"Can this really be digital?"
Ideon push the boundaries of digital design to the point where you question everything you thought you knew about the recorded arts
About the Eos DAC
The Eos DAC contains all the Ideon DNA and the essence of the Absolute Epsilon DAC at a lower cost. All the elements are there such as the eight chanel DAC decoding, the femto clock generators and Ideon's 'triple distilled' USB topology. Power supplies are of course ultra quiet linear designs with multi-stage regulation at key points. And it has native support and playback for all DSD and PCM formats/frequency rates.
As a DAC proposition for a clever system upgrade, the Eos may be at the Ideon VFM sweetspot. Replacing a more conventional DAC with the Eos as a stand alone machine will bring imediate and significant improvements, but the opportunities to add the Eos Time and the Eos Stream is a route to substantial digital performance. The Eos stack, through it's coherent end-to-end architecture of clocking quality, power supply quality and superb overall attention to detail really is a force to be reckoned with.
Specifications
SUPPORTED FORMATS (INPUT DEPENDENT) 44.1kHz to 384kHz PCM up to 32 bits , Native DSD (up to 8X DSD)
DIGITAL INPUTS 3x Advanced isolated input module slots (USB, BNC, RCA)
XLR BALANCED OUTPUTS5.2 Vrms at 0dB
RCA OUTPUTS 2.6 Vrms at 0dB
THD (A WEIGHTED 20HZ-20KHZ)< – 110dB on all outputs
CHANNEL SEPARATION>124dB on all outputs
SNR (A WEIGHTED 20HZ-20KHZ)>120dB on all outputs
DYNAMIC RANGE 20HZ TO 20KHZ 132 dB (FS) . 130 dB (AFS)
DISPLAY Custom matrix LED display
DIMENSIONS (W X H X D)460 x 295 x 110 mm ( (18.1 x 11.5 x 2.9 in)
WEIGHT10kg (~22 lbs)
Tech Insight
All of the Ideon DACs employ in-house designed analog output stages. They use a symmetrical ultra-low noise power supply and very high quality components. In the Eos DAC, the analogue stage is fed by a high-current quad output directly from the DAC processor and this enables a simple output stage without much gain requirement to buffer and set the impedance of the final analogue outputs. This approach results in a very fast and fluid sounding presentation that is extremely transparent.
Matching & Setup
So lets say the scenario is that you are purchasing an Eos DAC on it's own as a replacement/upgrade of a more modest DAC, then you would first naturally check that all the digital formats meet your requirements and that you have proper space and good cabling to hook it up. Check that your upstrem digital source is as well setup as it can be. Then for the rest of your system it is worth a house-cleaning, and when the new Eos is in you should allow ample burn-in and also tweak speaker placement. Dynamics and bandwith are likely significantly increased with the Eos so be prepared to do some experimentation. Keep in mind also, that probably compared to your old DAC, the Eos is inherently very low distortion so treble will be smoother and your previous speaker placement may have been counterbalancing an over-bright treble – re-adjust the toe-in perhaps and you will find a far more rewarding treble balance with considerably improved detail and refinement.