Fidelice Precision Digital-to-Analog-Converter

Fidelice Precision Digital-to-Analog-Converter

The new digital standard from Rupert Neve, the master of analogue technology, and the new heart of your entire audio system.

With more than five decades of experience producing professional audio equipment for the world's finest studios and concert halls, Rupert Neve is revered by the world's audio engineers and producers as the number one source for the highest quality audio equipment. Rupert Neve's many years of experience are used in the completely newly developed audiophile product series fidelice. The flagship of Rupert Neve Designs' fidelice series is undoubtedly the Precision digital-to-analog converter. Whether you enjoy your music through one of the three dedicated headphone outputs or operate it as a fully analogue preamplifier for balanced or unbalanced audio signals via Rupert Neve's famous hand-made signal transformers: The Precision DAC is the new studio-quality control center for your audiophile hi-fi system .

Great sound begins and ends as an analog signal

In a professional studio environment, the quality of the analog signal is paramount to the subsequent listening experience, and Rupert Neve's analog circuit designs are world-renowned for their musicality and precise attention to detail. The Precision digital-to-analog converter is based on Class A high-voltage technologies for extremely wide bandwidth and exceptional dynamic range. The use of hand-made signal transformers based on Rupert Neve's classic circuit design guarantees the highest signal fidelity for the symmetrical XLR inputs and outputs of the digital-to-analog converter. This technical design principle allows the perfect reproduction of the artist's sound stage from the studio environment via the precision digital-to-analog converter directly and unadulterated into your audiophile home environment, thus enabling pure and relaxed music enjoyment.

The new standard for digital precision

The precision digital-to-analog converter will bring you closer to every little nuance in your music collection. The high-quality AKM converter chip is integrated into a circuit that uncompromisingly pursues the goal of the best sound and enables an incomparable listening experience. The system works with PCM sampling rates up to 384 kHz at 32 bits or with DSD data up to 22.4 MHz via USB. But the Precision DAC is more than "just" a converter: thanks to its large number of analogue and digital connections, it is ideally suited as the control center for high-sounding entertainment at home. In addition to USB, as well as coaxial and optical S/PDIF, a balanced and unbalanced analog input each enables use as a pure preamplifier before the signal is output again, symmetrically or unbalanced. The Precision DAC offers the possibility of adapting the sound to the respective listening habits using various filter characteristics.

The reference headphone amplifier

As a headphone amplifier, the Precision DAC operates unbalanced models via jack connection or balanced models via 4-pin XLR or Pentaconn. The headphone amplifier also has a high-gain switch to drive power-hungry headphones - this is pure headphone sound at its finest.

The technical data

While listening tests only give a subjective impression of the breathtaking sound quality, the Precision analog-to-digital converter also objectively delivers first-class technical specifications. From unbalanced input to unbalanced output, the THD+N @ 1kHz is a vanishingly low 0.0003%, with a noise of -109dBV (22Hz - 22kHz) and a frequency response of better than +/- 0.1dB at 5Hz up to 112kHz. From the precision DAC's balanced input to the transformer balanced output, THD+N @ 1kHz remains better than 0.0005%, with a noise of -101.2dBV (22Hz - 22kHz).

Features and Specifications:

CONNECTIONS

Analog Inputs: XLR Balanced, RCA unbalanced
(+4 /-10dB operating levels switchable on the rear panel)

Digital Inputs: Coax S/PDIF, Optical S/PDIF, USB (Mac / PC / iOS / Android)

Analog Outputs: XLR balanced (fixed or variable), RCA unbalanced (fixed or variable)

Headphone Outputs: TRS unbalanced, 4-pin XLR balanced, Pentaconn balanced

Firmware Update: Micro USB

Balanced XLR Input to Balanced XLR Output (FIXED Volume)
Source Z = 40 Ω Balanced with 30 ft Output XLR

Input Impedance: 10 kΩ
Output Impedance: 40 Ω
Maximum Input Level (+4dBu Selected): +23.5 dBu
Maximum Output Level: +21.3 dBV
Noise @ FIXED Volume (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW): -101.2 dBV typical
Frequency Response (5 Hz to 116 kHz): +/- 0.1 dB typical
THD+N (@1 kHz): 0.0005% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)

Unbalanced RCA Input to Unbalanced RCA Output (2V RMS Redbook)
Source Z = 470 Ω Unbalanced

Input Impedance: 10 kΩ
Output Impedance: 33 Ω
Maximum Input Level: +19.2 dBV
Maximum Output Level: +19.2 dBV
Noise @ FIXED Volume (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW): -109 dBV typical
Frequency Response (5 Hz to 112 kHz): +/- 0.1 dB typical
THD+N (@1 kHz): 0.0003% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)

Balanced Input to Unbalanced Headphone Output
Source Z = 40 Ω Balanced

Input Impedance: 10 kΩ
Output Impedance: 0.01 Ω
Maximum Output Power: 1W into 16 Ω
Noise @ Max Volume (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW): -98.2 dBV typical
Frequency Response (5 Hz to 200 kHz): +/- 0.2 dB typical
THD+N (1W into 36 Ω Load @1 kHz): 0.003% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)
THD+N (1W into 16 Ω Minimum Load @ 1 kHz): 0.006% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)


DIGITAL PATH SPECIFICATIONS

Coaxial S/PDIF Input to Balanced XLR Output
(FIXED Volume, 192 kHz SR)

Noise (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW): -96.2 dBV typical
Frequency Response (5 Hz to 23 kHz): +/- 0.1 dB typical
Passband (0.5 Hz to 90 kHz): -3dB typical
THD+N (@1 kHz): 0.0004% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)

Coaxial S/PDIF Input to Balanced Headphone Output
(192 kHz SR)

Output Impedance: 0.02 Ω
Maximum Output Power: 1W into 16 Ω
Noise @ Max Volume (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW): -89.2 dBV typical
Frequency Response (5 Hz to 20 kHz): +/- 0.1 dB typical
Passband (0.5 Hz to 90 kHz): -3dB typical
THD+N (1W into 16 Ω Minimum Load @1 kHz): 0.008% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)

Coaxial S/PDIF Input to Unbalanced RCA Output
(FIXED Volume, 192 kHz SR)

Noise (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW): -107 dBV typical
Frequency Response (5 Hz to 20 kHz): +/- 0.1 dB typical
Passband (0.5 Hz to 90 kHz): -3dB typical
THD+N (@1 kHz): 0.0004% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)

Coaxial S/PDIF Input to Unbalanced Headphone Output
(192 kHz SR)

Output Impedance: 0.01 Ω
Maximum Output Power: 1W into 16 Ω
Noise @ Max Volume (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW): -95.2 dBV typical
Frequency Response (5 Hz to 20 kHz): +/- 0.1 dB typical
Passband (0.5 Hz to 90 kHz): -3dB typical
THD+N (1W into 16 Ω Minimum Load @1 kHz): 0.006% typical (10 Hz to 22 kHz)

POWERING

Operating Mains Voltage: 100-240VAC, 50/60 Hz
AC Power Consumption: 45W Max