Copland DAC 215. Headphone amplifier with DAC.

Building on the outstanding price/performance ratio of its vacuum tube-based amplifier electronics, Copland has just launched its first digital audio processor - DAC - with dedicated audiophile-grade headphone amplifier specifically geared towards getting the most out of high-resolution digital formats. As befits a product signed by a company with an unmistakably purist accent, the DAC215, which immediately catches the eye with its very compact dimensions and purity of lines, bases its attributes on a very careful combination of circuit topology and components chosen for their sonic qualities. At the heart of Copland's new DAC is a D/A conversion section with multiple S/PDIF inputs and PCM and DSD signal processing capabilities, based on the renowned ES9018 Reference chip from the exclusive US company ESS. It is a sophisticated piece of microelectronics with 32-bit technology, mounted, in this case, in quad mono configuration (i.e. 8 mono to 2 stereo). On the other hand, and in line with Copland's philosophy, the analogue and filtering sections of the DAC215 are made entirely with discrete components, and it is worth noting that the Class A topology used in the former is identical to that found in the Scandinavian firm's celebrated CD players. In addition, the DAC215 houses a fully equipped pre-amplification circuitry, including an audiophile-inspired analogue volume control and, most notably, a headphone output powered by a circuitry combining Class A operation with vacuum tube-based gain stages that provides unprecedented musicality in a product of its class and price.

Technical Features:

Very high performance DAC headphone amplifier.

D/A conversion circuitry with 32-bit resolution.

Compatible with PCM signals up to 32-bit/384 kHz and DSD64/128.

Asynchronous USB input plus 3 S/PDIF digital inputs.

Pre-amplifier circuitry implemented with vacuum tubes.

Analogue output circuitry configured in Class A.

Dedicated headphone amplifier configured in Class A.

Frequency response of 20-20,000 Hz, +0 dB, -2 dB.

Signal-to-noise ratio greater than 120 dB.

USB input compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac-OS X and Linux.

Dimensions: 200x115x280 mm (W x H x D).

Weight: 3.8 kg.