ЦАПы — Cantico J-DAC

The J-DAC is a handcrafted digital-to-analogue converter from Cantico, the Italian company from Ponderano in the province of Biella, owned and founded by Silvio Germano Ricci. The Cantico range consists of the J-DAC, the HL-2112 horn-loaded loudspeaker and the CX8 Monitor coaxial speaker. The J-DAC costs EUR 12,000.

Key specs that matter

Inputs are USB, AES/EBU, S/PDIF coaxial on BNC and RCA and Toslink. USB accepts PCM up to 24 bit and 384 kHz and DSD 2X, and the other inputs accept PCM up to 24 bit and 192 kHz. Outputs are XLR and RCA, chosen with a physical selector so that only one is active at a time. The output stage is transformer-coupled, with a single JFET per channel placed between the conversion resistors and custom output transformers. Three isolated toroidal transformers supply the digital processing, the DAC and analogue stages and the output stage. The weight is 13 kg.

Engineering and use context

A single JFET per channel is about the simplest active gain stage possible, and the output transformer after it converts the signal to the required level and impedance and provides galvanic isolation. A transformer output also allows balanced and single-ended outputs to be taken from the same winding, and the selector connects only one of them at a time. Galvanic isolation separates the ground of the source from that of the amplifier, which breaks ground loops. Giving the digital, conversion and output sections their own toroidal transformers keeps the switching noise of the digital circuits away from the analogue stages. The chassis is a unibody machined from a single aluminium block with a 5 mm bottom plate, and 3D-printed conductive carbon shielding screens the circuits inside. Cantico makes its circuit boards in-house with a proprietary copper milling process, instead of chemical etching. The signal path is kept as short and simple as possible. Dimensions and finishes are not published. The weight comes from the solid aluminium case and the three transformers.

Pairing

The XLR output drives balanced preamplifiers and power amplifiers with volume control, and the RCA output feeds single-ended inputs. A computer or network streamer connects over USB for high-resolution files, and a CD transport over AES/EBU or coaxial.

Alternatives

The J-DAC is the only converter Cantico makes, since the HL-2112 and CX8 Monitor are loudspeakers.