ЦАПы — Merason Mountain

The Mountain is the top digital-to-analogue converter from Merason, a Swiss firm whose products are both designed and manufactured at home. It heads the Mountain Line reference system, which also contains the Mountain Pre preamplifier and the Mountain Power amplifier, and it sits above the smaller DAC 2 and DAC 1 Mk II in the range. Merason lists availability from 2026.

Key specs that matter

The converter accepts PCM from 44.1 kHz at 16 bit up through 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192 kHz at 24 bit, plus DSD64 and DSD128. Analogue output is 3.4 V RMS at 0 dB from the XLR sockets and 1.7 V RMS from the RCA pair. Merason gives THD+N better than 90 dB at a 0 dB signal. The chassis measures 45 cm wide, 14 cm high and 39 cm deep and weighs 18 kg, which is the size and mass of a large power amplifier rather than a typical converter.

Engineering and use context

The Mountain is aimed at a full balanced signal path, with the XLR level set at double the RCA figure. The company states that it does not chase maximum numbers on paper and prefers to judge the finished product by listening, which explains why the format support stops at the listed rates while many current converters go further. The heavy casework and the separate Mountain family of preamplifier and power amplifier suggest the unit is meant to be the source in a matched Merason chain, although it works with other equipment through standard outputs. Below it, the DAC 2 uses two PCM1794A converter chips, and the DAC 1 Mk II is the entry model of the digital range, so the Mountain represents a step up in casework and output stage rather than a different format set.

Pairing

The balanced output is best used with a preamplifier or integrated amplifier that has true XLR inputs, such as the Mountain Pre from the same line. In a single-ended system the RCA pair connects to any conventional line input, and the Mountain Power amplifier completes a full Merason chain after the preamplifier. A network streamer or transport with a clean digital output acts as the digital source.

Alternatives

The Merason DAC 2 is the smaller converter in the range, built around dual PCM1794A chips.