“The MERASON Frérot D / A converter is actually a little brother in terms of appearance. Daniel Frauchiger could not have chosen the name of his latest work more appropriately. With a volume of 22.5cm x 5cm x 18cm (W x H x D), it has half the HiFi guard size in width, a quarter of the area in the front and an eighth in volume. So it can also be found in smaller niches in the living, working or leisure room. The housing is powder-coated, the base plate is made of 3 mm thick aluminum and the cover is made of galvanized sheet steel. The heat from the analog Class-A output section is also dissipated via the base plate. During operation, the device heats up by approx. 15 degrees Celsius compared to the ambient temperature.
And that, by the way, delights the friends of local manufacturers: The handy device is assembled at the place where it was developed - in the idyllic village of Bangerten near the Emmental.
The connection for the cable of the enclosed 9-volt power supply unit is located on the back of the Frérot. Right next to it the power toggle switch. From the 9 volts, two times 5 volts are generated internally for the digital logic and the digital converter section and +/- 12 volts for the analog section. The +/- 12 volts are generated using switching technology. The five-pin XLR socket labeled 'Alt Power' on the rear panel announces a future expansion stage: an external power supply unit. It should be available in a few months. Designed as a linear power supply, it can supply the analog stage directly with 12-volt voltage. Daniel Frauchiger promises a sound improvement through the more elaborate structure, which cannot be achieved by simply upgrading the 9-volt power supply.
The well-considered structure of the device circuit board forms the solid basis for good sound. The board consists of six layers: two for the power supply, two for interference immunity and two for signal routing. The direct current component in the output signal is regulated using a novel process so that the output capacitors in the signal path can be omitted. This is to avoid audible artifacts.
The Frérot receives digital signals via a USB, two RCA sockets for S / PDIF signals and two optical Toslink connections. Can be selected via a federal Elma rotary coding switch on the front. As with its big brother DAC-1, the digital signals go to a tried and tested BurrBrown 1794A converter. The DAC-1 works with two of these chips in mono mode. The little brother is content with a single 1794A in stereo mode. The MERASON Frérot only processes PCM data up to 24 bit / 192 kHz.
The signal continues on the board of the D / A converter to the discrete analog class A output amplifier. The signal processing in the Frérot is symmetrical throughout. The output of the analog output signal for further processing occurs symmetrically via XLR sockets and asymmetrically via RCA sockets. The output voltage is 2 volts (4 volts rms). This means that the Frérot plays 2dB louder than sources with 1.5V voltage, which the listener notices when switching directly.
The Frérot gives the music swing and structure that is a joy…the orchestra attains a deliberately noticeable dominance over the solo instrument, which the MERASON Frérot reproduces in beautiful space and timbres. For me, the end point is the traditional “Poul sine Höns”. Cheeky the recorder in dialogue with the plucked instrument, sometimes played low, sometimes high. The Danish flautist Michala Petri and the Swiss D / A converter Frérot happily let me go into the evening. You have cheered me up with your musicality and naturalness.”
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