Top dog in a range of just two outboard DACs from Swiss brand Merason, the DAC1 is a modern-day example of 'less is more' audiophile thinking. We lift the lid and investigate
In common with a lot of HFN readers, I have a bit of a 'thing' about overly complex digital devices. I'm not referring to input flexibility – many of us will have systems in which different flavours of digital connection are accommodated, from USB links from a computer to good old S/PDIF from a CD player or the like. No, what I really find obstructive is devices bristling with digital-domain options, from filters to dither to PLL bandwidth and the like, all of which often look like an exercise in 'because we can' – a facilities arms-race – rather than being of any real-world assistance to the user.
I've found myself railing against such over-provision, suggesting that buyers will be tempted to spend too much time fiddling, to the detriment of, well, you know, actually listening to the music. By contrast, there's absolutely no such problem with the Merason DAC1 we have here. This £4195 converter, available in a choice of black or white fascia finishes (with chromium nickel steel available at a slightly startling £2400 premium), is designed as a simple, straight-down-the-line unit. You plug in a digital source, connect the output to your amplifier or preamp via unbalanced RCAs or balanced XLRs, and you're done.
Beat The Clock
That's not to say that care hasn't been taken in the build of the unit. Located in Worb, a short distance east of Bern, manufacturer Niedal Audio Lab makes great play of the Swissness of its products, from the precision of the build to the accuracy of the crystal clock, and while the Merason DAC1 doesn't exactly boast bank-vault heft at just 8kg (the optional stainless steel front slab upping that by 3kg), it feels solidly put together and beautifully finished, as one might expect at the price.
The simplicity is a conscious decision, the company taking a stand against the complexity and what it sees as pandering to fashion found elsewhere in this market sector. Eschewing the ultra-high sampling rate capability of many rivals, and the likes of DSD and MQA, the DAC1 is designed purely for PCM-based files, from 44.1kHz/16-bit up to 192kHz/24-bit. It says that the idea 'was not to build a unit to enable the adoption of multiple, new formats using new-to-market technologies'. It continues, 'rather, the goal is to take proven concepts and components, that are assembled with care and attention', adding that the DAC1 is designed as 'one that allows the music to shine brighter than over-inflated specification sheets'.
Admittedly that stance may dissuade as many potential buyers as it encourages – I'm not sure I'd now buy a DAC unable to play my collection of DSD files in native form (rather than crunching them down through a PCM-sized 'hole') – but it does allow the company to keep the construction of the DAC1 simple and direct, optimising the circuitry for its singular task rather than having to make concessions to flexibility.
Silver Service
Editor PM examines the digital workings in more depth but in essence the DAC1 uses a pair of Burr-Brown/TI PCM1794A converters in differential mode. Downstream of this is a proprietary stage that converts the DACs' current output to a voltage that feeds a Class A buffer and low-pass filtering. Choice passive components include silver mica capacitors.
Meanwhile, the signal path is fully balanced from the output of the DACs to the output stage of the unit, and uses symmetrical L/R signal paths, with foil capacitors to protect against DC at the output. The designers also say that 'great attention has been paid to the layout of the motherboard so that an extraordinarily high signal-to-noise ratio could be achieved', the specification claiming this as greater than 120dB.
As you might expect from its brief, the DAC1 is easy to set up and use: one button on the front panel powers it on and off, while the other selects between the optical, coaxial, AES/EBU and USB inputs. The latter may, at some point, mutate into an I2S input, but I'm not sure about the wisdom of this. Yes, there may be a growing number of digital devices employing I2S, but surely for most users a simple USB-B 2.0 port is of more use?
Indicators for the various inputs are provided on the front panel, along with a 'lock' lamp and one to show a USB link is connected, but that's about your lot.
While the limited range of files the DAC1 can handle may matter to some – anyone frequenting the NativeDSD store for instance – for many it will be no limitation, and in some ways the very simplicity of this unit will be a plus-point in a still-evolving world of digital music. One can buy an all-in-one network-connected DAC, needing only to be hooked into the home Internet feed and then controlled by an app on smartphone or tablet. However, unless you buy a device with plenty of upgradability built-in, there's always that worry that the arrival of the Next Big Thing in streaming will leave you high and dry.
Smooth Talker
Opt for a dedicated DAC, connecting to it via either a (relatively) inexpensive streaming bridge such as Pro-Ject's Stream Box S2 Ultra [HFN Oct '18], a laptop running suitable software or even one of the many variations on the Raspberry Pi/Asus Tinkerboard/Intel NUC theme, and you are effectively future-proofed. And that's (almost) how I chose to test the DAC1. Admittedly I did feed it from the digital output of a couple of conventional network music players, but mainly it was used fed from one of my Mac computers, on the end of the little Pro-Ject box or via the USB output of the Intel mini-computer I use to run my Roon Core.
What was immediately apparent was that this DAC has a sound that's both best described as 'characterful' and agnostic when it comes to the way digits are delivered to it. Whether fed via S/PDIF connections or USB using a variety of forms of playback software, the DAC1 remained entirely consistent, presenting music in a way not always as hyper-detailed as some DACs can manage, but warm, rich and smooth without submerging what's being played in excessive lushness.
Real Delicacy
The DAC1 could be considered as the 'antidote to digital'. That said, I wouldn't describe it as sounding 'analogue', as that gets into far too many sweeping generalisations regarding the 'sound' of analogue and digital. Instead, I think 'organic' just about covers it, this DAC dispelling any thoughts of the mechanisms behind what's being heard, and instead throwing all the listener's concentration on the music. And even better, it pulls off the same trick with almost any style of music one chooses to play.
Ella Fitzgerald – The Complete Piano Duets compilation [Verve 00602508525803] is a glorious chronological survey of the singer's voice from early sessions with Ellis Larkins to her 1970s recordings with Oscar Peterson, and Merason's DAC1 affords the opportunity to revel in her glorious intonation, diction and phrasing, delivered with both force and delicacy. It's an enchanting sound, with weight in Fitzgerald's lower registers juxtaposed against a featherlight sweetness in the upper, and the effect is entirely captivating.
Hold Your Horses
Come bang up to date with the jazz and blues-infused Lake Street Dive album, Obviously [Nonesuch 075597919585; 48kHz/24-bit], and the DAC1 handles with ease another remarkable voice. In this instance it allowed the vocals of Rachael Price to soar above the beautifully judged playing of the rest of the band on the opening 'Hypotheticals', with its driving beat and tight, clean bassline, while the torchy 'Anymore' retained a wonderful glow about it.
Don't for a moment think that these compelling qualities are only reserved for deliciously recorded tracks, 'audiophile' or otherwise. All that warmth and generosity is still in evidence almost regardless of source or genre. So the DAC1 handles just as well the looser sound of Patti Smith's 2005 Royal Festival Hall take on her Horses album [from Sony/BMG 88697352452], delivering with conviction the rawness and spontaneity of the live performance. And with the murky 'wall of sound' production of Alice Cooper's Detroit Stories set [Ear Music 0215653EMU], the big, powerful bass is a delight, as is the drawl and slur of the lead vocal, showing that this DAC can rock with the best of them.
Some might want for more snarl and bite, even if that was at the cost of a brash or brittle sound, but the Merason DAC1 instead keeps its music big, grown-up and really rather magnificent. Switch to the powerful percussion of drummer Dave Smith's Live At The Vortex 11.11.17 EP [Bandcamp download] and there's no doubting the punch or definition the DAC1 can deliver with this improvised set from the London Jazz Festival.
Similarly, this combination of weight and resolution is just as apparent with large scale orchestral music, such as the beautifully light-of-touch Budapest Festival Orchestra/Iván Fischer recording of Dvorák's Suite In A major [from Channel Classics CCSSA30010] in which the full orchestral weight is deployed deftly and with precision. Indeed, whatever I played, within the 192kHz remit of the DAC1's universe, it never sounded less than passionately committed.
Hi-Fi News Verdict
The richness of the sound won't be to every taste, but it's never cloying or overplayed: instead, Merason's DAC1 backs up its smoothness with power and unforced detail to consistently appealing musical effect. True, the limited format handling may rule the DAC1 out for some – it takes a stand against digital expansionism! – but its singularity of purpose pays off in a sound as appealing as it is easy to enjoy.
Full review can be found here