ЦАПы — Luxman DA-06

The Luxman DA-06 is a full-width USB digital to analogue converter designed by Luxman of Japan, built around a steel chassis 440 mm wide and weighing 11.0 kg. It decodes PCM at up to 384 kHz and 32 bits and DSD at up to 5.64 MHz through its USB port, and it offers both balanced and unbalanced analogue outputs, so it connects to a preamp or an integrated model over XLR or RCA. The American list price was USD 4,990.

Key specs that matter

Six digital inputs are provided - USB, coaxial x 2, optical x 2 and a balanced AES/EBU socket. The coaxial, optical and AES inputs accept up to 192 kHz and 24 bits, while higher PCM rates and DSD are reserved for USB. Luxman specifies a signal to noise ratio of 124 dB and total harmonic distortion of 0.0005 percent on both the balanced and unbalanced outputs. The frequency response runs from 2 Hz to 55 kHz within +0 and -3.0 dB. Maximum output voltage is 2.5 V, and output impedance is 300 ohm on RCA and 600 ohm on XLR, with channel separation of 120 dB. Power consumption is a modest 17 W, and the case is 92 mm high and 400 mm deep.

Engineering and use context

The left and right channels each receive a dedicated Burr-Brown PCM1792 converter chip, and the two chips work in a differential monaural mode rather than sharing stereo duties in a single package. USB data is handled asynchronously, with dedicated processing that cancels common mode noise, and a low phase noise clock module keeps timing errors down. Signal paths on the circuit boards avoid sharp angles, internal wiring is OFC, and several parts are designed by Luxman itself. The power supply uses an OI core transformer and 10,000 microfarad blocking capacitors. The chassis is made from 3 mm steel plate and stands on aluminium insulator feet. RCA output terminals are spaced 18 mm apart so that cables with large plugs fit without crowding. The unit plays all common PCM and DSD file types, including AIFF, WAV and DSF, when fed from a computer.

Pairing

The balanced outputs make the DA-06 a natural match for an amplifier with XLR inputs, such as a Luxman integrated from the Z series. The four S/PDIF style inputs and the AES connection accept a disc transport, a network streamer, a television and a computer together, all switched from the converter.

Alternatives

The Luxman DA-150 is a smaller desktop converter with a built-in headphone amplifier and PCM support up to 192 kHz and 32 bits over USB.