Denafrips ARES II R2R DAC

The Ares DAC is a 20Bit/1536KHz, DSD1024 native discrete ladder digital to analog resistor converter, also known as the R-2R DAC.

The architecture uses the most basic R-2R DAC technology, probably the most suitable architecture for playing music. Despite the test results of various measurements and parameters of conventional R-2R DACs are usually not as good as those of conventional integrated DACs, however, the sound of the R-2R DAC is increasingly rich in emotion, warmth, quality, high fidelity, transparency and additional musicality that most mainstream integrated DACs cannot match.

To get the right sounding R-2R DAC, ultra-precise resistors must be used. The cost of high-precision resistors is very high, each resistor must be strictly measured and matched by a machine with human intervention for cross-checking. This results in a very high cost in the production process, therefore, the R-2R DAC is also a symbol of high-end DAC. The Ares uses an R-2R DAC balancing system. Each channel is decoded by 4 R-2R network sets.

This design has a very small linear error, high decoding speed, low digital noise, not only to ensure that the audio signal is low distortion, but also to ensure very low background music noise; it allows the listener to enjoy real music with a dark background.

Native DSD decoding supports up to DSD1024 and PCM decoding supports up to PCM1536. With a choice of NOS or OS, Slow or Sharp filters, the latest DSP update makes the already fantastic ARES II DAC a couple of steps better than before!

Technical characteristics

• R2R + DSD proprietary architecture
• True Balanced 20BIT R2R + 6BIT DSD (32 step FIR filters)
• Native DSD decoding with 0.01% precision resistors.
• Low noise power supply
• FIFO Buffer
• Digital signal processing via FPGA
• DSD1024, PCM1536 Supported on USB input
• Proprietary USB audio solution via advanced AMR STM32F446 based MCU
• Thesycon USB driver licensed for the Windows platform
• No drivers on Mac and Linux
• DSD
  DSD64-DoP on all inputs
  DSD1024 on USB input
• PCM
  24bits / 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192KHz on all inputs
  1536kHz on USB input
• Sampling Mode: Oversampling OS / Non-Oversampling NOS         

Digital Inputs

• Coax x 2
• TOSLink x 2
• USB
• Analog Outputs
  RCA at 2.2Vrms, 625 Ohm
  XLR at 4.4Vrms, 1250 Ohm

Technical Data

• Frequency Response: 20-70KHz -3dB
• THD+N: 0.004%
• S/N ratio: 115dB
• Dynamic Range: >119dB
• Crosstalk: -124dB
• Power supply: 110/240VAC, 50/60Hz
• Consumption: 20W
• Dimensions: 215 x 230 x 45 mm
• Weight: 3.5 Kg           
• Color: Black 
• Warranty: 36 Months