Ever since its introduction, we at Audio Note have been highly critical of digital music reproduction. This dissatisfaction was the instigating force in our quest to make digital playback more dynamically realistic and less fatiguing. Although we cannot defeat the inherent limitations of the format and its recording engineers, we have elevated CD reproduction to a previously unattained level of quality and performance, and with the DAC 5, we proudly present our most radically advanced and iconoclastic digital circuit design so far.

 

To understand the path that led us to the development of our current range of Digital to Analogue Converters, it is worth looking back at our "digital history." Our first defining assault was made in 1992 when we introduced the DAC3, which, with its patented transformer / filter interface circuit, revolutionised CD playback. What we learnt from the experiments with the digital / analogue interface transformers and filters in the DAC3 was that there had to be more information available on the discs than previously believed. Digital filters and the associated oversampling had been broadly discussed, analysed and criticised, but what no-one had done at this time was to remove them altogether, to see what their real effects on ultimate sound quality were. So, that is exactly what we decided to do, and the results were dramatic, to say the least.

 

The improvements this completely new circuit topology introduced resulted in a level of CD playback quality that was previously un-imagined. To this day, we combine these purely analogue filters (dubbed 1x oversampling™ direct from disc™ technology) with the finest components and materials available, including transformer interfaces and the highest quality vacuum tube circuitry to produce a range of Digital to Analogue Converters that are both refreshingly lifelike and free from conventional digital restraints and mechanical artifacts.