Audio Video News

Meridian Audio will stage the first public demonstration of a high-performance digital-to-analog converter at The Home Entertainment Show (T.H.E.) in Newport Beach, CA, which opens tomorrow and runs through Sunday, June 5.

Two years in the making, the 384kHz/24-bit Ultra Digital to Analogue Converter is designed to play any virtually recording format, including DXD, DSD64, and DSD128 (DoP), and MQA. The Ultra DAC is hand-built in the U.K. and priced at $23,000.

“The Meridian Ultra Digital to Analogue Converter is the culmination of nearly two decades of research and engineering,” said Richard Hollinshead, Meridian’s chief technical officer. “With considerable connectivity options, user features, and format support, the Meridian Ultra DAC incorporates an extensive list of performance-enhancing technologies, including Dual Mono DAC cards, DSP filter options, upsampling, and apodizing. This dedicated DAC utilizes Meridian’s renowned audio expertise to set a new standard in the analogue realm.”

The Ultra DAC marks the debut of MQA’s Hierarchical Converter Technology, which employs multiple converters to “increase temporal resolution while reducing noise and quantization errors.” It is also the first Meridian product to give users the option of selecting one of three upsampling filters when reproducing sources with a sample rate of 44 kHz or 48 kHz, such as CD or DAT. In addition, a dedicated clock card is included for the lowest possible jitter.

Another first for Meridian is the use of a Dual Mono DAC card, which incorporates multiple regulated power supplies and eight-layer circuit boards with low-impedance ground-planes, for the isolation and low-noise grounding that is critical to digital-audio accuracy. A fully linear power supply provides isolation from the AC supply and a DC-coupled output prevents degradation from AC coupling capacitors. Even the Ultra DAC’s front panel was designed for quiet operation, with non-ferrous construction, and a static LCD display chosen for its low electrical noise and ease of readability.

Connectivity options include USB 2.0, S/PDIF, TosLink, 75 ohm BNC, and AES3 on XLR, as well as Meridian’s Speakerlink and Sooloos music-management platform. One pair of balanced and one pair of unbalanced analogue outputs are also provided. Additional features include LipSync, PC setup, and RS232, enabling integration with third-party systems such as Control4 or Crestron.

The Ultra DAC’s standard finish is gloss black but custom colors are available for an extra $1,000.

For more information, visit meridian-audio.com.