Primare DAC30 User Manual

November 2012
DAC30 Design Brief, 3 pages
The Primare DAC 30 is a fully balanced high performance 24bit /192kHz stereo DAC
designed to render the best possible audio quality from computer-based high resolution
music files. Equipped with a wide array of inputs including asynchronous USB-B, stereo
balanced AES EBU and three pairs of S/PDIF coaxial and TOSLINK connectors, the DAC30
uses the processing engine of the celebrated Primare BD32 universal player to convert
and convey very low distortion analogue signals to a high quality music system via a pair
of balanced XLR and single-ended RCA outputs. There is also a S/PDIF digital output.
Audiophile Topology
The DAC30 is housed in an alloy heavy gauge steel chassis, which provides strength,
rigidity, and screening, while being effective at damping vibrations from external
sources.
Input data is fed to a superior SRC4392 sample rate converter running at 192kHz, which
incorporates jitter suppression capabilities to ensure that the DAC receives as clean a
signal as possible. The DAC30 uses the flagship Crystal DSD DAC CS4398 in conjunction
with Primare's signature fully-balanced analogue output stage comprising Burr-Brown
OPA2134 OP-Amps, WIMA and EPCOS polypropylene filter capacitors and large MELF
resistors; and a single-ended output stage comprising a single MOSFET transistor fed by
an active current source rather than passive resistors.
Extremely low inductance Sanyo OS-con capacitors and locally placed voltage regulators
are used where required on the DAC board.
The mute circuits are entirely relay-controlled, which is an audiophile approach, unlike
the bipolar transistors and MOSFET switches commonly used for muting.
Together these engineering choices result in a very high quality audio stage. Noise and
THD are extremely low according to the objectives of Primare design.
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Primare AB • Limstensgatan 7 • SE-21616 Limhamn • Sweden • Tel +46 40 6548800 •
www.primare.net