The starting point is simple, and based in basic human physiology: Our hearing is far more similar to “analog” than “digital.” It is our capacity to hear nuanced, blended, “natural” sound that carries the unique audio signature of every voice, every emotion, and each and every note of music. It’s the reason we invest so much energy and care in perfecting audio technology needed to play recorded music with life-like fidelity.
PBN knows to achieve this subtle but real sense of “presence” requires an Digital/Analog Converter that masters not only the technical management of the binary coding at the heart of all digital recordings, but the challenging task of eliminating the jitter and distortion inherent in even high-end electronics. The Olympia DX CPS-D draws vibrant life from the original audio signal, opening up the full depth of shading, texture, and finely-detailed timbre waiting to be unleashed in the finest recordings.
The Olympia DX CPS-D builds on two technologies that are the pinnacle of audio engineering: A fully differential HB-DAC1704 (v.2.0) Digital to Analog Converter with four of the legendary BB 1704 K Grade DAC feeding our proprietary ALL-FET I/V Converter, second order analog 100Khz Bessel filter and common mode rejection output buffer, in that order.
All too often in high end DAC’s the designers devote all their efforts designing the digital element of the DAC, leaving the ever-so-important analog part as an afterthought. It is the equal attention given to the analog component that sets the PBN gold standard. The warmth, subtlety and life-like timbre desired by all audiophiles is now proved in your hearing.
The Olympia DX is supported with a stand-alone power supply, the CPS-D, which is designed to provide the maximum clean-filtered DC power to the analog element of the DAC, as well as separately regulated DC supplies for the digital element of the DAC.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
■ All-FET circuit design with external CPS-D power supply (375VA transformer)
■ High-capacity energy storage -- 80k uF filter capacitance
■ Eight heavy-duty filtering chocks for extremely precise and clean current supply
■ Five Digital inputs (Three useable at any time) RCA or Balanced, 75 Ohm BNC or Balanced and USB (2MHz) capable of 24Bit/96KHz
■ Filtered and buffered output balanced and RCA
■ Un-filtered and non-buffered output (taken from output of I/V Converter) Balanced and RCA
■ Unit features targeted use of Caddock™ Resistors
■ DAC: 19"W x 4.5"H x 15"D Power Supply: 9.5"W x 4.5"H x 15"D