MERASON REUSS

THE MERASON REUSS DAC 

 

What exactly is this new member of the Merason DAC family ? 

We are very excited to announce the release of the new Merason Reuss D/A Converter. Over 12 months were spent very carefully considering how to improve upon our award-winning DAC 1 design which was retired earlier in 2023 concurrent to the introduction of our new Reference D'A converter, the DAC 1 MK2. The DAC1 was an absolute killer D/A converter at $5,000, and our aim was to be able to offer customers around the world even greater musical enjoyment at the DAC1's price point.

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Design

The structure and routing layout of the PCB results in a highly reduced impedance and very low-loss power supply delivery to each individual component. In addition, superior shielding against external interference is implemented.

 

Components

Precision THT parts previously are used, that offer a short component to conductor path resulting in low losses. The capacitors in both low-pass filters have a dielectric material proven for high performance audio applications.

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Finishes
Available now, in Silver an Black

 

 

 

MAIN DESIGN FEATURES

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DUAL MONO MODE

Because of their special architecture, but ultimately from a purely sonic point of view, Daniel Frauchiger decided on two Burr-Brown PCM1794-A converter chips. In mono mode, the DAC uses one for each stereo channel. In this way, the PCM1794A has a dynamic range of 132 decibels. That is five decibels more than a stereo circuit with just one component. 

 

DISCRETE CLASS A CURRENT OUTPUT 

Since the PCM1794A has a current output, the current signal is converted into a voltage signal. This is not done using operational amplifiers, but rather in a complex, discrete structure. The voltage signal obtained in this way is buffered in the output stage using Class A technology and is present at the XLR output sockets as a symmetrical output signal and at the Cinch sockets as an asymmetrical output signal. 

 

FULLY SYMMETRICAL SIGNAL OUTPUT PATH

The analog signal processing is consistently symmetrical from the converter module to the output. Low-pass filters with high-quality capacitors and coupling capacitors are located between the converter module and the output as a safety measure against unwanted DC voltage. Great attention was paid to the layout of the motherboard so that the extraordinarily high signal-to-noise ratio could be achieved.

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SEPARATE MULTIPLE POWER SUPPLY RAILS

A separate, generously dimensioned transformer is responsible for the digital circuit. The rectified voltage is regulated to 5 volt rails, and independent 3.3 volt rails.  Each functional unit has its own power supply, and in total there are twelve of them. The analog circuit is fed by the second transformer.

The controller is discreet and is characterized by an extremely low interference voltage.

 

HIGH QUALITY INPUT INTERFACES

The USB input is realized with a high quality board from Amanero, the Combo 384, a board known for its musicality.

 

The Amanero board has two precise oscillators, one for the multiples of 44.1 kilohertz, one for the multiples of 48 kilohertz. It provides a cleanly clocked I2S signal with minimal jitter at the output.

 

The I2S signal is sent to the two converter chips in a galvanically isolated manner using a capacitive isolator module.

 

The signals arriving at the AES and S / PDIF sockets are galvanically isolated by a transformer. The clock of these signals and that of the Toslink signal is refreshed by the receiver module, a WM8804 from Wolfson or Cirrus Logic, using a quartz module and PLL, so that the jitter is also minimized here, and then passed on to the converter modules as an I2S signal.