OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER DAC202 OWNERS MANUAL Page 1 Date: 03/10
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER INTRODUCTION Dear customer Congratulations on your purchase of the DAC202 D/A Converter and welcome to the family of Weiss equipment owners! The DAC202 is the result of an intensive research and development process. Research was conducted both in analog and digital circuit design, as well as in signal processing algorithm specification. On the following pages I will introduce you to our views on high quality audio processing.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER A SHORT HISTORY OF WEISS ENGINEERING After studying electrical engineering, Daniel Weiss joined the Willi Studer (Studer - Revox) company in Switzerland. His work included the design of a sampling frequency converter and of digital signal processing electronics for digital audio recorders. In 1985, Mr. Weiss founded the company Weiss Engineering Ltd.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER 2007 Introduction of the CASTOR, our High-End Hi-Fi Power Amplifier 2008 Introduction of the MINERVA Firewire DAC and the VESTA Firewire – AES/EBU Interface 2010 Introduction of the DAC202 Firewire DAC, the INT202 Firewire Interface and the ATT202 Passive Attenuator ADVANCED DIGITAL AND ANALOG AUDIO CONCEPTS EXPLAINED Jitter Suppression and Clocking What is jitter and how does it affect audio quality? In the audio field the term jitter designates a timing uncer
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER D/A converter unit or by the same mechanisms as described above except for the motors of course. In the case of a stand-alone D/A converter (as the DAC202), one has to take two different jitter contamination paths into account. One is the internal path where internal signals can affect the jitter amount of the sampling clock generator. Here, all the good old analog design principles have to be applied.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Converter (A/D). The inverse in the Digital to Analog Converter (D/A). A physical law states that in order to represent any given analog signal in the digital domain, one has to sample that signal with at least twice the frequency of the highest frequency contained in the analog signal. If this law is violated so called aliasing components are generated which are perceived as a very nasty kind of distortion.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER for instance, upsamples the signal by a factor of eight, i.e. 44.1kHz ends up at 352.8kHz. Such a high sampling frequency relaxes the job of the reconstruction filter very much; it can be built with a simple 3rd order filter. So, how come that upsamplers are such a big thing in High-End Hi-Fi circles? The problem with the upsamplers is that they are filters again, digital ones, but still filters.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER truncation. After truncation the signal does not show any distortion components but a slightly increased noise floor. This works like magic..... the distortion is replaced by a small noise – much more pleasant. I have given the example of a 24-bit recording, which has to be truncated to 16 bits. Where is the application in High-End Hi-Fi audio? More and more signal processing is implemented in the digital domain.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER THE DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Features in alphabetical order Absolute polarity switch: The absolute polarity of the outputs can be inverted for optimizing the sonic impression. Audio Inputs: One XLR, one RCA and one Toslink connector for AES/EBU or S/PDIF signals. Two Firewire connectors for computer connection. Audio Outputs: Two XLR and two RCA connectors for analog audio output. One XLR and one RCA connector for AES/EBU and S/PDIF audio output.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER sampling rate (i.e. 176.4 or 192 kHz) or half the sampling rate (i.e. 88.2 or 96 kHz). Frontpanel elements: • Standby LED • IR Receiver • Headphone socket • LCD display • Rotary encoder with switch Insert mode: If the insert mode is activated an external digital audio device (e.g. a digital equalizer) can be looped into the signal path via the XLR input / output connectors.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Remote Control: The IR remote control allows to control the following parameters: Power on / off Volume up / down Input source (Firewire, XLR, RCA, Toslink) Output mute Polarity normal / inverted Upsampling filter type Signal routing: Due to the various possible settings for input source, insert mode, dual/single wire modes and sync source there are quite a few routing paths possible.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Operation / Installation Unpacking and Setup of the DAC202 Carefully unpack the DAC202.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Pressing the knob when the display shows the main menu activates the selection of the “Options Menu” as shown here. Pressing the knob again enters the “Options Menu”. Rotating the knob instead of pressing it navigates to the input source select as shown here. Pressing the knob again allows selecting the input source. If any parameter is shown with the two dots in the upper left and lower left corners, then rotating the knob can change that parameter.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER insert modes check the instructions further down.) Note that if a computer is connected to the DAC202 via Firewire, the Sync Source parameter has to be selected from the Weiss Firewire IO control panel on the computer! For all possible input sources (Firewire, AES(XLR), SPDIF(RCA) and SPDIF(TOS)) the following sync sources can be selected: - XLR: This selects the XLR input as the synchronization source.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Audio Sampling rate: BNC connectors rate: 44.1 44.1 48 48 88.2 88.2 96 96 176.4 88.2 192 96 9.) Insert Mode: When enabled, an external digital audio device (e.g. a digital equalizer) can be inserted into the signal path between e.g. the source via Firewire and the D/A converter. The insert mode possibilities are explained further down. 10.) Main Out Att.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Particularly the sampling rate conversion can creep in “unnoticed”. I.e. the sampling rate in the Weiss Firewire IO window has to match the sampling rate of the file played; else a conversion is going on in the operating system. For iTunes there is another thing to know: Whenever the sampling rate is changed in the AudioMidi setup or the Weiss Firewire IO window, the iTunes program has to be restarted to gain bit transparency again.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER The signal routing in various DAC202 operation modes, i.e. the insert mode and dual wire mode as well as synchronization options This paragraph describes some advanced features of the DAC202: The Insert mode, the Dual Wire mode and external synchronization via Wordclock on the BNC connector or via the other digital audio inputs. There are four basic modes, which specify the input source for the DAC: 1. FireWire 2. AES (XLR) 3. SPDIF (RCA) 4.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER - The Firewire input is routed to: XLR out, RCA out, APB. - The Firewire output (going to the computer for recording) is fed from the source specified as the sync source: XLR selected as sync source: XLR signal goes to Firewire. RCA selected as sync source: RCA signal goes to Firewire. Toslink selected as sync source: Toslink signal goes to Firewire. Internal or WC BNC or 1394 bus selected as sync source: The Firewire output is muted.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER input, the Toslink input the WC BNC input, the 1394 bus or the internal sync generator. Mode: AES(XLR) input / dual wire / no insert - The XLR input (left channel) and the RCA input (right channel) are routed to: DAC chip, XLR out (left channel) RCA out (right channel), Firewire out, APB. - The Firewire input and Toslink inputs are not routed anywhere.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER - The Firewire input, RCA input and XLR input are not routed anywhere. - The sync source can be specified as the XLR input, the RCA input, the Toslink input the WC BNC input, the 1394 bus or the internal sync generator. Mode: S/PDIF(TOS) input / single wire / insert active - The TOS input is routed to: APB plus either RCA or XLR out depending on the insert routing selected, i.e. the insert can go via the RCA or the XLR connectors.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Software Installation Perform the following installation procedure before connecting the DAC202 to the computer. The necessary files are supplied on the enclosed drivers CD. Windows: 0. Do not connect the device. 1. Double click "WeissFirewireInstaller.exe" 2. Click "Next" 3. Select the directory where you'd like to install the tools. Usually you can use the default values and click "Next" 4. Select if you'd like to create a desktop icon. "Next" 5.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Sync Source: The clock to which the DAC202 should sync to. Usually this is the DAC202’s internal clock generator. Buffer Size: Larger buffer sizes increase robustness against dropouts; lower buffer sizes provide low latency. Operation Mode: determines the stability of the system. Try other modes if there are clicks in the music. Global Settings / WDM: Enables the WDM driver.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Technical Data Digital Inputs: (1) XLR connector, (1) RCA connector, (1) Toslink connector (optical), (2) Firewire connectors. All inputs accept professional or consumer standard, i.e. accept AES/EBU or S/PDIF signals. Sampling Frequencies: 44.1, 48.0, 88.2, 96.0, 176.4 or 192kHz on any of the inputs, except Toslink which handles 96kHz maximum. Maximum input wordlength: 24 Bits. Dual wire mode: Can be activated for sampling rates of 176.4 or 192 kHz exclusively.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Synchronization: Synchronized via the input signal, the internal oscillator or via a wordclock signal (TTL level / 75 Ohm) on the BNC input. Sampling Frequencies: 44.1 kHz, 48.0 kHz, 88.2kHz, 96.0kHz, 176.4khz, 192kHz. Wordclock output (TTL level / 75 Ohm) on BNC for synchronization of other equipment. Power: Mains Voltage: 100...120 / 200...240 Volt Fuse rating: 500 mA slow blow at 100…120V, 250mA slow blow at 200…240V Power consumption: 15VA max.
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER Headphone output: Frequency Response: Fs = 44.1kHz, Filter A: 0Hz ... 20kHz: within +- 0.15dB Fs = 44.1kHz, Filter B: 0Hz ... 20kHz: within +- 1.1dB Fs Fs Fs Fs = = = = 88.2kHz, 88.2kHz, 88.2kHz, 88.2kHz, Filter Filter Filter Filter Fs Fs Fs Fs Fs Fs = = = = = = 176.4kHz, 176.4kHz, 176.4kHz, 176.4kHz, 176.4kHz, 176.4kHz, A: A: B: B: Filter Filter Filter Filter Filter Filter 0Hz 0Hz 0Hz 0Hz A: A: A: B: B: B: ... ... ... ...
OWNERS MANUAL FOR WEISS DAC202 D/A CONVERTER CONTACT For any questions, suggestions etc. feel free to contact us at: Weiss Engineering Ltd. Florastrasse 42 8610 Uster Switzerland Phone: +41 44 940 20 06 Fax: +41 44 940 22 14 Email: weiss@weiss.ch Web: http://www.weiss-highend.com http://www.weiss.ch http://www.asiaweiss.
