DENAFRIPS Ares II User Manual

COPYRIGHT © DENAFRIPS
COPYRIGHT © VINSHINE AUDIO 1
1. INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing DENAFRIPS products! The Ares II DAC is a 20Bit discrete resistor
ladder Digital to Analog Converter, also known as R-2R DAC.
The Ares II is built to reproduce digital music in this modern era. The use of advanced
hardware design, powerful digital processing technology, combined with the recording
technology, digital music playback technology experience, to achieve the perfect music
playback goals and accurate music expression.
The architecture uses the most primitive R-2R DAC technology, it is probably the most
suitable architecture to reproduce music. Despite the test results of various measurements
and parameters of the conventional R-2R DAC are usually not as good as the mainstream
integrated DAC chip, but the sound of R-2R DAC, is often filled with emotion, relax, high
resolution, and additive musicality that most of the common mainstream integrated DAC
chip cannot match.
To achieve a decent sounding R-2R DAC, the use of ultra-precise resistors is necessary. The
cost of high precision resistors is expensive, each resistor must be stringently measured and
matched by machine with human intervention to cross-check. These results in a very high
cost in the manufacturing process, hence, R-2R DAC is also a symbol of high-end DAC.
The Ares II employs true balance R-2R DAC design. Each channel is decoded by 4 sets of R-2R
network. This design has very small linear error, high decoding speed, low digital noise, not
only to ensure that the audio signal is low distortion, but also to ensure a very low
background music noise; allow listener to enjoy the true music with dark background.

DENAFRIPS Ares II Specifications

General

Brand	DENAFRIPS
Model	Ares II
Category	Media Converter
Language	English

Summary

Introduction to the DENAFRIPS Ares II DAC

DENAFRIPS Ares II Design Highlights

All New USB Audio Solution

Proprietary USB Audio Solution via STM32F446 AMR Based MCU supporting high-end DAC use.

Proprietary SPDIF Digital Audio Receiver

SPDIF Coaxial, TOSLink input support up to 24bit/192kHz, decoded by on-board FPGA.

Adaptive FIFO Memory Cache Architecture

Adaptive FIFO technology transfers audio data to high-speed RAM buffer for R2R DAC conversion.

NOS/OS Sampling Mode

Allows users to change sampling mode on the fly; NOS bypasses oversampling.

R-2R and DSD Decoding Architecture

20Bit R-2R DAC for PCM and 32 steps FIR filters for DSD hardware decoding.

Installation and Setup Guide

Front Panel Controls

Details on Standby Button, LEDs, Input Selection buttons, and Phase Button functions.

Mute Button and Indicator

Press button to enable/disable Mute; Mute LED blinks when active.

Input Sampling Rate Indicators

Table illustrating Input Sampling Rate LED status for PCM and DSD formats.

NOS/OS Mode Selection Procedure

Procedure to select NOS or OS mode using Mute and OPT1 buttons.

Filter Selection Procedure

Procedure to select Slow or Sharp filter using Mute and OPT2 buttons.

Rear Panel Connections

AC Power Supply and Inputs

Details on AC Power Supply connection and Digital Audio Signal Inputs.

Analog Audio Signal Output

Description of balanced XLR and single-ended RCA outputs.

Technical Specifications

Warranty and Support Information