Paganini DAC
Our design philosophy behind the Paganini range was to build a system as close as possible in performance to Scarlatti, but more accessible. The same high engineering standards and electronics are common throughout the dCS product ranges.
The Paganini range has a similar feature set to Scarlatti with the main differences being in the chassis, CD/SACD transport mechanism and the remote handset. These differences mean little is lost in the resulting musical performance and we think Paganini has a very special kind of magic.
The dCS Ring DAC found in all of our DACs is a discrete balanced design which does not use any off-the-shelf DAC chips commonly found in other manufacturers' product. Paganini DAC uses an enhanced version of our patented Ring DAC, improved through increased processing power, faster FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), updated power supplies and a quieter electrical environment.
Paganini DAC features standard AES3 and SPDIF inputs in addition to the IEEE1394 interfaces. The digital volume control allows direct connection to a power amplifier, there is no need for a preamplifier. Maximum output can be either two or six volts to suit different amp/speaker combinations. Four filters are provided in DSD mode to allow listeners to tailor system response.
The unit can be used in Master mode to provide a clock for source components, and can be locked to an external word clock signal generated by a dCS Master Clock - this produces a substantial performance improvement.
Paganini DAC is intended to be used with the matching upsampling Paganini CD/SACD Transport or with any industry standard CD Transport.
The PCM inputs on all our DACs are industry standard AES/EBU, SPDIF or SDIF interfaces. There should be no difficulty using them with other manufacturers' equipment, provided it also complies with industry standards.
All of the Paganini products benefit from our ‘soft' approach to programmable logic, which allows new software to be loaded from a dCS update disc to add new features and adapt to changes in digital formats.
Read about why our DAC makes us so special.
- type
- Digital-to-Analogue Converter
- finish options
- Silver or Black
- dimensions
(W) 460mm x (D) 400mm x (H) 110mm/
(W) 18.0” x (D) 15.8” x (H) 4.4”
Allow extra depth for cable connectors.
- weight
- 11.0kg/24.2lbs
- CD mechanism
- N/A
- converter type
- Patented dCS Ring DAC topology, oversampling to 5 bits at 2.822 or 3.07 MS/s.
- analogue outputs
Output Levels: 2V rms or 6V rms on all outputs for a full-scale input, set in the menu.
Balanced Outputs - 1 stereo pair on 2x 3-pin male XLR connectors.These outputs are electronically balanced and floating, the signal balance ratio at 1kHz is better than 40dB.
Output impedance is 3Ω, maximum load is 600Ω (a 10kΩ load is recommended).
Unbalanced Outputs - 1 stereo pair on 2x RCA Phono connectors.Output impedance is 52Ω, maximum load is 600Ω (a 10kΩ load is recommended).
- digital I/O
INPUTS
IEEE 1394 interface on 2x 6-way connectors. The interface accepts dCS encrypted DSD (1 bit data at 2.822MS/s)
2x AES/EBU on 3-pin female XLR connectors. Each will accept up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 & 96kS/s.
OR as a Dual AES pair at 88.2, 96, 176.4 & 192kS/s.
2x SPDIF on 2x RCA Phono connectors. Each will accept up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 & 96kS/s
- word clock I/O
INPUT
Word Clock Input on 1x BNC connector. Accepts standard word clock at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 & 96kHz.OUTPUT
Word Clock Output on 1x BNC connector. Outputs 44.1kHz In Master mode.
- clock frequencies
- 44.1kHz in Master Mode.
Calibrated within +/-10ppm, not temperature compensated.
- residual noise
- Better than –110dB0 @ 20Hz - 20kHz unweighted. (6V Setting)
- spurious responses
- Better than –100dB0 @ 20Hz - 20kHz.
- filters
- PCM mode - 4 filters give different trade-offs between the Nyquist image rejection and the phase response
2 extra asymmetrical filters are available at 176.4 kS/s and 192 kS/s
DSD mode - 4 filters progressively reduce out-of-audio band noise level (inherent in the 1-bit nature of DSD).
- software updates
- Updates loaded by CD-R.
- software version
- 1.01
- local control
- Starter IR remote control provided or RS232.
- power supply
- Factory set for 100, 115, 220 or 230 V AC, 49 – 62Hz.
- power consumption
- 22 Watts typical/ 30 Watts maximum
David Price, HiFi World
Product DatasheetKey Features
- Paganini DAC uses the latest version of the patented dCS Ring DAC, which has several detail improvements over earlier versions.
- The dCS Ring DAC is a discrete balanced design which does not use any off-the-shelf DAC chips commonly found in other manufacturer's products.
- Our proprietary 5 bit oversampling topology produces exceptional linearity across the dynamic range.
- All dCS products use a sophisticated multi-mode phase locked loop (PLL), which significantly reduces clock jitter.
- Faster, 100% accurate DSPs (within the bounds of their resolution) give improved filters, revealing yet more fine detail.
- Higher capacity FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) give more logic capacity and increase the scope for additional features and enhancements.
- Improved power supplies give lower running temperature and increased tolerance to AC supply variations.
- Our ‘soft' approach to programmable logic allows dCS products to adapt to changes in digital formats and add new features by loading new software from a CD.
- High grade aluminium chassis and laminated acoustic damping panels reduce magnetic effects and vibration.
- The Paganini range features a low-power LCD display that makes the user interface easier to read, keeps the power requirements down and minimises electrical noise.