Ferrum ERCO Gen 2 Balanced DAC & Headphone Amplifier

Improvements brought to you by ERCO Gen 2 The I/V converter stage has better overall performance and SERCE’s DSP engine provides oversampling using DDF preferred HQ Apodizing digital filter, which get the most out of the DAC chip almost emulating WANDLA performance.. Last but not least maximum resolution is now PCM 768 kHz and DSD 512. Proprietary Technology Industry leading technology is applied. All digital ports are optimised for audio, MQA decoding and rendering is optimised for use with internal ARM chip. Suited for high end personal audio Connect your favorite headphones to the balanced 4.4 mm jack or unbalanced 6.35 mm headphone jack outputs or powered loudspeakers on your desktop to the XLR or RCA outputs to perform to their max. Clearing the path for high end audio Perfect mix of flagship Ferrum technology combined with high grade in house developed Digital to Analog conversion. Choose from three digital and one analog input. Discrete/IC hybrid design Ultra-wideband ICs fine tuned for audio use to achieve the best possible analog quality. Enhanced transparency The whole design remains focussed on a balanced and very transparent sound signature, making listening fatigue something of the past. Truly Balanced The signal path is truly balanced from early D/A stage and becomes truly balanced using the RCA inputs. Ferrum Power Link ERCO performs very, very good right out of the box. But ERCO is made to excel above and beyond when used together with HYPSOS. We use what we dubbed our Ferrum Power Link (FPL in short) to connect the two. HYPSOS then will perform to its maximum, unleashing unheard musicality from the combination with ERCO. Highlights ERCO Gen 2 fully balanced headphone DAC/AMP Improved I/V converter Improved DSP engine Improved Digital Filter (HQ Apodizing) Improved max resolution (768 kHz / DSD 512) Proprietary IC power amp design Proprietary optimised-for-audio digital inputs Proprietary optimised MQA rendering and decoding for ARM chip Proprietary 4-pin Ferrum connector for HYPSOS Balanced 4.4 mm jack and unbalanced 6.35 mm jack headphone outputs Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA line outputs Technical Specifications Feature Details Headphone Output Gain Balanced: -5.8 dB, +6 dB, +17.8 dB; Single-ended: -11.8 dB, 0 dB, +11.8 dB Operation Fully balanced, proprietary IC power amp Power Inputs 5.5/2.5 mm DC connector center positive; Proprietary FPL 4-pin DC connector (FPL) Analog Inputs RCA (Red Book level 2V RMS recommended, PRO level supported) Digital Inputs USB-C (MQA, up to PCM 32-bit/768kHz, DSD512, DoP256); S/PDIF Coaxial (MQA, up to PCM 24-bit/192 kHz, DoP64); S/PDIF Optical (MQA, up to PCM 24-bit/96 kHz guaranteed, should work up to PCM 24-bit/192 kHz and DoP64 – depends on user’s optical cable and transmitter) DAC Chip ESS Sabre ES9028PRO PCM Sample Rates 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 / 352.8 / 384 / 705.6 / 768 kHz DSD Sample Rates 2.8224 / 3.072 / 5.6448 / 6.144 / 11.2896 / 12.288 / 22.5792 / 24.576 MHz DAC Resolution PCM up to 768k@32bit; DSD up to 512 (22.6 MHz / 24.6 MHz) MQA Decoder and Renderer (USB, OPTO, and COAX inputs) Headphone Jack Outputs Balanced 4.4 mm (TRRRS); Unbalanced 6.35 mm (TRS) Line Outputs Balanced XLR; Unbalanced RCA (Red Book level: 4V RMS balanced / 2V RMS unbalanced) Volume Control Analogue with bypass option (bypass for line outputs only) Frequency Response 10 Hz – 30 kHz (+/- 0.05 dB); 10 Hz – 200 kHz (+/- 1 dB) Output Power (Unbalanced) 300 mW into 300 Ω; 1.7 W into 50 Ω Output Power (Balanced) 1.2 W into 300 Ω; 6.1 W into 50 Ω THD on Balanced Output < 0.00018% / -115 dB, 1 mW into 16 Ω; < 0.00018% / -115 dB, 100 mW into 16 Ω THD on Unbalanced Output < 0.00032% / -110 dB, 1 mW into 16 Ω; < 0.00057% / -105 dB, 100 mW into 16 Ω Dynamic Range (Analog) 129 dB (A-weighted) Dynamic Range (Digital) 117 dB (A-weighted) Input Impedance 47 kΩ Output Impedance (Unbalanced) 22 Ω on pre-amp Output Impedance (Balanced) 44 Ω on pre-amp Output Impedance (Headphones) < 0.3 Ω Power Consumption Idle <15 W Power Adapter 100-240 VAC to 22-30 VDC Dimensions (W x D x H) 21.7 cm x 20.6 cm x 5 cm / 8.6” x 8.1” x 2.0” Weight 1.8 kg / 3.97 lbs