Audio Note DAC 5 IZVOR

Conceptor’s Note

Details

The Audio Note DAC5 IZVOR is the most unique digital product available today. It uses the most unusual and innovative digital circuit on the market, combined with some of the finest components, materials and power supplies possible. 

Extensive research into the fundamental properties of the data stream itself have shown beyond doubt that, regardless of the theoretical advantages of the signal manipulation employed in our competitors products, such as higher oversampling, noise shaping, re-clocking or jitter reduction, these corrective measures greatly interfere with the critical time domain requirements of the signal. 

Music is a time continuum from start to end which when broken is irreparably damaged, and no amount of clever manipulation can restore it to its original time / frequency / amplitude duration or relationship, regardless of what the theorists may tell you.

As a result, we have developed a way of excluding or bypassing all these corrective measures, to allow the conversion from digital to analogue to be done without any manipulation whatsoever. All we do is reformat the data stream to allow the converter chip to be able to interpolate the incoming information correctly. 

In other words, the Audio Note (UK) DAC5 IZVOR has no oversampling, no jitter reduction, no noise shaping and no re-clocking. Having removed all of the digital filtering that is required for over sampling, all filtering is done in the analogue domain where it is easier to retain good, wide band phase-frequency and dynamically coherent behaviour.

Design and Components

After the audio signal exits the IZVOR discrete R2R Ladder DAC module digital section, it is fed to the filter-interface transformers. These are of the highest possible quality, using 50% nickel Super mu-metal cores with our own 99.99% pure silver wire (55% nickel for the DAC5 IZVOR Signature). The air gaps in the two filter coils are matched across the full frequency range to within 0.1dB of each other, using a specially designed program to supplement an Audio Precision System 2 test rig.​

The two versions of the DAC 5 IZVOR feature an upgraded version of the M8 preamplifier line stage, using a 5814a (ECC82/12AU7a) and a 5687, both of which are dual triode valves. These are coupled to the output transformers, which are wound with Audio Note (UK) silver wire for the primary and secondary With a 33:1 step-down ratio, these output transformers not only have exceptionally wide frequency response, but also just about the absolutely best dynamic transfer function possible. The analogue output provides both single ended / RCA and balanced / XLR connections.​

To power this spectacularly revealing arrangement, we chose to use a version of our patented Galahad feed-forward power supply, as used on our M8 preamplifier.

This PSU features full valve rectification, regulation and voltage stabilisation. This technique not only provides excellent isolation between the digital circuitry and power supply, but also provides well-isolated short and clean analogue signal paths.

The digital power supply is an exceptionally low noise, shunt-type, designed specifically for the DAC, by Andy Grove. It is a solid-state interpretation of our Galahad feed-forward power supply, making it possibly to reach a −130 dB noise floor.

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Some of the superior quality components used in the DAC5 IZVOR Special include: -

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IZVOR Module; 1w non-magnetic Nichrome resistors, silver lead-outs

Audio Note (UK) 2 Watt non-magnetic Tantalum resistors

Audio Note (UK) silver foil signal capacitors used in critical areas

Audio Note (UK) Standard, Kaisei NP, and Blackgate electrolytic capacitors

used in critical areas

In-house designed and manufactured silver / silver interface transformers

In-house designed and manufactured silver / silver Double C Core Perma 50% nickel output transformers

In-house designed and manufactured IHiB mains transformer

In-house designed and manufactured I-E PSU choke

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Some of the superior quality components used in the DAC5 IZVOR Signature include: -

​

IZVOR Module; 1w non-magnetic Nichrome resistors, silver end caps and lead-outs

Audio Note (UK) 2 Watt non-magnetic Tantalum resistors

Audio Note (UK) silver foil signal capacitors used in critical areas

Audio Note (UK) Kaisei NP, and Blackgate electrolytic capacitors

used in critical areas

In-house designed and manufactured silver / silver interface transformers

In-house designed and manufactured silver / silver Double C Core Perma 55% nickel output transformers

In-house designed and manufactured HHiB mains transformer

In-house designed and manufactured I-E PSU choke