ЦАПы — Soulution Audio 560 D/A converter

The Soulution 560 D/A converter is the mid-range converter in the 5 series of the Swiss manufacturer. Soulution describes its aim as capturing all digital music data and carrying it into the analogue domain without loss. Its built-in attenuator lets it serve as the sole control component feeding a power amplifier.

Key specs that matter

Connections for digital signals comprise AES/EBU, SPDIF, optical, USB and a network connection. Through USB and network the 560 accepts up to 24-bit/384 kHz PCM or 1-bit/5.64 MHz DSD, and the file types handled are DSF, DFF, DXD, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC and MP3. Frequency response runs from 0 Hz to 200 kHz with DXD material. Output voltage is 4 V RMS balanced and 2 V RMS unbalanced, both outputs at an impedance of 10 ohms. Signal-to-noise ratio exceeds 140 dB, channel separation exceeds 130 dB, and THD plus noise is kept under 0.002 percent from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Volume adjusts from 0 to minus 79 dB in 1 dB steps. The case measures 442 mm wide, 143 mm high and 448 mm deep and weighs about 20 kg. Power consumption is under 0.5 W in standby and 100 W in operation, with 100 to 120 V or 220 to 240 V versions.

Engineering and use context

Incoming audio is buffered and upsampled to the highest supported PCM rate using algorithms from Anagram Technologies, then converted by Burr Brown chips in a symmetric configuration. The proprietary Zero-Phase Technology, marked zerophitech, corrects the timing errors that the analogue low-pass filter after the converter would otherwise introduce, and Soulution states that the phase error of the analogue signal remains below 1 degree between 20 Hz and 100 kHz. The analogue output stage is a wideband design with a bandwidth of 20 MHz at minus 3 dB.

Pairing

A Soulution power amplifier can take the balanced output of the 560 directly, which removes a separate preamplifier from the chain, while the unbalanced output serves an amplifier or a headphone amplifier fitted only with RCA inputs. Its network socket lets a streaming library feed it without a computer on the USB port, and the AES/EBU and SPDIF inputs remain free for a disc transport.

Alternatives

The Soulution 760 D/A converter uses technology from the 745 SACD player, a 40 MHz wideband output stage and separate power supplies for its digital and analogue circuits, and it is rated at an output impedance of 2 ohms, a 30 kg weight, 60 W of operating consumption and a BNC clock output, with THD plus noise below 0.0005 percent.