ytek is for me personally, an interesting case-study of successful combination of good engineering, proper marketing strategy and a bit of luck. On the front of the reviewed device, below company's logo, there is also a writing that says: Digital Audio Converters (as far as I know it is to be changed soon, as they work on a new logo). This writing has a point as A/D and D/A converters are core products of this company. It seems that this brand appeared out of nowhere making a lot of fuss, at least that's my impression. Middle of 2010 I was doing for „Audio” magazine a review of Stereo96-DAC, and it was more or less at this time that this company became popular. But the real break happened when Mytek released Stereo192-DSD. A prototype was build 2 years ago, after 3 years of development, and I hoped then, I would have a chance to review it very soon. But it was something like a beta-test to get feedback from potential customer, and after that happened Mytek engineers decided work on this version even further using that feedback to improve it. Final version was released a year ago. Soon after that whomever I talked to, Polish and foreign audiophiles, music producers and sound engineers, like e.g. Dirk Sommer, chief editor of „HiFiStatement.net” magazine, but also an owner of a recording studio sommelier du son (see HERE) – all of them spoke of this DAC, that was capable of playing DSD signal and, which is quite important, decoded it very well. If you check the pictures published by Japanese „Stereo Sound” magazine, taken in their readers' homes you will realize how popular this device became. In every second system, next to top high-end devices with price tags of dozens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars you can see a small, inconspicuous, usually black box from Poland.

Yes, that's the thing I totally missed at the beginning. I've noticed Made in Poland note on the back of the device, but I thought, that this American company was just outsourcing production to our country to save on production costs. I was partially right, but only partially.
The company was founded in 2002 in New York by a Polish engineer, Mr Michał Jurewicz. First products were intended for a professional market. There are some companies that went down similar paths - for example: dCS, Weiss Audio, and also Mytek Digital. What all of these brand have in common is a decision they made at some point to take their experience from pro market and use it for home audio. Mytek's converters worked during recording sessions of such a great music stars like: David Bowie, Lou Reed, Mariah Carey, James Taylor, B52, but also during a recording of Krzysztof Penderecki music, with Maestro himself conducting an orchestra. It seemed that producers and sound engineers liked using these little boxes from Poland. You can find, for example, another Polish engineer who achieved huge success in US, Mr Andrzej Lipiński, the owner of Lipinski Sound Corporation, on many photos with Mytek in background. In 2005 Mr Jurewicz was hired by Sony to design a DSD decoder. It is well known that the „adventure” of this huge corporation with this format did not last too long, but the experience the Polish engineer gained working on this project, allowed him to create his own product – the one I am about to review.

There are three versions of this device, all identically priced, and the differences between them are rather insignificant. The basic version, the black one (Black Preamp Version) has a LED VU meter on the front panel below LED display. Silver version (Silver Preamp Version) doesn't have this VU meter. The third version (Black Mastering Version) looks very similar to the Black Preamp one, but it but eschews analog inputs for SPDIF Left and Right DSD inputs. This last solution, for now, is used exclusively in recording and mastering studios. Anyway, the sole fact that DACs can convert DSD signal nowadays seems to be a miracle considering how reluctant to this idea was a mother-company of this standard (Sony). The moment when Sony „let go” SACDs and made a DSD signal transfer to external devices possible was a real breakthrough. Companies manufacturing this type of devices saw the opportunity and in January 2012 presented a standard they developed, called DoP (DSD over PCM), which allowed this type of signal to be transfered via USB cable. For quite some time now one can transfer this type of signal also via FireWire and S/PDIF (although for now Mytek limits it to DSD64). It's an open standard so anybody can use it. This protocol was created by Andreas Koch of Playback Designs, Andy McHarg of dCS, and Rob Robinson of Channel D (you can find more information HERE). Among many information on DSD Guide one can learn that Mr Jurewicz also contributed to the development of DSD standard – on March 8th 2012 a new revision of this protocol was released that allowed to transfer a DSD128 signal, which has a sampling frequency of 5,2 kHz. One should find a name of this Polish engineer eversince next to each new revision of the protocol. Now it should be clear why whenever DSD music files are mentioned sooner or later also the name Mytek comes up. This is also the one and only converter that allows to play multichannel DSD, although it requires using three units of this DAC. I guess that Mr Jurewicz had to make quite an impression on Sony guys, as they use Mytek DACs in their system for official multichannel DSD presentations (see HERE).

A short story of…
Michał Jurewicz – the owner and chief engineer

Wojciech Pacuła: Who came up with the idea of Mytek company? Where and when?
Michał Jurewicz: Mytek Technologies was founded in 1992. It was founded by me, in New York. I graduated from Warsaw University of Technology. After I left Poland and moved to US I worked for two large, now even legendary, recording studios in New York: Hit Factory and Skylne Studio. The first commercial product of my company was a multichannel monitor system designed and made for Skyline Studios. Later we developed a series of A/D converters, that were build while I was still working for Skyline in order to improve quality of a digital mix. Most of the recordings of such performers as: Mariah Carey, James Taylor, James Brown, The Chic, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and many others, were mixed with prototypes of Mytek converters. Later I focused all my efforts on my own company, building another Private Q and converters for other large studios situated on Manhattan, and there were like 40 of them at the time. Between 1995 and 2000 company was steadily growing and all devices were made in USA.

What was the idea behind your company?
In the 1990ties I worked with many extraordinary designers, building new types of devices, ones that had not even existed before, to improve recording process. The main idea behind Mytek was always a technological innovation, to be used in recordings production process to record and preserve the highest possible quality of sound. The eminent "gold ears" and designers like Mark Levinson, Keith Johnson, Andrzej Lipinski, Walter Sear, Alan Silverman, David Chesky, and many sound engineers were my constant inspiration, that allowed me to achieve great results in terms of top quality recordings – which at this time was quite a challenge.

Why did you move your production to Poland? Who do you work here with?
Some time in 2000 I started my cooperation with Marcin Hamerla, an electronics engineer from Warsaw. It was actually a time, when many US companies moved their production to China. At the beginning our cooperation was strictly about designing, but after a while I decided to move also my production to Warsaw, to Marcin's company. What I needed was a partner who would help me to reduce production costs but would also guarante properly high standards of production. I also needed a trusted partner for designing purposes. And when you work with Chinese companies you never really know whether they will keep your secrets or not. The Mytek Poland company today employs 20 people who manufacture our products. Marcin and Mytek Poland do a lot of designing work, they also work on firmware for our devices.

How different is designing a PCM decoding device from DSD one?
The main advantage of DSD format is its simplicity that results in sound qualities. You might say that this is a very „pure” sound that is not “spoiled” by additional processing modules. DSD and PCM converters are usually based on similar circuits, but DSD signal doesn't have to be processed by digital filters, that are a must when it comes to PCM.

What are the main challenges that a D/A converter's designer has to face?
There are two. The first one is about constant innovations that are necessary to adapt converters to the evolving world of digital technologies and computers, which means new kinds of connections, new ways converters are used in home and professional audio. The second one is a permanent development of conversion techniques, on one hand to achieve even better resolution and dynamics, on the other to achieve higher and higher sampling frequencies.


What is the upper limit of signal processing? In terms of bits and fs.
It's hard to tell, if there is any particular limit. During last 20 years there were many declarations about some formats being good enough. That's what they said about 16 bits once, then about 20, and now about 24. Current version of our DAC accepts 32 bits, and we already know that it works best when fed with 32 bit signal. Same goes for DSD – not so long ago everybody thought it was a perfect format, but it sounds better with double sampling frequency (DSD128/5,6 MHz) and even better with quadruple. Technology available today already allows us to build D/A converter that can accept signal up to DSD256 (FS=11,2 MHz) and 32 bits, 768 kHz PCM. Theories about human hearing limitation to 20 kHz simply don't matter, as we have confirmed usefulness of new formats in our experiments. We use new format only if they sound better. We have learned that a very high resolution allows to record sound of highest quality, but also to diminish its degradation during recording process. Novelties in digital techniques implicate development also of analogue ones, even though everybody thought these were good enough.

Plans for future?
Mytek Stereo192-DSD-DAC was design with two markets in mind: a professional mastering one, and a rapidly developing PC Audio market. We will continue our involvement in both and try to build up our position. We are planning to develop a new line of products for hifi market, and a new line for professional market. All our future products should support both high resolution technologies: DSD up to DSD256 and a high speed PCM.

Recording used during test (a selection)

CDs

• Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal MusicLLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013).
• Count Basie, Live at the Sands (before Frank), Reprise/Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2113, “Special Limited Edition No. 197”, SACD/CD (1998/2013).
• Depeche Mode, Enjoy The Music....04, Mute, XLCDBONG34, maxi-SP (2004).
• Et Cetera, Knirsch, MPS Records/HGBS Musikproduktion UG HGBS 20013 CD, (1972/2013).
• Frank Sinatra, Sinatra at the Sands, Reprise/Sinatra Society of Japan/Universal Music Japan UICY-94366, SHM-CD (1966/2009).
• Mel Tormé, The legend of Mel Tormé, Going for a Song GFS360, CD (?).
• Nat “King” Cole, Welcome to the Club, Columbia/Audio Fidelity AFZ 153, SACD/CD (1959/2013).
• Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Atlantic Records/ORG Music ORGM-1081, SACD/CD (1959/2013).
• Pat Metheny, What’s It All About, Nonesuch Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-14176, CD (2011);
• Siekiera, ”Nowa Aleksandria”, Tonpress/MTJ cd 90241, 2 x CD (1986/2012).
• Wolfgang Dauner Quintet, The Oimels, MPS/Long Hair LHC59, CD (1969/2008).

Hi-res files

• Opus3 DSD Showcase, Opus3, DSD + DSD128.
• Opus3 DSD Showcase2, Opus3, DSD + DSD128.
• SATRI Reference Recordings Vol. 2, Bakoon Products, FLAC 24/192.
• Charlie Haden & Antonio Forcione, Heartplay, Naim Label, 24/96 FLAC, Ľródło: NaimLabel.
• Dead Can Dance, Anastasis, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, PIASR311CDX, "Special Edition Hardbound Box Set", CD+USB drive 24/44,1 WAV (2012);
• Depeche Mode, Black Celebration, Mute DMCD5, “Collectors Edition”, WAV 24/48 (1986/2007).
• Depeche Mode, Delta Machine, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3783-4, FLAC 24/44,1, Ľródło: HDTracks (2013);
• Miles Davis, Tutu, Warner Brothers Records, FLAC 24/96, Ľródło: HDTracks.
• Nagrania z płyt DVD-R pisma “Net Audio”.
• Persy Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy, Dallas Wind Symphony, dyr. Jerry Junkin, Reference Recordings, HR-117, HRx, 24/176,4 WAV, DVD-R (2009).
• Yes, Close to the Edge, Warner Music, FLAC 24/192, Ľródło: HDTracks (1972/2007).

Japanese versions of CDs and SACDs available at

DSD68/DSD128, why so much fuss?

The audio world, or to be more exact – audiophile world, witnesses from time to time some extraordinary events – new ideas, trends and so on. These could be new formats, copy protection policies, new channels for selling music and so on.

These are the more important events. But there are also much less important ones, sometimes inspired by PR, marketing or sales people in order to support sales of a particular products, or the whole lines of products. The former ones are essential, the latter quite the opposite, usually there are no real benefits of them.

The real problem are marketing guys that are sometimes able to convince us that what they are selling is essential. Fortunately market is able to verify that, at least after a while, and sometimes it forces some positive changes. That's what happened in 1990ties with „digital” amplifiers, which in fact were just regular amps with D/A converters build-in (with Toslink inputs...). They didn't last long on the market, as nobody treated them seriously. But they've made quite a come back recently, because their designers changed their approach and now offer high quality D/A converters build into preamplifiers and amplifiers plus the whole situation on the market has been changing shifting the balance from analogue sources to digital ones so everybody now needs a DAC. The same one could say about some exotic power transistors, placing CD drawer in the middle of the front panel, supremacy of „low-noise” toroidal transformers and many, many other things. Some of these „great” ideas vanished from our memories, some other evolved to something else, than they were supposed to be according to marketing guys.

Most of the „events” in recent years referred to digital sound sources and these are now one of the most popular topics for audiophiles discussions, which is actually a good thing. Right now, in front of our eyes, future of audio world is being shaped. What is to be decided is the way files should be played, as it is already clear that they will dominate completely physical music mediums (maybe accept for vinyl) in the nearest future. And it is not just about making simple decision – either or type, as the new ideas come to play every now and then. One of the newest, although already with some history behind it, is playing music from DSD files.
You can find a lot of information about DSD in my Lumin review that included also a description of this format by Srajan Ebaen („6moons.com”). So there is no need to repeat basic information (see HERE, and I would also suggest reading HERE). In the context of the reviewed converter important thing is that at the moment offering DSD support is almost a must if it is to succeed on the market. But is DSD one of those truly essential events? Does it really make sense to chose a device supporting this format over one that doesn't support it? Or is it just a trend that will be forgotten few years from now?

When auditioning Lumin I had no doubts that properly produced DSD files sounded in more relaxed, nicer way than PCM files, even 24/192 ones. Despite the fact that it was simply a reference player, so good that it could become a part of my reference system, I still couldn't really name particular differences between the sound of DSD and PCM files. Mytek Stereo192-DSD allowed me to take a closer look at this problem once again, this time without any intermediaries. And I found out that there was a difference, and quite a serious one. I could make simple comparisons mostly thanks to Japanese „Net Audio” magazine, that includes DVD-Rs in their issues, with different types of files. As I have already quite a few of these I was able to conduct a proper, reliable test. There is one more issue inside whole DSD case – it is still under debate whether a regular DSD sampling - 2,8224 MHz (so called DSD64) is enough, or a double frequency should be used, which studio equipment actually does use (5,6448 MHz - DSD128). Some came with the idea of quadruple sampling frequency recently (DSD256, or Quad-DSD). Anyway for now first two are use and both are playable for Mytek. I used digital albums prepared by Opus3 Records, called Opus3 DSD Showcase (two of these were released so far) to compare DSD64 and DSD128 files.

First, I'd like to repeat something that perhaps passed unnoticed: Mytek is a truly professional monitoring device. It offers perfect resolution and tonal balance. Although it tends to sacrifice richness of the sound for speed of attack and great definition, it does all that with a lot of grace thanks to its fantastic resolution. Huge amount of information it delivers allow it to build a credible picture in front of our eyes. That's rather a high-end level, not just hifi. Differences between files were easily recognizable, and repeatable It is a top quality monitor system. Comparing 24/192 files to DSD was quite interesting. DSD files were able to show dynamic changes at the small scale in a better way. Playing PCM files delivered each time a head on attack of the music. A difference between 192 kHz file and 96 kHz was significant, and the more I listened the bigger it got. But it was still comparing one apple to another. DSD was more of a pear. It allowed more sophisticated way of introducing listener to the particular piece of music, it seemed to better „understand” what a natural sound was. I mean it was able to present smaller changes in dynamics – different ways of playing the same instrument and so on. It is not just about hearing differences and more details – it is about listening to the music after all, not just details. But the details compose presentation, if they are where they should be, if they work together nicely, it help us to recreate actual music event in our heads.

DSD files seemed to deliver also more natural midrange and bass. I really loved their softness that came from proper sense of attack, from being sure that what makes it sound so good was not its precision but how it is presented over time, because attack has its phases, it's not just a punch. So recording in DSD sounded in a softer, more delicate way. Each time I played equivalent PCM file I had to turn down the volume, as if the larger dynamic range of DSD allowed it a better utilization of it. I think I finally understand why Japanese audiophiles love SACDs so much and why each true samurai has a katana and a Mytek in his listening room. Because this is the sound that is similar in many ways to the sound of a vinyl record, while adding lesser coloration to it. The midrange is most important in the presentation, carries a lot of energy, is very rich, but no so euphonious as on a LP. A vinyl records still wins in terms of relaying sudden changes in macrodynamic – it presents it in a better way then DSD files.

There are another elements that this test allowed me to study up close – treble and spacing. From the first time I listened to DSD recordings and then to SACDs it was clear to me, that this medium presented treble with a little smear, without proper, sharp definition. Most music lovers, who happily moved from CDs to SACDs accepted this new medium with all its ups and downs, more „delicate”, not so „sharp” treble included.
Using Mytek I could easily tell that percussion cymbals played from 24/192 PCM sounded more like real cymbals played live, or the ones from analogue master tape. On the other hand DSD files made them sound more like what I knew from vinyl playback. DSD offers more enjoyable, more pleasant sound, but on the other hand less realistic one. PCM tries to capture the true nature of the sound. None of this solutions is perfect, and if I was to chose I would chose... analogue tape. But I completely understand those, who chose DSD files as the best way to play music. I think that if there is any part of the system that might degrade its performance PCM files will show that clearly, while DSD files might help to smooth it over, making listening more enjoyable. The same goes for the quality of music material you want to play. The best PCM productions are amazing in terms of precision and sound very natural. But should there be any, even slightest imperfection in the production process and all the problems of this format come out. DSD on the other hand, even if not perfect always sound good, maybe except for SACD made of converted PCM, but that's a different story.

What about the rest?

As you can see this review drifted towards DSD files and discussion about them. But it's the Mytek that directed my divagations towards this topic. It delivers very clean, precise, accurate sound – like most devices from professional markets do. I do not know how Mytek's engineers managed to achieve such sound, maybe they listened to prototype in some top performance system, but the fact is, that in this sound you won't find any harshness or aggressiveness. I felt the same while listening to active monitors Sveda Audio D’appo. It can't match the performance of the best digital devices I know, meaning Ancient Audio and Audio Research CD Players, or Mark Levinson SACD Player in terms of sound richness and level of energy transferred with the sound, but you need to remember that Mytek costs less than power cables I used with above mentioned devices.

There is one element that is not as good as the presentation of the rest of the frequency range - midbass. Listening via large Harbeth speakers I could tell that a definition and a selectivity of this subrange was not as good as of higher frequencies. There is a slight emphasis on this subrange which makes it sound richer, but it also means that it does not fit that well with the rest of otherwise very coherent range. It seems to me that it is DAC that is responsible for the sonic character of the device and the head amp just follows its lead. DAC is undoubtedly a better performer of these two. Having said that I have to admit that I spent most of this test with some cans over my ears. DAC and head amp work together very nicely and really allow you to enjoy the music. This device does not guaranty only pleasant listening sessions though, as I learned the hard way listening to hi-res versions of Depeche Mode albums, that sounded rather harsh and bright. But it was obviously recordings fault, not Mytek's. The most expensive devices are able to show all the problems of the recording but thanks to extraordinary intensity of the presentation listening to such recording might still be quite enjoyable. Using Mytek you have to turn down volume a bit and then you can listen to any recording you want. You might miss some details of vocals, but still – that is a problem of the recording and not the device that tries to reproduce this recording.

Summary

In the segment describing my experience with DSD files I told you that this DAC accepted not only basic DSD 64 but also DSD128. At the beginning you might think that there is only a small sonic difference between them, smaller then between PCM 24/96 and 24/192. But the longer I listened the more significant this difference became. DSD128 offers even deeper, more delicate sound, with even better microdynamic. Mytek shows such differences nicely. If there are any technical imperfections in the recording Mytek will show them but without emphasizing them. Its performance is clearly better if a high-res material is used. CD quality recordings sound quite good but they lack the spark that comes with 24 bits or DSD. Its functionality is amazing. Its performance via USB input is equally good as via SPDIF one. Only very few, who prefer even richer, deeper sound, with lower, more punchy bass might complain about Mytek's sound a bit. Try it in your system – if you won't miss any of the above, it will be very difficult to find any competitor withing the price range up to several thousands PLN offering equally neutral sound. Its headphone amp is good enough not to look for any other, separate one. You'd have to look for some very serious competitors like Bakoon HPA-21, or Leben CS300 XS to get significantly better performance. Among cans I tried Mytek with the three best matches were: Sennheiser HD800, Beyerdynamik DT-990 Pro (600 Ω) and AKG K271 Studio. These offered most accurate, least colored sound, truly high-end sound.

During this test I fed Mytek with files from my HP Pavilion dv7 laptop with Win8, 8 GB RAM, 128 SSD + 520 HDD, JPLAY/foobar2000. Since I had some problems with playing DSD files I had to switch to different ASIO driver to play DSD64 and DSD128. But that resulted in incorrect information about this files being displayed by Mytek. I consulted this case with Marcin Ostapowicz of JPLAY, who remotely tried to solve the problem. I'd like to thank him for his commitment and I know that all users of JPlay can count on the same level of commitment from his side in case of any trouble. But even Marcin was unable to force my JPLAY to work with DSD via DoP. He told me that he had many customers owning Mytek DACs and he never faced similar problem before. Most likely my computer's configuration was here to be blamed. We will try to get to the bottom of this problem in a near future.

I compared this device directly to ASUS Xonar Essence STU. A reference system combined a Bakoon HPA-21 headphone amp together with a new D/A converter Reymio DAP-999EX Limited (review next month). I used USB Acoustic Revive USB-1.0PLS cable. During my assessment I used most of cans I have in my collection: Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro, Beyerdynamic DT-770 Limited Edition, Sennheiser HD800, HiFiMAN HE-6 and HE-300, AKG K701, AKG K271 Studio and AKG K3003. Power was delivered via Harmonix X-DC350M2R Improved-Version, and analogue connection was executed with Acoustic Revive RCA-1.0PA interconnects.

It is the second devices I tried a bit different approach concerning vibration control, using a platform and feet. I used a massive Acoustic Revive RST-38H platform (a smaller version could also be used, the TB-38H model), and I placed four Hickora Wood cubes on it – these came from Acoustic Revive and will be sold as HQ-4. Since Mytek is not too heavy Siltech Double Crown IC and Power Cable pulled it strongly to the back so I had to place a few heavy books on top of it. My test was mostly a comparison with my reference system but also with all-in-one Naim UnitiQute2. I used 2 minutes long music samples, but I listened also to whole albums.

A box holding Mytek inside is not too big and has a square shape, as the device itself also has a square shape. Stereo192-DSD DAC sports a flat casing made of steel plates. The aluminum front is quite simple, but its simplicity is what makes it looking very nice. Most of people should notice DSD logo right away. On the left side there is a volume control knob that controls volume on analogue outputs (including headphone output). It also helps to move around the quite complex menu. It allows you to chose one of filters, activate upsampler (in my opinion Mytek sound better without upsampling), decide in which way the volume control should work, how bright should display be, and so on. Apart from menu button there are also two others, and you can chose which functions will be assigned to them. I assigned to first of the phase switch, and mute function to the second. On the front there is also a headphone output for large jack (fi 6,3 mm), and a mechanical on/off switch. In the middle there is a blue LED display, which offers information on volume level and sampling frequency. There is no information on word length. The LED VU meters placed below main display shall be useful mostly in studios. If you don't like them you can simply switch them off.

The back panel offers you numerous possibilities. Mytek offers analogue and digital outputs. Lots of options when it comes to digital input too. For example there is a synchronous 1.1 USB input for signals up to 24/96, and the second one, 2.0, asynchronous for signal up to 32/192 and (SDIF) DSD, also DSD128. A special driver is required for USB 2.0 input. There are also different inputs: Toslink, RCA (S/PDIF), AES/EBU and FireWire. There are two analogue outputs – balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA. Power inlet is a classic IEC. There are also two BNC sockets – one for external master clock, other is an output to deliver „master” signal to external receiver. An interesting thing – Mytek advices against external master clocks, even atomic ones. That's not what Japanese audiophiles would like to hear, as most of them use external clocks from Esoteric, Phasemation, Zodiac, or some other brands. Mytek argues that a master clock placed in some distance from a circuit it „clocks” always introduces some jitter. Using external clock involves also using some cable, that also introduces some distortions of its own. Decision lays with user anyway.

Opening the casing shows you two different worlds closed in one space – an ultra-advanced, based on programmable chips digital module, and a classic, analogue output section. Both benefit from advance power supply with toroidal transformer. Each section sports its own voltage regulators and filtering capacitors.

Next to USB 1.1 input there is a small Texas Instruments TAS1020B chip. Interestingly enough all it would take for this input to work in asynchronous mode is a different software. Man behind this idea is Gordon Rankin of his own company Wavelength Audio (see HERE). But in this case it works with its primary software. Next to it there is another, large chip for the second USB input. AES/EBU input sports a transformer for impedance matching, and opto-isolation. RCA input does not sport any transformer. Regardless of which input is active signal goes to DSP chip – Xilinx Spartan, where, I assume, signal is processed. Next to it there is another, biggest chip – it's an Altera Cyclone III, FPGA chip – a pretty powerful tool. Another chip next to it is a TC Applied TechnologiesTCD2210, and it allows communication with FireWire input. If you though that upsampling is executed in any of those chips, you're wrong. It is in fact executed in a classic Analog Devices AD1896 chip, that changes any signal from inputs to 24 bit/192 kHz. There are also two, high quality oscillators. Mytek claims that these are a very low jitter clocks, with 10 ps rating. A third clock is placed next to D/A chip, a famous, 8-channel ESS Sabre one. It works in two-channel array. Analogue module sports some chips with their marking wiped off.

Headphone amplifier is described as: „high current, high slew rate, ultra low distortion, 500 mA headphone amplifier”.