ЦАПы — T+A DAC 200

The DAC 200 is a D/A converter and preamplifier from the Series 200 of T+A, the German company based in Herford, announced on 24 September 2021 together with the MP 200 player and A 200 power amplifier. Its launch price was EUR 5,490, USD 6,900 or GBP 4,990. The compact Series 200 borrows technology from T+A's top HV line, and its styling refers back to the M series of 1993.

Key specs that matter

For PCM, a Double-Differential-Quadruple-Converter uses four 32-bit sigma-delta converters per channel, working at 705.6 or 768 kHz and accepting 44.1 to 768 kHz. DSD runs through a separate T+A True 1-Bit converter at up to DSD1024, or DSD256 over DoP. The digital inputs comprise AES/EBU, two coaxial, BNC and two optical sockets up to 192 kHz, two USB-B ports supporting DSD1024 on Windows and Linux, one analogue RCA input at 10 kohms, and an optional HDMI board with two inputs and one output with ARC. Outputs are XLR and RCA, fixed or variable, and a 4.4 mm Pentaconn headphone output in Class A delivers up to 200 mA at 6 ohms output impedance. Frequency response is 0.1 Hz to 200 kHz at +0 and -3 dB, signal to noise ratio is 110 or 114 dB, THD and IMD are below 0.001%, and channel separation exceeds 108 dB. It is 10 cm high, 32 cm wide and 34 cm deep, with a weight of 6.2 kg.

Engineering and use context

Keeping PCM and DSD in separate paths lets each format be converted by circuitry designed for it, rather than converting DSD to PCM. A de-jitter master clock with dual PLL and galvanic isolation between the digital and analogue sections, which T+A calls DASS, reduce interference. Volume is controlled by relays with gold contacts in 1 dB steps from -90 to 0 dB, and the preamplifier stage is discrete Class A. Five oversampling filters are selectable, two of them non-oversampling, and a phase-linear Bessel analogue filter can be switched between 60 and 120 kHz. The DAC 200 is Roon Tested and links to other Series 200 units through SYS Link. Power consumption is 30 W, with standby below 0.5 W. The case is anodised aluminium in silver or black.

Pairing

With the outputs set to variable, the DAC 200 drives a power amplifier such as T+A's A 200 directly, and in fixed mode it feeds a separate preamplifier or integrated amplifier. The balanced Pentaconn headphone output suits headphones with matching cables.

Alternatives

The T+A DAC 8 DSD is an earlier converter with the same Quadruple PCM design and True 1-Bit DSD up to DSD512, launched at USD 4,450.