Sound-technically perfect
  • Measurement perfect
  • Reasonable price considering the performance

Cons

  • Bit of a dull box

Price: € 5900

Build quality
Usability
Sound
Price
Alpha-Audio Approved
Review
Specs
Sonnet Pasithea

Measurements and Conclusion

Contents

The measurements of the Sonnet Pasithea are…. virtually flawless. We measure THD just below 0.003%, a noise floor that is at and below -160dB. Those are the limits of our Prism dScope we think. Crosstalk ticks the -140dB mark and the dynamic range is 128dB which comes down to almost 22bit if we calculate correctly. Impulse behavior is – not entirely surprising since it is an NOS dac – without any pre- and post-ringing. We can’t find anything that doesn’t add up. Hats off.

Conclusion

What a tremendous achievement for Sonnet Audio. Where the Morpheus is already a benchmark in the class up to at least 5000 euros, the Pasithea sets the bar even higher. At 5900 euros it is certainly an investment, but in return you get an unprecedented good sounding converter. Measurement wise we do not see any point of improvement and we wonder if we reach the limits of the Prism in certain areas. From a sound technical point of view, we have not yet heard any converter that plays so quietly and in such a controlled manner. Absolutely Alpha Audio Approved!
Type test
Single Test
Inputs
  • Analog RCA
Outputs
  • Analog RCA
Product type
D/A-converter

17 COMMENTS

  3. I currently have an EMM Labs DCC2 /CDSD combo playing through Halcro DM 58s to Revel Salons. Am looking to modernize and move to hi res streaming ( although may keep a CD player ). Am currently looking at :

    Sonnet Pasithea
    Holo May kitsune
    Bricasti M3

    Does any9ne have an opinion on those? Or is familiar with the EMM Labs dac for comparison ?

    Thx

    Seth

  4. I currently have an EMM Labs DCC2 /CDSD combo playing through Halcro DM 58s to Revel Salons. Am looking to modernize and move to hi res streaming ( although may keep a CD player ). Am currently looking at :

    Sonnet Pasithea
    Holo May kitsune
    Bricasti M3

    Does any9ne have an opinion on those? Or is familiar with the EMM Labs dac for comparison ?

    Thx

    Seth

  5. Hello Guys,

    As always what a great review !

    I have a Denafrips Athena preamp & Terminator -II using HQP to PCM 1.536mhz and that is the way the Terminator-II seems to squeeze its best bits.

    I have this itch with the Pasithea, and wonder how good would it be to switch to it from where im standing now ( T-II ), any suggestions ?

    Have you tried Pasithea with HQP ?

    These are the DACs im considering:

    – Lampizator Baltic 3
    – Sonnet Pasithea
    – SW1X DAC II BALANCED

    fingers crossed
    Regards to You all

    Miguel ( Mexico )

  6. Hello Guys,

    As always what a great review !

    I have a Denafrips Athena preamp & Terminator -II using HQP to PCM 1.536mhz and that is the way the Terminator-II seems to squeeze its best bits.

    I have this itch with the Pasithea, and wonder how good would it be to switch to it from where im standing now ( T-II ), any suggestions ?

    Have you tried Pasithea with HQP ?

    These are the DACs im considering:

    – Lampizator Baltic 3
    – Sonnet Pasithea
    – SW1X DAC II BALANCED

    fingers crossed
    Regards to You all

    Miguel ( Mexico )

Alpha-Audio Approved

Alpha Audio - Haarlem - Netherlands