DSD-AR

About the DSD-AR

The APL Hi-Fi DSD-AR is a pure-DSD, solid-state digital-to-analog converter designed around an FPGA-based digital architecture and a transformer-coupled Class-A analog output stage. PCM signals from its digital inputs are internally converted to DSD before conversion to analog, with selectable DSD128 or DSD256 processing. It includes asynchronous USB, coaxial S/PDIF, and AES/EBU inputs, selectable RCA or XLR analog outputs, remote-controlled volume and digital-filter settings, and a dimmable OLED display. Reported design features include dual-mono D/A conversion, ultra-low-jitter femtosecond clocks, zero negative feedback, no op-amps in the signal path, and Lundahl transformer coupling. Published dimensions and output specifications vary slightly by revision or source; the figures below identify those variations where relevant.