Light Harmonic Introduces Da Vinci DAC, Claiming First Bit-Perfect 384K
Light Harmonic’s new Da Vinci 384K USB Digital-to-Analog Converter claims to be the world’s first bit-perfect 384K asynchronous USB 2.0 DAC. Housed in a 61-lb. aluminum chassis, which the company says enhances thermal stability and RF and EMI shielding, the Da Vinci DAC is designed to provide digital music playback while preserving the data stream in a pure, unaltered form. In achieving “Bit-Perfect status,” Da Vinci employs a design free from up-sampling, oversampling and all digital signal processing — apparently what you hear is the raw file.
The physical design and packaging is the most unusual we’ve seen here at rAVe. Major features include:
- A 384K/32Bit Asynchronous USB Input.
- Automatic LSB Correction: Corrects digital signals in their least significant bits (LSB) to make 100-percent accurate bit-perfect audio, while extending 16-bit signals to 24- or 32-bit signals and 24-bit signals to 32 bits.
- 3-L Buffering: LightHarmonic says the buffer can completely decouple speed fluctuations in the source, enabling Da Vinci to convert music samples using the most accurate core clocks.
- 3X Clocks: Three highly precise -166dB phase-error clocks, one clock for 44.1K, 88.2K, 176.4K and 352.8K music sampling frequencies; one for 48K, 96K, 192K and 384K frequencies; and a third for the USB interface. Da Vinci selects each clock on the fly according to the sample rate of an input file.
Additional features include a sample rate up to 384kHz, a resolution up to 32 bits, dedicated digital power and a proprietary Duet Engine that uses analog interpolation to double a file’s original sampling rate without digital upsampling, over-sampling or noise shaping. The result is smoother high frequencies. A pure analog low-pass filter, instead of the more usual digital filter, automatically selects the corner frequency for each sample rate.
Light Harmonic’s Da Vinci 384K is available in Anodized Black, Silver, Titanium and Rose Gold. Suggested prices are $20,000 in black, $22,000 in Silver and $23,000 in Titanium ad Rose Gold.
