SW1X DAC IV

SW1X Audio Design™ DAC IV Performance Level 4 D to A Converter

 

DAC IV is a further development in musical refinement of the already magical sounding DAC III Special powered by Directly Heated Triodes (DHT) and Directly Heated Diodes (DHD) in the power supply. The tube power supplies are 2 x choke filtered and quasi dual mono in design- the circuit has 3 mains transformers, 6 chokes and 7 tubes in total and the power supply takes at least about 2/3 of chassis space. Accomodating everything in one chassis without interference of magnetic fields proved to be a real challenge but having everything housed  in one chassis with much shorter signal paths turned out to be very rewarding in the end.

The sonic presentation of the DAC IV is a major step up relative to the DAC III; it is more mature, even more holographic and invisisble. In a right setup, the illusion of vocalists performing in front of us and the dynamic impact of instruments appearing so real it is sometimes scary. The only difference between analogue playback and the DAC IV when combined with analogue sounding digital transport like CDT II is that there is absence or cracks and surface noise. Signature and Special versions of the DAC IV is limited in availability and is available on custom built to order basis only.

 

SW1X Audio Design™ DAC IV Features:

• Specially selected and harmonically matched component & material quality based on the performance level 4 criteria
• NOS (Non oversampling –zero digital domain filtering) design
• Based on 1 x TDA1541 – the most analogue sounding DAC design ever made directly connected to SPDIF receiver
• Dynamic Element Matching (DEM) of the TDA1541 is powered by an asynchronous E180F valve clock with EAA91 valve rectified power supply
• Passive I/V conversion via a single specially selected resistor with the shortest signal path directly connected to the tube grid
• Inductive loaded, anode follower, zero feedback, 2x 6SN7, 2 x 71A or 45 or 300B Directly Heated Triodes valve output stage
• 80 Directly Heated Double Diode tube rectified C2xLC (2 x choke filtered) quasi dual mono power supply
• Circuit is wired with of a specially selected copper (single strand or Litz), fine silver is optional
• Discrete Germanium transistor based shunt voltage regulated power supplies for the TDA1541
• Supports 24Bit/96kHz (optional up to 192kHz or up to 48 kHz only) digital coaxial SPDIF signal input
• I2S input (optional)
• 3 x 110/115/230/240V AC mains transformers

 

 

Optional Extras:

a) Black Gate capacitors around TDA1541

b) Audio Note 2W silver, non-magnetic, tantalum resistors in the I/V conversion

c) Audio Note 2W copper, non- magnetic, tantalum film resistors on plates, cathodes, power supplies and I/V conversion

d) Inter-stage and ouput stage signal decoupling capacitor options are Audio Note 1. Copper Foil in Oil or 2. Silver Foil capacitors

e) Additional choke filtering on the DEM clock tube PSU for the TDA1541

f) Circuit is normally wired with specially selected copper but can be ordered with fine silver wiring (including power inlet)

g) 2 x HiB double C-Core mains transformers for the TDA1541 and DHT/DHD power supplies

 

Note: Due to SW1X Audio Design’s ongoing research and development process, specifications are subject to change without notice.

DAC IV is availble with C- and EI- cored Super HiB signal and power transformers (and chokes) as an optional extra

 

Specifications

Dimensions: Height (mm) 230 x Width (mm) 440 x Depth (mm) 400

Weight (kg): 20

Max Power Consumption (W): 80

Output Noise, Unweighted (mVrms): < 0.5

Output Impedance (Ohms): <200

Tube Compliment:  2 x 6SN7, 2 x 300B or 2 x 45 or 2 x 71A, 1 x 80, 1 x E180F, 1 x EAA91

 

SW1X Audio Design Product Price List

 

Ordering

For demonstration and ordering click here