Hi everyone
Good evening / good morning everyone
Let me introduce you to the newest addition to my system , the
DENAFRIPS GAIA 15TH DDC
https://iem-world.com/ar/QdOYPWw
From the well-established company @denafrips
and the IEM WORLD store is their official distributor in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf
The unit is a DDC
which stands for :
Digital to Digital Converter
Simply put, this is the kind of device a lot of people hear about and think it’s something complicated …
but the idea is simpler than you’d expect.
In plain words and keeping it short :
It’s a device that takes the digital signal from your source,
like a computer or a streamer,
then rearranges it, cleans it up and sends it out in better shape to the DAC as a digital signal.
So it doesn’t convert the sound to analog,
it’s not a DAC,
and it’s not an amp.
Its main job is to be an organizing and improving link before the DAC.
It receives the data, organizes it, reduces the problems, then sends it to the DAC cleaner and more stable.
Now for the most important question :
As a user, what will this device do for me ? (I mean DDC devices in general)
Sometimes the digital signal is correct as far as the data goes, but its timing isn’t 100% perfect.
Let me sum up what it does :
First : cleaning the digital signal .
Second : reducing Jitter and dealing with it through Reclock
The first point I think is clear and doesn’t need explaining
= it removes any noise or interference in it
The second point :
I’ll try to explain it in a simple way that’s clear to any user :
Jitter is a small disturbance in the timing of the digital signal.
Meaning the data itself is there and correct,
but it doesn’t arrive with the precision and consistency it should.
Imagine a musician who’s actually playing the right notes,
but some of the beats come a little early or a little late.
He didn’t play anything wrong,
but the rhythm itself got less tight.
That’s exactly what Jitter means, in simple terms.
OK so how does the DDC deal with it?
One of the main methods it uses is something called:
Reclock
And the idea here is simple:
The device re-times the digital signal
relying on a more accurate and cleaner internal clock,
then sends it to the DAC more steadily.
It’s like it’s telling the signal:
Your data is fine
but let me sort out your exit timing, better and more precisely .
You can picture it like this:
You’ve got a line of regular people like me and you and you want them to walk in an orderly way,
there’s no way we’d all walk at the same speed and the same way, so our movement isn’t in sync.
Reclock is like the trainer who drills us so our walking
gets a steady rhythm, makes it more orderly and we end up marching like we’re in a military parade .
So what’s the end benefit?
The fewer the timing problems,
the cleaner and more stable the signal reaches the DAC,
and that gives it a better chance to perform at its best.
And in some systems this can show up as:
better clarity,
a cleaner background,
stronger cohesion,
and more of a sense of order and smoothness.
Does every system need a DDC?
Simply put ,, no
In some systems the difference is clear,
in some the difference is small,
and some don’t need a device like this at all.
But in revealing systems,
an excellent streamer + an excellent DAC + a preamp + an amp and most importantly an excellent music source
that’s where this kind of device really starts to show its value.
My story with DDC devices
It started with a unit called Matrix Audio, I think the second version
back then my system was basic with nothing complicated in it
and it made no difference at all
After that I tried the Holo Audio Red
and same thing
I didn’t feel it did anything
I put the whole idea of these devices out of my head
But three months ago I had a DAC
LAiV Harmony DAC
I used it for about a month
and the owner, God bless him, sent me
a unit from the same company, the uDDC
And this is where the clear jump in performance happened once I connected it before the DAC
I went back and tried it on my R26 and the Ares 15th and it gave me a jump for the better
I said that’s it, it’s official, I need to have a unit like this
and luckily I didn’t have to search much
one of my friends had been looking for a high-end DDC
for a while because his system, mashallah, is on another level
he told me about the Gaia 15TH
and that it’s one of the best options he found, if not the best
I talked to the company about it and got it through a special offer from them
partly so I’d have a unit in this class and partly so my friend could try it before buying
and thank God he tried it for a short time, liked it and bought it
and the unit is available for some of my customers to try , sorry I can’t offer a trial to everyone
And thank God I got it, because it made a difference in performance for me in several areas :
– Sound clarity
– Imaging : one of the clearest differences for me, its precision went up in a way I didn’t expect
– Stage depth
– A quiet background = a scary black background
– I was able to use an AES cable with it
Tips for anyone thinking of buying the Gaia 15th
– The unit needs at least 150 hours of burn-in
– Never turn the unit off, because the type of clock they use in it depends on constant high temperature .
– If you turn it off for, say, an hour you’ll have to switch it on and wait around 15 hours for it to give you its ideal performance again .
– The unit comes without a power cable so pick an excellent one made for digital gear = meaning the shielding is 100%
– I recommend doing the data input and output through AES
– The unit weighs 8 kilos, heaaaaaaavy, you need a rack or a table that can handle the weight
OK now another very important point:
What sets the
DENAFRIPS GAIA 15TH
apart from the rest ?
2 linear power supplies 80W
using the purest copper on the face of the earth
UP-OCC Copper
and as far as I know it’s the only unit that does this (I’m not 100% sure)
= meaning the cleanest power possible
Even down to how much the company cares about the smallest details
they’re using a power inlet from FURUTECH
the Japanese company – (the best-known company focused on power in audio, and it’s classed among the high-end companies)
I’ve never seen a company put it in their gear before
One of the most important things is the internal clock it uses,
which is an OCXO type.
Simply put, it’s a very high precision clock, and its job is to set the timing of the digital signal more steadily and stably before it goes to the DAC
And the advantage here isn’t just the clock on its own,
it’s that the whole unit is built around it:
FPGA Processing
+
Reclocking
+
FIFO Buffer
+
electrical isolation
+
a very strong linear power supply.
So the idea isn’t just “cleaning up USB” like some basic DDC devices,
no
here you’ve got a Flagship unit
whose goal is to rebuild the digital signal in a more serious and more precise way .
A wide range of inputs and outputs
And that brings us to the end of the article
I hope I managed to explain this unit’s features clearly
Best regards ..
Naif
Comments