OVERVIEW
The Sirius is so much more than a mere disc player. We prefer to describe it as an HD digital music source. Not only can it play CDs, SACDs, and DVD-Audio discs, it can also play MP3, FLAC, and WAV files sourced from a hard drive, a computer, or a USB stick. No matter where the music comes from, the Sirius will reproduce it with unmatched fidelity.
To provide the best possible sound quality, we isolate the Sirius’ various modules in three separate enclosures. One contains the digital-to-analog converter, another contains the digital file player and the low-jitter Esoteric VRDS-Neo optical disc drive ,and another houses the power supply. Interference is kept to a minimum, ensuring maximum musicality.
Most DACs upconvert digital audio signals for better fidelity—but most upconverters use the same inferior PCM technology that has given CDs a bad name with many audiophiles. The Sirius instead upconverts all digital signals in the superior 1-bit delta-sigma format used for SACD—but to 128fs (5.6448 MHz), twice the resolution of SACD. Upconversion parameters can be adjusted through the Pyxis controller. The 1-bit signal is converted to analog through a passive multipole filter tuned to preserve phase information.
For maximum flexibility and sound quality, all of the digital processing is done with a software-configured, field-programmable gate array instead of with standard DAC chips. For the output stage, we use a fixed-gain version of our Line Stage Gain Module, a preamp with hand-selected FETs and servo circuits that maintain an essentially perfect balance between the positive and negative halves of the audio signal.
The DAC’s circuit boards are mounted on a platform composed of stainless steel and non-resonant polymer, which sits on elastomeric suspension to isolate the audio circuits from vibration. Think of it as a raft floating on a calm lake, impervious to disturbances on land. The milled, solid aluminum chassis surrounding the circuits protects the boards from electromagnetic interference and incoming vibration.
The end result is something that only our dream team of the world’s best audio engineers, software engineers, and industrial designers could have produced: a source component that delivers the precision of digital with the musically involving sound of analog. And you can enjoy this miraculous sound quality no matter how you store your digital music.
