World Class Studio Performance - Weiss 501 and 502 Digital to Analogue Converters

 

We are very happy to announce we are carrying Weiss world class DAC’s at Audio Two. Being Roon Ready and the performance this brings is a game changer. It becomes a high end player and DAC…

The names of Daniel Weiss and his company Weiss Engineering may be somewhat unfamiliar to audiophiles in North America, but in the pro world, the company has provided state of the art digital processors to recording and mastering studios since 1985. Early users of Weiss converters included the Harmonia Mundi and Sony Classical labels, both renowned for their technical prowess and the excellence of their recordings.

Since 2000, Weiss has manufactured digital audio products for the high-end consumer market. Their first products were a DAC and a CD transport; since then, a full range of converters and interfaces have been marketed.

All Weiss products, both pro and consumer, are built to the highest standards of construction and performance. The current line of Weiss consumer products is led by the DAC501 and DAC502. The two DACs share the same architecture and performance, and differ primarily in form-factor: the DAC501 is in a compact enclosure, enabling flexible placement in both desktop and standard systems; the DAC502, shown below, is in a standard, full-sized enclosure, and adds a 4-pin balanced headphone jack on the rear of the unit.

Weiss products are precision-built in Switzerland to the most rigorous professional standards, designed to deliver flawless performance over years of constant use. In addition to their expertise in digital conversion, Weiss is a leader in DSP, featured in many of their products.

The DAC501 and DAC502 share the same circuitry and componentry, and differ primarily in form-factor: the DAC501 is a compact, half-width unit, allowing placement flexibility in desktop and studio applications, as well as in home systems of any size. The DAC502 features a standard, full-width chassis; it also differs from the DAC501 by including a four-pin balanced headphone connector on the back of the enclosure.

Both units incorporate a stainless steel chassis with a robust 10mm aluminum faceplate. Digital processing is performed by a pair of 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC chips per channel, providing superb channel separation and noise-rejection. An internal high-precision clock generator clocks the DACs at a frequency of about 195kHz; PCM signals up to 384 kHz and DSD x64 and x128 are reclocked to 195kHz. Power supplies are linear, incorporating dual toroidal transformers and separate regulators for each channel, minimizing noise and crosstalk.

There are five digital inputs: AES/EBU or S/PDIF via XLR, Toslink, or RCA; UPnP/DLNA via Ethernet; and USB. Outputs are by balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA; both units have front panel ¼” headphone jacks, and the DAC502 has an additional 4-pin XLR output on its back panel. Line and headphone outputs are separate, and discrete.

With their touch screen display both units are extremely intuitive and easy to set up and easy to use. Both can also be controlled by the provided full-function remote control, or by a web interface. Both units are networkable and Roon Ready and available in black or silver finish.