ЦАПы — Gryphon Audio ZENA DAC MODULE

The Zena DAC Module is an optional digital board made by Gryphon Audio Designs in Denmark for the Zena preamplifier. It sits in its own aluminium housing with grounded panels, isolated from the preamplifier stages so that high-frequency radiation from the digital section cannot interfere with them. Its circuit is based on the Gryphon Kalliope DAC.

Key specs that matter

A Sabre ES9018 converter works with true dual mono Class A analogue circuitry and zero negative feedback. There are five digital inputs - one USB, one balanced 110 Ohm AES socket on a gold-plated Neutrik XLR, two gold-plated 75 Ohm BNC sockets with Teflon insulation for S/PDIF and one TOSLink optical. USB accepts PCM from 44.1 to 384 kHz at up to 32 bits and DSD64 and DSD128, with DSD256 and DSD512 available under Windows only. The XLR and BNC inputs cover 22.05 to 192 kHz, while TOSLink is limited to 96 kHz.

Engineering and use context

The USB section is fed by a 12.5 Farad super-capacitor supply that acts as an isolated virtual battery, removing the computer as a power source. Clocking comes from a temperature-compensated quartz oscillator with better than 5 parts per million accuracy. The analogue output stages run on discrete, regulated +/- 22 V DC supplies, and the analogue part of the ES9018 has its own separate left and right channel supplies, with multiple local regulators added for digital noise suppression. Silvered mica and polypropylene capacitors appear in the first-order PCM and second-order DSD analogue filters. The circuit is spread over two four-layer boards with copper up to 70 micron, and board-mounted sockets shorten the signal path.

Pairing

The module is designed only for the Zena, which combines Gryphon conversion and preamplification in a single chassis. That preamplifier is a fully discrete, DC-coupled Class A design with up to 18 dB gain, 0.1 Hz to 1 MHz bandwidth and a relay volume control of 43 steps in 2 dB increments. It has two balanced inputs at 50 kOhm and three single-ended inputs at 25 kOhm, Green Bias control compatibility, output impedance of 15 Ohm on XLR, a 12 V DC link input and output, a VFD display and an infrared remote. The module's digital roll-off filters are user-selectable, with fast or slow roll-off for PCM and a DSD bandpass of 50, 60 or 70 kHz at -3 dB.

Alternatives

The Gryphon Diablo 120 DAC Module is the matching converter board for the Diablo 120 integrated amplifier.