dcs

Scarlatti Upsampler

Our design philosophy in building Scarlatti was to use our 21 years of experience to deliver the best digital playback components in the business without compromise. For people who are serious about their music, the natural realism delivered by Scarlatti is like no other system on the planet.

The patent pending (GB0817141.5) Scarlatti Upsampler or digital-to-digital converter (DDC) converts digital audio data at one sample rate to a higher sample rate, providing listeners with higher levels of performance from any industry standard digital source, including PC and Media Servers.

Upsampling to progressively higher sample rates makes progressive improvements to fine detail, sound stage depth and image separation. This means the sound quality increases as you upsample CD data first to 24/88.2, then to 24/176.4, then to DSD.

Using Scarlatti Upsampler to present data with a higher information capacity to the dCS Ring DAC results in extraordinary performance as our patented dCS Ring DAC, which is a discrete balanced design, does not use any off-the-shelf DAC chips commonly found in other manufacturers' product.

All of the Scarlatti 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.

Asynchronous USB Mode
In USB, there are numerous modes for synchronising the audio between the PC (the host), and an audio device. The most popular of these, "adaptive", involves the audio device synchronising itself to the USB "frame" provided by the PC. This tends to give poor jitter performance.

The Scarlatti Upsampler's USB interface operates in "asynchronous" mode (NOT to be confused with asynchronous rate conversion), where the Upsampler synchronises the audio by providing a feedback pipe to the PC. The PC then is effectively locked to the Upsampler, which can have a much more accurate clock and much lower jitter.

Want to know more about how to integrate the Upsampler with your computer system? Read our frequently asked questions on PC/Mac connection.

Using the Scarlatti Upsampler via USB
USB is isochronous. This means that the host (PC) and client (Scarlatti Upsampler) both know how much bandwidth is available at the outset, so the host can guarantee that bandwidth will be available all the time.

Your music may be stored on a large Hard Disc Drive (HDD) in a different room, linked by WiFi to a small, silent device (such as a laptop) connected by USB cable to the Scarlatti Upsampler. When the user selects the audio for playback, the Mac/PC streams all of the selected data from the HDD or Network Assigned Storage (NAS) device, then outputs the data on USB.

The audio flowing between the PC and Upsampler is packetised PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kS/s. It is the job of the codecs installed on the PC to decode the data and present it to the Upsampler in a standard PCM format.

See the Scarlatti Upsampler set-up sheet for more information on how to integrate it with your current sources. 

 

Scarlatti Upsampler: Front View
  • type

  • Digital-to-Digital Converter.

  • finish options

  • Silver or Black

  • dimensions

  • (W) 465mm x (D) 405mm x (H) 75mm/

    (W) 18.3" x (D) 16.0" x (H) 3.0"

    Allow extra depth for cable connectors

  • weight
  • 10.1 kg/ 22.2lbs.
  • CD mechanism
  • N/A
  • converter type
  • N/A
  • analogue outputs
  • N/A
  • digital I/O

  • Inputs

    USB2.0 interface on a B-type connector. Operates in asynchronous mode.

    AES3 on a 3-pin female XLR connector.

    4x SPDIF on 2x RCA Phono, 1x BNC connectors and 1x TosLink optical connector.

    All digital inputs will accept PCM data at up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kS/s.

    Data from any input may be converted to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192kS/s or DSD (1 bit data at 2.822MS/s). The output sample rate must be equal to or greater than the input sample rate.

    Outputs

    IEEE 1394 interface on 2x 6-way connectors. In DSD mode, the interface outputs dCS-encrypted DSD (1 bit data at 2.822MS/s).

    2x AES3 on 3-pin female XLR connectors. Each outputs 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kS/s,
    OR as a Dual AES pair at 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192kS/s.

    2x SPDIF on RCA Phono and BNC connectors. Each outputs 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kS/s.

    1x SDIF-2 interface on 2x BNC connectors, outputs 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kS/s.

  • word clock I/O
  • Word Clock Input on 1x BNC connector. Accepts standard word clock at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 & 96kHz.
    Sensitive to TTL levels.

    Word Clock Output on 1x BNC connector. Outputs standard word clock at a frequency equal to the (single wire) output data rate, or 44.1kHz when set to output DSD.

  • clock frequencies
  • N/A
  • residual noise
  • N/A
  • spurious responses
  • Better than -100dB0 @ 20Hz - 20kHz for Fs> 32kS/s, 20Hz - 14kHz for 32kS/s
  • filters
  • PCM mode - 4 filters give different trade-offs between the Nyquist image rejection and the phase response when converting 44.1 > 88.2, 44.1 > 176.4, 44.1 > DSD, 48 > 96, 48 > 192 or 88.2 to DSD.
  • software updates
  • Loaded from CD
  • software version
  • 1.01
  • local control
  • Philips ProntoTM programmable remote control is supplied with Scarlatti Transport, or RS232.
  • power supply
  • Factory set for 100, 115, 220 or 230 V AC, 49 - 62Hz
  • power consumption
  • 12.7 Watts typical/ 15 Watts maximum
"The new Scarlatti Upsampler and DAC are proof that dCS still knows how to make products that are both world-beating and life-enhancing"
 
Keith Howard, HiFi News
"Well there you have it: The best digital sources I've yet heard"

Jonathan Valin, The Absolute Sound
Scarlatti Upsampler: Rating

Key Features

  • USB input forms a gateway to a dCS Ring DAC, allowing listeners to obtain true high end sound from their PC based music.
  • All major 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.
  • 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.
  • Aero grade aluminum chassis and laminated acoustic damping panels, reduce magnetic effects and vibration.
  • The Scarlatti range features a low-power LCD display that makes the user interface easier to read, keeps the power requirements down and minimises electrical noise.