DAC 5

About the DAC 5

The Audio Note (UK) DAC 5 Special is a Level 5, non-oversampling digital-to-analogue converter using an 18-bit Analogue Devices AD1865N converter and accepting 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz signals. Its analogue output stage is derived from the M6 line preamplifier and uses 5814A (ECC82/12AU7A) and 6463 dual-triode valves. The design uses transformer coupling, valve rectification and separate power-supply filtering for the digital and analogue sections, with Audio Note silver wiring and selected passive components. It provides 75-ohm coaxial RCA S/PDIF and 110-ohm balanced XLR AES/EBU inputs, together with balanced and single-ended analogue outputs. Output impedance is 600 ohms, with a reference output of 3.2 V RMS. The DAC 5 Special is a hand-built flagship-level Audio Note digital source component.