Arcam will be officially releasing their new FMJ D33 SuperDAC at the Bristol Show in the UK, late February. The new DAC is Arcam’s highest performing DAC to date.

Arcam believes the performance of the D33 SuperDAC sets a new benchmark, even against much more expensive competitor products.

The D33 uses the latest high-end dual Burr Brown PCM1792, 24bit / 192kHz converters (one per channel), twin toroidal transformers in the power supply and state-of-the-art 4-layer printed circuit boards,

The FMJ D33 is designed and built in Cambridge UK and includes the following key feature set:
– Reference quality audio DAC
– World Class sound quality
– Dual 24bit / 192kHz Burr Brown DAC ICs
– USB, AES, Coaxial & Optical inputs
– Advanced Asynchronous USB
– User selectable filters
– Ultra low jitter on all inputs
– Massive, multi-stage regulated power supply
– Stealth Mat & Sound Dead Steel construction
– Full IR and RS232 remote control

The D33 features an asynchronous USB input offering the convenience of computer-based music (PC or MAC) and the ability to enjoy the very latest 192kHz ultra high-resolution recordings with stunning quality. Two coaxial and two optical inputs plus a professional-grade AES/EBU connection complete the line-up.

Attention has been given to both casework and power supply. The D33 has critically damped, low resonance casework, massive power regulation plus extensive low-noise sub-regulation.

The Arcam team’s attention to detail has even delivered an incredibly low 0.5w standby power consumption and duplex RS232 control interface for custom installation.

Analogue Audio Output
– 2x Burr Brown 24-bit 192kHz Advanced Segment Delta-Sigma
– Signal to noise ratio > 110dB CCIR (unweighted)
– Harmonic distortion (1kHz) 0.0008% (20Hz – 20kHz, unweighted)
– Frequency response (+0.1dB, -0.5dB) 10Hz-20kHz
– Filtering User selectable, fast or slow roll-off- Output level (0dB) 2.2Vrms
– Output impedance 47?
– Minimum load 5k?

Digital Interfaces
– USB Class 1 electrically-isolated USB 1.1
– Class 2 USB 2.0 High Speed (480 Mbit/s)
– AES/EBU Up to 192kHz sample rate
– Coaxial S/PDIF x 2 Up to 192kHz sample rate
– Optical S/PDIF (TOSLINK) x 2 Up to 96kHz sample rate

Computer Compatibility
– PC Windows 7, Vista & XP (driver required for 24/192 material)
– MAC OSX (no driver required)

Physical
– Dimensions W433 x D370 x H110mm
– Weight 6.2kg nett/10.0kg packed
– Power consumption 30W maximum
– Analogue output connection RCA Phono x 2, Balanced XLR x2

Supplied Accessories
– Included Mains lead, CR107 remote control, 2 x AAA batteries

Additional Info on Digital Filters
The filter position with both LEDs off is a “bypass” mode that bypasses both the FPGA filters and instead uses the stock filter in the BurrBrown DACs – user choice

For the other two, they are handled in a dedicated FPGA and are minimum-phase digital filters with a fast & slow & roll-off. Both of these filters seek to remove the pre-ringing on transients found in normal digital filters.

The fast roll off filter redistributes the energy from any pre-ringing until after the transient. Although this causes greater post-ringing then the standard digital filter, it results in a much more natural sound as there is no pre-ringing in live music.

The slow roll off filter has a much slower roll off and this results in no pre-ringing and minimal post-ringing and would be the preferred listening position.

The new Arcam FMJ D33 SuperDAC is currently available for demonstration at a few Arcam dealers in the U.K.  MSRP is £2000 in the U.K.  Availability and pricing in North America is yet to be announced. 

Look for more details at: www.arcam.co.uk

About the Author: George de Sa

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