atelier 13 audio
FERRUM ERCO
DAC | HEADAMP
Enter Ferrum’s third born
Like a top chef who uses his ingredients freshly and grown from his own garden, we integrated parts of the awarded HYPSOS technology and lend some of OOR’s magic to lay the first bricks for ERCO. Then we proceeded to add our culminated 20 years’ worth of experience in making DA converters. And man, did we pull it off. We managed to get the best out of our two winners and put it in our new sibling, adding awesome DA conversion to the mix....
The name ERCO (not pronounced airco but ˈert͡so) is Esperanto for ore. We took to Esperanto for the name inspired by its creator Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, who used to live around the corner from our offices near Warsaw. Zamenhof started developing Esperanto in his childhood while still in school, pursuing peace around the world where one language would bring together humankind. We want to do the same through pure and honest music reproduction. In the end it brings peace to the mind.
Marcin Hamerla
Founder and CEO HEM
... Ferrum ERCO, desktop high end just became a thing...
... oh, and it’s pronounced ertso, not airco.
FEATURES
Clearing the path for high end audio
Perfect mix of flagship Ferrum technology combined with high grade in house developed Digital to Analog conversion. Choose from three digital and one analog input.
Suited for high end personal audio
Connect your favorite headphones to the balanced 4,4mm jack or unbalanced 6,35mm headphone jack outputs or powered loudspeakers on your desktop to the XLR or RCA outputs to perform to their max.
Ease of use
Hassle free operation. Only three knobs on the front panel to control the most important settings.
Discrete/IC hybrid design
Ultra-wideband ICs fine tuned for audio use to achieve the best possible analog quality.
Proprietary Technology
Industry leading technology is applied. All digital ports are optimized for audio, MQA decoding and rendering is optimized for use with internal ARM chip.
Truly Balanced
The signal path stays truly balanced using the XLR inputs and becomes truly balanced using the RCA inputs.
Enhanced Transparency
The whole design is focussed on a balanced and very transparent sound signature, making listening fatigue something of the past.
Ease of Use
Only three knobs on the front panel to control the most important settings.
Ferrum Power Link
ERCO performs very, very good right out of the box. But ERCO is made to excel above and beyond when used together with HYPSOS. We use what we dubbed our Ferrum Power Link (FPL in short) to connect the two. HYPSOS then will perform to its maximum, unleashing unheard musicality from the combination with ERCO.
The Hypsos is Ferrum’s successful PSU and the ERCO can be upgraded with this PSU. By using the Ferrum Power Link (FPL) connection, it can perform its 4TSD measurements far deeper inside ERCO than it can with any other product.
DC Power Supply
ERCO comes with a carefully selected DC power adapter. To get the most out of OOR you can connect it with the Ferrum HYPSOS LPSU using our proprietary Ferrum Power Link DC power cable. This FPL cable can be ordered separately.
Unique FPL cable design
Two wires delivering the power and two wires providing the feedback to ensure flat voltage at every moment. We named this technique Ferrum Power Link (FPL) and it eliminates the harmful effects of the cable's resistance effectively improving transient response. The current delivery speed at the powered device's input is significantly improved.
Specifications
Headphone Output Gain (dB)
Balanced -5.8 dB, +6 dB, +17.8 dB
Single ended -11.8 dB, 0 dB, +11.8 dB
Operation
Fully balanced, proprietary IC power amp
Power Inputs
5.5/2.5 mm DC connector; center positive
Proprietary FPL 4-pin DC connector (FPL)
Analog Inputs
RCA (Consumer level
Pro option with future software update)
Digital Inputs
USB-C (all formats);
S/PDIF optical (up to 24-bit/96 kHz, DoP64); Coaxial (up to 24-bit/192 kHz, DoP64)
DAC Chip
ESS Sabre ES9028PRO
Sample Rates
PCM sample rates : 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 /
176.4 / 192 / 352.8 / 384 kHz
DSD sample rates : 2.8224 / 3.072 / 5.6448 / 6.144 / 11.2896 / 12.288 MHz
MQA: decoder and renderer
DAC Resolution
PCM up to 384k@32bit
DSD up to 256 (11.2 MHz / 12.2 MHz)
Headphone Jack Outputs
Balanced 4.4 mm (TRRRS)
Unbalanced 6.35 mm (TRS)
Line Outputs
Balanced XLR
Unbalanced RCA (both Consumer level
Pro with future software update)
Volume Control
Analogue with bypass option
(bypass for line outputs only)
Frequency Response
10 Hz – 30 kHz (+/- 0.05 dB)
10 Hz – >200 kHz (+/- 1 dB)
Output Power Unbalanced
300 mW into 300 Ω; 1,7 W into 50 Ω
Output Power Balanced
1.2 W into 300 Ω
6.1 W into 50 Ω
THD on Balanced Output
< 0.00018% / -115 dB, 1 mW into 16 Ω
< 0.00018% / -115 dB, 100 mW into 16 Ω
THD on Unbalanced Output
< 0.00032% / -110 dB, 1 mW into 16 Ω
< 0.00057% / -105 dB, 100 mW into 16 Ω
Dynamic Range Analog
130 dB (A-weighted)
Dynamic Range Digital
120 dB (A-weighted)
Input Impedance
47 kΩ
Output Impedance
Unbalanced : 22 Ω on pre-amp
Balanced : 44 Ω on pre-amp
Headphones : < 0.3 Ω
Power Consumption
Idle <15 W
Power Adapter
100-240V AC to 22-30V DC
Dimensions & Weight
(W x D x H) :
21.7 cm x 20.6 cm x 5 cm
8.6” x 8.1” x 2.0”
Weight : 1.8 kg / 3.97 LBS
ERCO Ferrum FPL Cable
0.5m - $99
What they say ...
"... The ERCO definitely convinces me as a headphone amplifier, but as a converter in combination with a HYPSOS it even leaves no legitimate wishes unfulfilled in its price range ... and a good bit beyond.
And as a preamplifier, when joined by the company's proprietary Hypsos power supply, it absolutely thrilled me :
This thing really is an affordable entry drug into the
world of high end audio ! ... “
Dirk Sommer - HiFi Statement March 3, 2022
... more of what they say ...
" ... The Preamp really doesn't make it easy for the ERCO to compete, but the Ferrum immediately wins you over with its open and dynamic performance. Its spatial imaging is convincing as well, even if the Einstein – while retailing for a more than six times higher price - still suggests a minimally larger soundstage. And, even if the ERCO in conjunction with the HYPSOS would offer pre-amplification services alone, it could rightly be praised as a bargain. Especially when paired to the optional Hypsos power supply, it shows off both as a very convincing D/A converter and a headphone amplifier, which doesn’t by no means intend to deny its sonic relationship to the excellent OOR: Undoubtedly, this is Ferrum’s third big thing! "
Dirk Sommer - HiFi Statement March 3, 2022
