Daniel Frauchiger has years of experience in the fields of acoustics, entertainment electronics, home automation, project management and IT. His backpack is optimally filled for a successful business activity and a large portion of passion for the high-end audio thing gives him the necessary drive in the daily challenge as an independent manager.

The company dafraud GmbH, founded in 2013, sells “audiophile products for quality-conscious music lovers”, according to the website merason.ch . «Dafraud» is an artificial name: It is a combination of the first and last name Daniel Frauchiger, the founder and owner. Sales and production are separated insofar as production takes place in the separately operating company Niedal Audio Lab. Niedal Audio Lab, how could it be otherwise, also belongs to Daniel Frauchiger.

Merason is the dafraud house brand. The DAC1 was the first product that emerged from the company's founder's intense audio hobby and has been on the market since 2015. Last year, the Frérot, the second Merason product, saw the audio world! By the way, Frérot means little brother or brother's heart.

Daniel - how did you get into making digital-to-analog converters (DAC)?

I was an analog, vinyl and tape fan from the start. Not out of conviction, but because it sounded better. I have learned to live with the disadvantages of vinyl: with the crackling, the maintenance, etc. In 2010 I began to be interested in the topic of digital and got a professional device from a Bern dealer. However, I was dissatisfied with the sound quality offered and took it back to the dealer. Then I got another, more expensive American product, with which I could hear music reasonably satisfied.

Compared to vinyl, however, the digital devices still lacked charm. Nevertheless, I had the impression that I could make something out of it that met my requirements. I also found the then high prices for the DA converters in the order of CHF 10,000 exorbitant. I had already invested a lot of time and money in my analog setup. Nevertheless, I was aware of the advantages of digital technology and began to research the Internet - and found a large “digital converter community”. There were kits, schemes, recommendations and also a lot of nonsense. In any case, I then ordered three kits.

Two of them were okay, but the third kit from Hong Kong really impressed me. You can make something good-sounding out of this, I thought to myself and contacted the supplier. After a few months of negotiation, the supplier agreed to set up a full-fledged DAC with me. I was able to incorporate my recommendations regarding the circuit layout and the components used into the production. The DAC was ready after two years and then saw the light of day as the Merason DAC1.

How do you become a manufacturer in the audio sector?

On the advice of the career advisor, I first studied electrical engineering, which I didn't like and switched to economics with a specialization in computer science, which has since proven to be valuable. I then worked in the private sector in a management consultancy and constructed loudspeakers in my free time and then later the DAC.

In 2013 I founded dafraud GmbH to sell the DAC1 and looked for my way into self-employment. Four years later I received a start-up loan and coaching from the Bern Economic Development Agency to set up my production company, Niedal Audio Lab. My goal was and is to supply other audio manufacturers as an OEM producer.

The DAC module of the Frérot emerged from the “OEM product” from Niedal Audio Lab, actually a show product for the DAC module from Niedal Audio Lab. Our strategy is to use the Frérot DAC to make the brand known and to win over other audio companies as customers. This is the shortest path for us to become profitable. In addition, it is a pleasure to produce a good and inexpensive device for many music lovers!

DAC1 and Frérot

The Merason DAC1 is a recognized good DAC and has received many good reviews. How much of the DAC1 is in the Frérot?

You can't say that easily. The DAC1 is located above the Frérot in all respects. Larger differences can be found in the power supply, the components and the housing.

Are there any similarities between the DAC1 and the Frérot?

Yes, very well. We use the same DAC chip, the TDA1794A. In addition, the signal path is consistently symmetrical. This was obvious because the converter chip has a symmetrical output. For this purpose, the analog output section of both DACs is discreet, although there are also good integrated circuits on the market. It was important for me to pay attention to very low-noise resistances. It shouldn't be the extremely expensive ones, but those that are ideally suited for use in a DAC. The resistors are of the same quality in both models.

Where does the good sound come from in a DAC?

There are many factors. Similar to an amplifier, the classic elements such as power supply unit, circuit design and layout as well as the general component quality - plus of course the DAC used, are responsible for this. There are actually no secrets, it is the sum of all elements that make a good DAC.

Is a low digital noise floor also an issue?

Yes, but we have a 24-bit resolution and this determines the quantization noise of the DAC. We take the signal as it comes and pass it on unchanged to the converter chip. We don't upsampling. We had bad experiences with upsampling. Extrapolating everything to a sampling rate brings various disadvantages from our point of view. The TDA1794A in the DAC1 and in the Frérot is a hybrid between R2R and oversampling. This chip has been on the market for around ten years now, but it meets all of our requirements for a DA chip.

Many manufacturers use older DAC chips. What makes the older chips so interesting compared to the new DAC chips?

In a modern DA chip, contrary to the older converters, several converters are usually connected in parallel, which increases the dynamic range. We do something similar in our DAC1. He has installed two TDA 1794A. With this we can also increase the dynamic range by 5 dB. More modern DAC chips have up to 16 converters running in parallel. In this way, the dynamic range is massively increased again. The question is, what else is this supposed to achieve? We are convinced of the Burr-Brown converter, but other DAC chip manufacturers such as Saber and AKM also have interesting products. The Saber DACs usually compete fantastic.

The Saber chips are said to have a high resolution, but a somewhat artificial, technical sound. The converters with older DAC chips tend to sound softer, more analog, but also less detailed. Would you support this statement?

So our DAC1 is certified by all critics and testers a high resolution. I am happy to provide avguide.ch with a DAC1 for testing.

TDA1541: This old DAC chip has a huge fan base. Certain manufacturers are hoarding this cult chip - and prices are skyrocketing!

The TDA1541 is an R2R DAC and not a Delta-Sigma DAC. The TDA 1541 manufactured by Philips has its charm, although it still runs with 14 bits. I compare that to the eternal discussion of “tube versus transistor amplifiers”. Tube fans also certify that transistor amplifiers have a certain hardness, while transistor fans attribute a certain degree of uncleanliness or discoloration to the tubes. R2R is actually the more natural construction solution, but it certainly also has its challenges. The Delta Sigma DACs are more economical for this. The Delta-Sigma-DAC is not quite as precise, but the R2R doesn't have that high resolution either. I actually find the R2R more sympathetic! By the way, there are also modern R2R manufacturers: AKM should also have a new R2R in the pipeline.

How important is power supply to DAC sound quality?

A plug-in power supply is included with the Frérot. With this power supply we feed the 9V voltage of the digital part and then increase it internally to 12V for the discrete analog part. A higher quality, linear power supply is in the construction phase. We will offer this at a later date. This means that the supply of the digital and analog parts will be separated. The feedback from Frérot owners who have already experimented with prototypes of the linear power supply is encouraging.

We missed the volume control on the Frérot DAC!

Volume control in our DACs has been an issue for a long time, but it is still a major challenge. So far we have not found a sound that is satisfactory in terms of sound and that can be reasonably produced. For a digital volume control you have to up-sample in order not to have any loss of quality. And I do not want that. Analog volume control variants can of course be made with a potentiometer, but the perfect solution would actually be a transformer control. However, this is extremely complex and expensive in terms of material technology.

Development and production

Is the Frérot DAC entirely manufactured in Switzerland?

Yes, we only produce in Worb in the canton of Bern and even assemble the prints ourselves. This step, which was challenging at the beginning - operationally and financially - has paid off and I have not regretted it.

As a rule, manufacturers take the opposite approach. Design in the west, production in the east.

The current model works in theory, but has completely different challenges. Distance and cultural differences are just some of the problems. In addition, these OEM manufacturers want large quantities. Production should be monitored on site to ensure quality. Only large companies are really successful in mastering these challenges.

But we also explicitly rely on the Swiss Made factor. Development and production in Switzerland - that is, "Made in Switzerland" - is also valued abroad.

The current crisis has generally generated good sales for Swiss audio and video retailers.

I share this view. We feel this strongly and are now producing practically non-stop! So we have no reason to complain!

Are there any plans for other Merason product categories?

I can't comment on that at the moment, but I still have a few ideas. In two to three years we could come up with something new. We're probably not going into the streaming area, because the development effort is too great. At most we would cooperate with one manufacturer.