Start shipping now is the long-awaited Young DAC from Italy's M2Tech, makers of the industry standard hiFace and hiFace EVO USB to S/PDIF converter. Young DAC is a 32-bit / 384kHz capable DAC. It features a high speed asynchronous USB input based on the hiFace technology, further developed to allow for higher sampling rates. It features a comprehensive input set (S/PDIF on RCA and BNC, AES/EBU on XLR and optical on Toslink) to accomodate a wide variety of digital connections. Looks like a DAC with exceptional value at under $2,000.
- 32/384 max over asynchronous USB (However, Mac OS drivers are not yet ready as of blog date)
- 24/192 max over AES/EBU and coaxial S/PDIF
- 24/96 max over toslink input
- Custom digital oversampling filter (off-the-DAC-chip) using Xilinx Spartan's FPGA which implements minimum-phase filters with low pre-echo
- The 32 bit Burr-Brown 1795 DAC chip's digital filter is bypassed to allow for 768kHz internal operation to acheive an exceptionally low noise floor and THD figure
- The output stage and buffer uses high grade class-A biased low-noise OPAMPs
- Size: 200(w) x 50(h) x 200(d) mm
- Weight: 1Kg approx. (2.2 pounds)
- SNR: 121dB (A weighted, 192kHz, 24 bits, 20kHz bandwidth)
- THD+N: 0.0003% (192kHz, 24 bits)
- Inputs:
- 2 x S/PDIF (RCA and 75 Ohms BNC)
- 1x AES/EBU (XLR)
- 1x optical (Toslink)
- 1x USB (USB female Type B)
- Output: single ended on RCA female
- Output voltage: 2.65Vrms (7.5Vpp @ 0dBFS)
- US$1,999
M2Tech also makes a reference model, the Vaughan Reference USB DAC with better specs (4 x DAC chips per channel), more inputs and outputs, I2S output, master clock port, digital dithered volume control, and balanced outputs.
