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Ok, said unit has arrived.

Internals are interesting. There are three microprocessors. The two SHARC audio processors, and an ARM cored processor which presumably runs the user interface and general control of the unit.

Audio hardware... The ADC is in the form of the AK5393 from AKM. The DAC for the main outputs is the AKM AK4393VF of SuperDAC fame (and pin-compatible with the higher-spec 4395 ). The Digital Interface Receiver is not, surprisingly, the ubquitous CS84xx series from Crystal, but yet another AKM part, this time the AK4114. Curiously, another AKM chip makes an appearance, the AK4524 which is described as an audio Codec, essentially an ADC and a DAC in the same package. My guess (and nothing more, but the circuit layouts suggest this) is that this does the ADC for the microphone input (for room EQ) and does the DAC for the auxiliary outputs (unbalanced 1/4" jack, vs the balanced XLR main outputs).

From the top of the board, there is no evidence of output staging, so my guess is that op-amps reside beneath the output board. I would be surprised if the outputs were unbuffered...

Power supply is the expected compact SMPS, sitting in a little segregated can, away from analogue circuitry.

All in all, the internals are very neat and thoughtfully designed given the price point. The selection of components is not cheap-as-possible, like the separate DAC and ADC for the "proper" I/O ports and the use of relays rather than transistors for output muting (M-audio take note, the superDAC costs only £40 less...).

Sound? At the moment, I can't give a fair trial because my package from farnell with appropriate cables etc didn't get signed for. So far, I can say that the functions seem to work as advertised, although there's certainly a learning curve to features like the expander (although a wonderful idea in principle, set it up wrong and it sounds bloody horrid), and I haven't even touched on PEQ and DEQ yet.

What I will say for sure is that the user interface is something of a dream. It is very quick, very intuitive and generally the layout of screens and the controls around the screen is very logical.

Build... well, come on, what do you expect for a shade over £200, especially given the good stuff inside? It's not the world's most solid bit of gear, weighing barely more than the superdac with its power supply. Controls feel strong enough that they'll not break, but you'd think them a bit off in a BMW. Clicky buttons in other words.

Modding potential? Certainly some... finding the output stage op-amps would be a start, as the budget probably won't have allowed for anything wildly fancy (553X at a guess). Decoupling caps around those, and the DAC chip itself, as well as replacing the 7805 Vdd reg with something a little quieter... Clamping off the SMPS wires and screening the oscillators could go some way, and there's the evergreen classic of clocking (as there are two seemingly dedicated audio oscs, one for 32/48/96, and one for 44.1/88.2). There is also an external word clock input.

<blockquote data-quote="I-S" data-source="post: 568162" data-attributes="member: 1152">Ok, said unit has arrived.Internals are interesting. There are three microprocessors. The two SHARC audio processors, and an ARM cored processor which presumably runs the user interface and general control of the unit. Audio hardware... The ADC is in the form of the AK5393 from AKM. The DAC for the main outputs is the AKM AK4393VF of SuperDAC fame (and pin-compatible with the higher-spec 4395 <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)"&nbsp; data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />). The Digital Interface Receiver is not, surprisingly, the ubquitous CS84xx series from Crystal, but yet another AKM part, this time the AK4114. Curiously, another AKM chip makes an appearance, the AK4524 which is described as an audio Codec, essentially an ADC and a DAC in the same package. My guess&nbsp; (and nothing more, but the circuit layouts suggest this) is that this does the ADC for the microphone input (for room EQ) and does the DAC for the auxiliary outputs (unbalanced 1/4&quot; jack, vs the balanced XLR main outputs). From the top of the board, there is no evidence of output staging, so my guess is that op-amps reside beneath the output board. I would be surprised if the outputs were unbuffered...Power supply is the expected compact SMPS, sitting in a little segregated can, away from analogue circuitry. All in all, the internals are very neat and thoughtfully designed given the price point. The selection of components is not cheap-as-possible, like the separate DAC and ADC for the &quot;proper&quot; I/O ports and the use of relays rather than transistors for output muting (M-audio take note, the superDAC costs only £40 less...).Sound? At the moment, I can't give a fair trial because my package from farnell with appropriate cables etc didn't get signed for. So far, I can say that the functions seem to work as advertised, although there's certainly a learning curve to features like the expander (although a wonderful idea in principle, set it up wrong and it sounds bloody horrid), and I haven't even touched on PEQ and DEQ yet. What I will say for sure is that the user interface is something of a dream. It is very quick, very intuitive and generally the layout of screens and the controls around the screen is very logical. Build... well, come on, what do you expect for a shade over £200, especially given the good stuff inside? It's not the world's most solid bit of gear, weighing barely more than the superdac with its power supply. Controls feel strong enough that they'll not break, but you'd think them a bit off in a BMW. Clicky buttons in other words. Modding potential? Certainly some... finding the output stage op-amps would be a start, as the budget probably won't have allowed for anything wildly fancy (553X at a guess). Decoupling caps around those, and the DAC chip itself, as well as replacing the 7805 Vdd reg with something a little quieter... Clamping off the SMPS wires and screening the oscillators could go some way, and there's the evergreen classic of clocking (as there are two seemingly dedicated audio oscs, one for 32/48/96, and one for 44.1/88.2). There is also an external word clock input.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="I-S, post: 568162, member: 1152"] Ok, said unit has arrived. Internals are interesting. There are three microprocessors. The two SHARC audio processors, and an ARM cored processor which presumably runs the user interface and general control of the unit. Audio hardware... The ADC is in the form of the AK5393 from AKM. The DAC for the main outputs is the AKM AK4393VF of SuperDAC fame (and pin-compatible with the higher-spec 4395 ;)). The Digital Interface Receiver is not, surprisingly, the ubquitous CS84xx series from Crystal, but yet another AKM part, this time the AK4114. Curiously, another AKM chip makes an appearance, the AK4524 which is described as an audio Codec, essentially an ADC and a DAC in the same package. My guess (and nothing more, but the circuit layouts suggest this) is that this does the ADC for the microphone input (for room EQ) and does the DAC for the auxiliary outputs (unbalanced 1/4" jack, vs the balanced XLR main outputs). From the top of the board, there is no evidence of output staging, so my guess is that op-amps reside beneath the output board. I would be surprised if the outputs were unbuffered... Power supply is the expected compact SMPS, sitting in a little segregated can, away from analogue circuitry. All in all, the internals are very neat and thoughtfully designed given the price point. The selection of components is not cheap-as-possible, like the separate DAC and ADC for the "proper" I/O ports and the use of relays rather than transistors for output muting (M-audio take note, the superDAC costs only £40 less...). Sound? At the moment, I can't give a fair trial because my package from farnell with appropriate cables etc didn't get signed for. So far, I can say that the functions seem to work as advertised, although there's certainly a learning curve to features like the expander (although a wonderful idea in principle, set it up wrong and it sounds bloody horrid), and I haven't even touched on PEQ and DEQ yet. What I will say for sure is that the user interface is something of a dream. It is very quick, very intuitive and generally the layout of screens and the controls around the screen is very logical. Build... well, come on, what do you expect for a shade over £200, especially given the good stuff inside? It's not the world's most solid bit of gear, weighing barely more than the superdac with its power supply. Controls feel strong enough that they'll not break, but you'd think them a bit off in a BMW. Clicky buttons in other words. Modding potential? Certainly some... finding the output stage op-amps would be a start, as the budget probably won't have allowed for anything wildly fancy (553X at a guess). Decoupling caps around those, and the DAC chip itself, as well as replacing the 7805 Vdd reg with something a little quieter... Clamping off the SMPS wires and screening the oscillators could go some way, and there's the evergreen classic of clocking (as there are two seemingly dedicated audio oscs, one for 32/48/96, and one for 44.1/88.2). There is also an external word clock input. [/QUOTE]

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