ESS Technologies ES9038PRO Reference DAC Chip
exaSound DACs are based on the ESS Technologies ES9038PRO Sabre32 reference DAC chip, the successor of the legendary Sabre ES9018. ES9038PRO delivers 32-bit
precision capable of resolving even the smallest signal details. The chip features patented 32-bit Hyperstream™
architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator and delivers the industry’s highest performance levels.
ZeroJitter™ - True Asynchronous USB Interface with Error Correction
Asynchronous USB is a two-way communication method between a computer and an external DAC. The DAC controls the rate at which audio data is transmitted over USB. Rather than being sent as a continuous stream, as is the case with standard digital audio interfaces, the audio is sent in packets, which contain extra data that allows the DAC to detect if there are any errors. If an error is detected, that data packet is retransmitted. Error correction is possible because of the high speed at which the data is sent and also, because the incoming data is stored in a large memory buffer. The data is then clocked out of this buffer by the DAC high precision master clock. Re-clocking guarantees a very high accuracy and precision of data timing. It completely eliminates jitter caused by computer timing errors and the USB data transport. An added bonus to using packet based streaming over USB is the ability to send and receive control information along with the audio data. This is how volume control instructions are exchanged between the exaSound DAC and the computer/streamer.
FemtoMaster™ - Quad-Clock Architecture with 82 Femtosecond Master Clock
FemtoMaster™ — our quad-clock architecture, with 82 femtosecond master clock and 3 auxiliary stream-control clocks, minimizes jitter for maximum timing accuracy, image development and bass extension. The stream-control oscillators allow for very accurate clocking for the 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz sample rate families. The 44.1 kHz family includes 44.1, 88.2, 176.4, and 352.8 kHz and the 48 kHz family includes 48, 96,192 and 384kHz.
Bit-Perfect Windows ASIO Driver. Automatic Rate Switching.
PC sound quality is often limited by the operating system. The conventional Windows sound system is designed to
offer a rich feature set and user convenience. Unfortunately this is achieved at the expense of sound quality.
exaSound has developed custom ASIO driver that is completely independent from the Windows sound system. ASIO is a
sound driver protocol developed by the German musical software and equipment company Steinberg. The
ASIO protocol provides many benefits for audiophiles, including high fidelity bit-perfect playback, automatic
sampling rate switching, and native DSD support.
Audio data are delivered from the playback app to the DAC chip at their original bit-depth and sampling rate without any processing or re-sampling.
Automatic PCM / DSD / MQA Switching
Audio data is always streamed in its native format. exaSound DACs switch automatically between
PCM and DSD modes. DSD streams are always delivered to the DAC chip in their native format without conversion to PCM.
External Upsampling to 384kHz/32bit.
Various software players can be configured for upsampling up to 384kHz. PCM and 12.288 MHz DSD.
High-Quality Headphone Amplifier
exaSound DACs come with a headphone amplifier that can bring the best out of the most accurate headphones.
ZeroResolutioLoss™ Volume Control
Our exclusive ZeroResolutioLoss™ volume control offers four–way volume synchronization. Users can control volume from the player app, from the DAC front panel, from the exaSound streamer / server or with a remote control. exaSound DACs can be connected directly to analogue power amplifiers without
a preamplifier. DAC volume is controlled by the ES9028PRO DAC chip. Audio data is always bitstreamed over the USB or LAN interfaces at full scale 0db/32bit resolution. Volume processing is performed by the DAC chip right at the border between the digital and the analogue domains. This architecture offers signal to noise ratio comparable to the best analogue volume controls and virtually no loss of digital resolution. Setting the volume to 0dB turns all volume processing off and sets the DAC in volume bypass mode.
GalvanicInfinity™ Digital Ground Isolation - Noise Reduction
GalvanicInfinity™ affords complete galvanic isolation for ultimate external noise reduction. The USB ground is isolated galvanically from the DAC and the analogue circuits.
Eleven Power Cleaning Stages - Noise, Crosstalk and Jitter Reduction
exaSound DACs use eleven internal power cleaning stages (fifteen for the 8-channel DACs) to further minimize noise,
jitter and channel crosstalk. The digital subsystem is powered independently and it is isolated galvanically
from the rest of the board.
The reference voltage sources used for the DAC outputs have less then 2uVRMS noise in the audio frequency range.
Line Outputs
exaSound DACs feature heavy-duty high-quality gold-plated connectors.
exaSound DACs offer simultaneously driven, gold-plated balanced (XLR) and unbalanced
(RCA) outputs.
Coaxial and Optical S/PDIF Inputs
Two S/PDIF inputs provide jitter reduction and superb D/A conversion when used with CD
transports.
Remote Control Learning Mode
exaSound DACs can be user-configured to work with most infrared remote controls using
Sony and NEC IR protocols.
Top-Quality Components
exaSound DACs are designed and built for uncompromising sound quality. Top-grade custom clocks, operational amplifiers, low
noise voltage regulators, 0.1% thin film resistors, tantalum polymer capacitors, gold-plated connectors and
solid aluminum case are used to achieve reference-class performance.
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ASIO is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH |