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Introduction The PowerDAC-S is a digital audio set without -any- amplifiers or buffer circuits in the signal path. The PowerDAC-S is based on discrete multi-bit Power DA converters. Balanced power-supply and resistor attenuator are used to generate the output signal.
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So the actual sensitivity at 1W / 1m will be 6 dB less: 87dB - 6dB = 81 dB. But the Teufel Ultima (4 Ohm) is still very usable i.c.w. PowerDAC-S with most albums, but albums that have lower recording output level might not play loud enough.
>= 90dB 1Watt at 1 meter distance Speaker SPL Load impedance The PowerDAC-S can drive -any- load from dead short to infinity and speaker dips & peaks are no problem either. Steering method The steering method is different from conventional audio systems, the PowerDAC-S offers quasi constant power steering and it combines the best properties of constant voltage steering (semiconductor amps) and quasi constant current steering (tube amps).
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Better than 50uV at the speaker terminals Clipping Unlike amplifiers, the PowerDAC-S does not amplify any noise and it cannot clip. At maximum volume, distortion remains 0.0005% at the speaker terminals and the output signal does not clip (not even 1 LSB). So you have the unusual situation that there is no distortion increase from the PowerDAC-S at full volume setting.
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Bit-perfect test It is essential to test if the Toslink source that is connected to the PowerDAC-S is setup to pass music without any alterations. Alterations of original music data could cause serious SQ degradation ! Alteration to original (CD) recordings could have numerous causes e.g.
Jumper settings Below are the jumper settings for PowerDAC-S. The FIXED OUTPUT jumper setting fixes PowerDAC-S output to volume level 9. Carefully remove or place jumpers using tweezers. Note that when updating firmware that single right most jumper must be removed.
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Press the OK button on message window. Finally click on the Disconnect button to finish session. You can then close the STM32CubeProgrammer. Remove the USB cable between PowerDAC-S and PC. Set jumpers to the normal positions. After power-up PowerDAC-S the new firmware is used.
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-a 0 --dfuse-address 0x08000000 -D PDRS140.bin If this completes without errors (File downloaded successfully) your firmware should be updated. Disconnect the USB cable from PowerDAC-S and reset jumpers back to normal or fixed. Then connect PowerDAC-S power cable. After power-up PowerDAC-S the new firmware is used.
IR Remote Control The IR Remote Control is included with the PowerDAC-S. The IR Remote Control can be used to: • Increase volume • Decrease volume • Mute/Un-mute The IR Remote Control can be recharged with the included USB mini cable.
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We use 2 voltages in the PowerDAC-R giving a total of 10 volume steps of 3 dB. We use 5 voltages in the PowerDAC-S giving a total of 13 volume steps of 3 dB. When using the PowerDAC i.c.w. an external (pre)amplifier performance is degraded as any active device in the audio path will degrade performance !
By setting a jumper on the PowerDAC you can set fixed output without using any bit shifts.
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If you are looking for simple music player for stand-alone or even multi-room to use with the PowerDAC-S checkout piCorePlayer. When run from an RPI4 you could connect your music to the RPI4 directly by USB or to NAS via network.
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