ЦАПы — TAD TAD-DA1000TX

The TAD-DA1000TX is a D/A converter with volume-controlled line outputs and a headphone amplifier from TAD, Technical Audio Devices, the Japanese maker of studio and home audio equipment. It belongs to the Evolution series, where the TAD-D1000TX disc player and DAC shares its converter design and adds a CD/SACD transport. Because the line outputs have their own volume control, no separate preamplifier is required.

Key specs that matter

The USB input uses a third-generation asynchronous USB engine developed in-house and accepts PCM up to 384 kHz and 32 bit and DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 at up to 11.2 MHz. One XLR AES input and two coaxial inputs cover 44.1 to 192 kHz, and one optical input 44.1 to 96 kHz. Digital outputs are one XLR and one coaxial. Balanced line output is 4 V and unbalanced output 2 V at 1 kHz and 0 dB. The headphone output delivers 125 mW per channel into 32 ohm and is recommended for headphones from 8 to 600 ohm. Signal to noise ratio is 115 dB, and frequency response is 10 Hz to 40 kHz at -1 dB for sample rates of 88.2 kHz and above, or 10 Hz to 20 kHz at 44.1 kHz. Power consumption is 49 W, or 0.5 W in standby. The unit measures 440 x 150 x 406 mm and weighs 16.5 kg, in silver or black.

Engineering and use context

TAD gives every channel its own set of DAC chips in a dual differential configuration, working in parallel to lower noise. The master clock is TAD's UPCG ultra-high-precision crystal generator, chosen for its high carrier to noise ratio, which relates directly to low jitter in the conversion. Separate power transformers supply the analogue and digital circuits so that noise from digital processing does not reach the analogue stages. The headphone section is not taken from the line output but has its own power supply, dedicated D/A circuitry and a discrete output buffer, so headphone use does not load the line stage. Developing the asynchronous USB engine in-house lets TAD control how the computer's data is buffered and clocked by the DAC's own oscillator. The digital outputs pass the incoming signal on to other equipment, for example a recorder or a second converter.

Pairing

With variable balanced and unbalanced outputs, the DA1000TX drives a power amplifier directly, such as TAD's own amplifiers, or feeds a preamplifier at a fixed level. A computer connects over USB, and a disc transport over AES or coaxial.

Alternatives

The TAD-D1000TX adds a CD/SACD transport to the same Evolution series converter design.