ASUS Unveils Essence One MKII DAC Series

USB digital-to-analog converter with Direct Stream Digital 64, fully-balanced headphone amplifier for up to 600ohm-impedance headphones and 8X symmetrical upsampling

ASUS today announced the Essence One MKII USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC) series, with support for the latest Direct-Stream Digital 64 (DSD64) audio purity, a fully-balanced headphone amplifier optimized for 16 to 600ohm-impedance headphones and offering eight-times (8X) symmetrical upsampling.

The latest evolution of the Essence One DAC series — winner of the CES 2012 Innovations Design and Engineering Award and twice recipient of awards from Japan’s prestigious Visual Grand Prix — adds more great features to deliver the profound musicality that is the goal of both the Essence audio team and all committed audiophiles.

In addition to support for the latest DSD standard for audio reproduction that’s true to the original, Essence One MKII series DACs include a dedicated gain jumper to drive low-impedance in-ear monitor (IEM) headphones and sport a refined new look.

Available in two models — Essence One MKII and Essence One MKII MUSES Edition — the latest Essence One MKII series DACs are engineered with a true balanced design for ultra-high-fidelity sound, an exquisite headphone amplifier with dual Texas Instruments LME49600 and 8X symmetrical upsampling for high-resolution, jitter-free audio.

Audio that’s true to the original

Essence One MKII series DACs stay true to the source audio, with support for 2.8MHz DSD through DSD over pulse-code modulation (PCM), known as DoP. DSD 2.8MHz format delivers 64 times (64X) the sampling rate of traditional compact disc (CD) recordings for audio playback at a resolution that is orders of magnitude higher.

In addition, the new Essence One MKII DACs offer 8X upsampling to preserve the finest details of the original audio and improve the output quality still further. Essence One MKII DACs employ symmetrical upsampling to improve 44.1/88.2 /176.4kHz input sources to 352.8kHz@32Bit and 48/96/192kHz sources all the way up to 384kHz@32Bit, while eliminating the jitter associated with asymmetrical upsampling.

Essence One MKII DACs also support native Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) 2.2 drivers, which enables the digital signals to bypass Windows’ audio layers to avoid redundant processing — and that means bit-perfect audio output.

Exquisite headphone amplifier and fully-balanced design for a remarkable listening experience

The amplifier built in to the Essence One MKII DACs is engineered to drive both 600ohm-impedance headphones and 16ohm-impedance IEMs, thanks to the inclusion of a dedicated gain jumper. The result is an exquisite headphone amplifier that delivers remarkable listening experiences for all output preferences.

Output connections include a single 6.3mm jack connection, stereo RCA (phono) and a pair of mini-XLR jacks for the best possible signal clarity and minimal interference — perfect for those who demand the finest headphone control. Inputs can be made digitally via USB, Toslink or coaxial cables.

Essence One MKII DACs’ ultra-high-fidelity audio output and 120dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is aided by a true balanced design that draws on dual Texas Instruments PCM1795 DACs. The DACs are also equipped with a linear power supply with a toroidal transformer to provide clean and consistent power that keeps noise contamination to a minimum. German-made WIMA® FKP 2 and FKS 2 film capacitors reduce ripples to deliver warm, rich sounds.

Profound musicality with MUSES 01 op-amps

The Essence One MKII features 11 swappable operational amplifiers (op-amps) for easy tonal tuning. To create even more profound musicality ASUS also engineered the Essence One MKII MUSES Edition with six MUSES 01 op-amps. These are the world’s first op-amps to be manufactured with high-purity (4N) oxygen-free copper interconnects and the result is true-to-life tonality, spacious sound and stunning vocals.

The performance of Essence One MKII MUSES Edition is so impressive that even the manufacturer of MUSES op-amps has been moved to praise the work of our engineers. Ichiro Kashiwagi, Second Marketing Department Manager, Semiconductor Sales and Marketing Division for New Japan Radio Company, remarked: “We’ve been looking constantly for well-designed audio devices to make MUSES really shine, and found that the ASUS Essence team has the expertise to create them. What really impressed us was their focus on the digital, PC-based audio realm.”

Easy DSD upgrade for Essence One devotees

ASUS is also pleased to announce that owners of ASUS Essence One DACs wishing to upgrade their audio experience can now purchase a DSD-upgrade kit. The package includes one EEPROM chip for the upgrade to DSD and two MUSES 02 op-amps. The upgrade process is straightforward, requiring just a few moments and no soldering — just pop in the new EEPROM to add DSD support in an instant.