Ever since its introduction, we at Audio Note have been highly critical of digital music
reproduction. This dissatisfaction was the instigating force in our quest to make
digital playback more dynamically realistic and less fatiguing. Although we cannot
defeat the inherent limitations of the format and its recording engineers, we have
elevated CD reproduction to a previously unattained level of quality and performance,
and with the DAC 5, we proudly present our most radically advanced and iconoclastic
digital circuit design so far.
To understand the path that led us to the development of our current range of Digital
to Analogue Converters, it is worth looking back at our ‘digital history’. Our first
defining assault was made in 1992 when we introduced the DAC3, which, with its
patented transformer / filter interface circuit, revolutionized CD play back.
!
What we
learnt from the experiments with the digital / analogue interface transformers and
filters in the DAC3 was that there had to be more information available on the discs
than previous believed.
!
Digital filters and the associated over sampling had been
broadly discussed, analyzed and criticized, but what no-one had done at this time
was to remove them altogether, to see what their real effects on ultimate sound
quality were. So, that is exactly what we decided to do, and the results were
dramatic, to say the least.
The improvements this completely new circuit topology introduced resulted in a level
of CD playback quality that was previously unimagined. To this day, we combine
these purely analogue filters (dubbed 1x oversampling™ direct from disc™
technology) with the finest components and materials available, including transformer
interfaces and the highest quality vacuum tube circuitry to produce a range of Digital
to Analogue Converters that are both refreshingly lifelike and free from conventional
digital restraints and mechanical artifacts.
Audio Note (UK) Digital to Analogue Converters