ЦАПы — Merason Reuss

The Reuss is a single-chassis digital converter from Merason, the hi-fi brand of niedal audio lab in Burgdorf, Switzerland, a specialist in digital converters founded by designer Daniel Frauchiger about eight years before 2025. Its front panel is finished in brushed aluminium with sans serif lettering, and the unit is sold in black or silver. The European retail price was EUR 4,900, and the UK launch price was GBP 4,950.

Key specs that matter

Inside, the Reuss relies on Burr-Brown PCM1794A chips, one per channel, and PCM is accepted at sample rates from 44.1 kHz up to 192 kHz with a word length of up to 24 bit. Four digital inputs are provided - S/PDIF on RCA, Toslink optical, AES and a USB Audio Class 2.0 port. Maximum output is 3 V RMS balanced and 1.5 V RMS unbalanced. Merason specifies frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz within plus or minus 0.5 dB, THD+N under 0.015 percent and a signal-to-noise figure exceeding 115 dB. These chips are hybrid multi-bit and sigma-delta devices, and the Reuss does not decode DSD.

Engineering and use context

Merason laid out the circuit fully symmetrically, with four independent channels in the output topology, and the output stage is a buffer amplifier running in class A. Three linear transformers feed the analogue and digital sections separately. A small switching supply is used only for standby and is deactivated once the unit is running. Components are surface-mount parts on a six-layer printed circuit board. The solid front panel of the aluminium case is ground by hand, and the case measures about 450 mm across and 50 mm in height. The unit runs from either 230 V or 115 V AC at 50 to 60 Hz, set for one voltage, and draws 30 W. The USB input uses an Amanero board clocked by a pair of crystal oscillators, while the other inputs have jitter-reducing transformers and capacitors with galvanic isolation. There are no user-selectable filters, no upsampling and no volume control, and the front panel carries power and input buttons with a lock indicator. Merason specifies an operating ambient temperature from 10 to 30 degrees C.

Pairing

XLR sockets carry the balanced signal to amplifiers with balanced inputs, and RCA sockets handle unbalanced connections. The USB input takes a computer or network streamer, and the AES, coaxial and optical ports connect a CD transport or other digital source.

Alternatives

The Merason DAC1 Mk II is another digital-to-analogue converter made by the Swiss company.