AudioNemesis DC-1 VLE User manual

OWNER’S
MANUAL
AudioNemesis
DIGITAL TO ANALOGUE AUDIO CONVERTER
DC-1
M DC1 REV.02 ENG MAR 2007
www.audionemesis.com
AudioNemesis
Enjoy the Music
Superior Audio Products — Handmade in Ita y
© 2007 Fabio Camorani — Gi seppe Intorrella
All rights reserved, any copy, partial or complete, is forbidden nless a thorized with a written consent.
Graphic Fabio Camorani — Gi seppe Intorrella

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INTRODUCTION
• Read carefully these instructions before turning on this appliance. Keep these instructions in a sure
place for future readings.
• Heed all warnings.
• Follow all instructions.
• Do not use this device near water, or with high humidity, or under the rain or moisture.
• Do not install near heat sources such as radiators, stoves or other apparatus (including amplifiers
producing heat.
• Clean only with a dry cloth.
• Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
• This device can be used only for purposes it is designed for.
• Never open the appliance: risk of electric shock. Refer servicing to qualified personnel only.
• Do not modify the appliance.
• Use high quality cables and power cord. Protect the cord from being walked on or pinched,
particularly at plugs, extension cords and the point at which they exit the unit.
• The device is connected to ground through the power cord. Be sure that the power cord you are
using has the ground connection. Be also sure that your connector has the ground connection. A
grounding type plug has 2 blades and a third grounding prong. The third prong is provided for your
safety. If the provided plug does not fit, into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of
the obsolete outlet.
• Before connecting this appliance to the mains, be sure that the voltage information in the rear label
of the appliance is compatible with your mains voltage.
• If the appliance had wide thermal shocks (for example, from low external temperature to high room
temperature , do not turn on the appliance, but wait till the appliance temperature equals the room
one (about 1 hour .
• Unplug this device during lightning storms or when not used for long periods of time.
• Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel only. Servicing is required when the unit has been
damaged in any way, such as power supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or
objects have fallen into the device, the unit has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate
normally, or has been dropped.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for your purchase of the AudioNemesis DC-1!
This product represents a great evolution in audio technology at affordable price. It represents an important step to
Music bringing the listener to emotion of live Music events. This product is designed for the best quality of sound
and reliability, matching unprecedented performance with convenience not obtainable from most high performance
products.
All AudioNemesis products are made for helping you in listening to your favorite Music for many years no
compromises in core parts.
AudioNemesis products are not made for a limited life, every part is used to take you in listening to you favorite
Music for a very long time: we respect You and Music above all.
THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING AUDIONEMESIS
No expressed or implied warranty is made for any AudioNemesis product damaged by accident,
No expressed or implied warranty is made for any AudioNemesis product damaged by accident, No expressed or implied warranty is made for any AudioNemesis product damaged by accident,
No expressed or implied warranty is made for any AudioNemesis product damaged by accident,
abuse, misuse, natural or personal disaster, unauthorized modification. Any disassembly,
abuse, misuse, natural or personal disaster, unauthorized modification. Any disassembly, abuse, misuse, natural or personal disaster, unauthorized modification. Any disassembly,
abuse, misuse, natural or personal disaster, unauthorized modification. Any disassembly,
components or parts replacement, perforation or modification of the chassis or modifications
components or parts replacement, perforation or modification of the chassis or modifications components or parts replacement, perforation or modification of the chassis or modifications
components or parts replacement, perforation or modification of the chassis or modifications
performed to the unit will void the warranty.
performed to the unit will void the warranty.performed to the unit will void the warranty.
performed to the unit will void the warranty.

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CAUTION
CAUTIONCAUTION
CAUTION
To reduce the risk of electric shock do not remove the cover or the front panel or any other
part. Inside there is no user serviceable parts. Refer servicing to qualified personnel only.
WARNING
WARNINGWARNING
WARNING
To reduce the risk of electric shock or fire, do not expose this appliance to moisture or rain.
This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to the presence of dangerous voltage (inside the
enclosure that may be sufficient to constitute a risk of shock.
This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to important operating and maintenance instructions
in the accompanying literature. Please read the manual.
This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to the need of specific disposal, due to recycling,
following the Directive 2002/96/EC (WEEE . Please refer to your National Register for the correct
procedure or call your official AudioNemesis dealer / distributor.

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DC-1 D/A audio converter: product philosophy and design
AudioNemesis was born to offer serious and reliable products, instruments for Music lovers. At the centre of all
AudioNemesis products there is only Music. No space for special effects, or similar for impressing Audiophiles
and Music Lovers since the first listening. There are a lot of products made for impressing and not made for
the Music, and expert audiophiles can verify it. This kind of products, very common, never maintain the
promises and, after a few listenings only, audiophiles feel the need for a change! This is due to a poor and not
natural sound. This is not true for the AudioNemesis products, made for Music instead.
The reproduction of Music is a repeatable event by definition and also unperfect. Reproduction may have
many interpretations. The one by AudioNemesis put Emotion
EmotionEmotion
Emotion behind everything, a step ahead, because this is
the only common element between Produced (Live Music and Reproduced (Home Music. Emotion is the
essence of the Music. Listening to Music using AudioNemesis products you will have all the Emotion of Live
Music, without special effects, without pretending, no false creations. Natural feeling, richness of harmonics,
details of the event: everything is reproduced with a very clear sense of LIVE, without false aspects, without
false sounds. Details without hyper-details, 3D reconstruction without false details. It will be very easy to
listen to discs and discs, and i twill be impossible to come back to the previous system without AudioNemesis
products .
To reach these results, not common at any cost level, AudioNemesis products are designed without
preconceptions, without following trends, and without following the latest technology “innovation”. On the
contrary, circuit simplicity and a minimum number of components is a key element. Less is better, but we do
want to use the right device for the right purpose in the right way. These products are simple appliances, using
only the minimum quantity of parts for the proper work, following “the simpler the better, but not even
“the simpler the better, but not even “the simpler the better, but not even
“the simpler the better, but not even
simpler”
simpler”simpler”
simpler”.
Every single choice for the circuit, for the components etc. is done after a serious and complete evaluation of
all the characteristics: reliability, sonic impact, quality. Every single choice has been taken after very long
listening tests, never casual. The long experience of the designers is doing the rest. The final balance is a very
important aspect of each product, a mandatory part for AudioNemesis.
Very few persons are involved in each project, design, development, construction. All these people are
predisposed to the defined goals. This way a good control on the products is possible. All AudioNemesis
products are hand made in Italy and checked one by one.
AudioNemesis DC-1 is a very special product, designed and built in a unique way for its class. This is an
instrument for Emotions, for Music.
This design is a breaking point, because it’s totally different from what offered by the market. A simple circuit,
full of uncommon choices for its class and rare in absolute, no matter the cost. Each choice has been thinking
only to the Music.
The market of digital to analogue converters in this class (but also up to 4 times the cost is full of similar
products, similar in schematic and sound. And maybe with the latest chip. It’s very rare to see original designs,
with real study and research on sound (with clear ideas and listening tests . In effect, a lot of audiophiles often
change their products because they are not satisfied.
This is not the case of the DC-1.
With the DC-1, AudioNemesis breaks the wall of standards products, so common in its class. At last a product
for the Music only.
We didn’t use anything useless for the music, starting from the chassis
chassischassis
chassis, a simple but very effective design. It’s
impact to the final cost was not critical, despite the fine construction and design. The front panel is in Plexiglas
with the name AudioNemesis with rear blue leds and the rest of the chassis is painted with a special scratch
proof black paint, able to reduce unwanted vibrations too.
Mains voltage is often distorted and full of noise. For this reason in the DC-1 there is a custom filter
filterfilter
filter for the
mains voltage before the main power transformer (and not a standard one .
The power transformer
power transformerpower transformer
power transformer seems standard but it is custom designed and built for AudioNemesis by one of the
best manufacturers, with separated secondary for digital and analogue sections, with a grain oriented silicon
core, low loss and high efficiency
.

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Power supply
Power supplyPower supply
Power supply is very important for the final sound. For this reason, in the DC-1 there are seven (7 regulators, one
for each main component of the circuit, instead of two (2 as usually done by other manufacturers. Usually, in
almost all products these regulators are series type and made by integrated circuits, but in DC-1 six (6 of them are
shunt
shuntshunt
shunt type! Only in very few products, no matter the cost, we can find shunt regulation. This kind of regulation is
very effective from the sound point of view, but it’s more difficult and expensive than the series type. Who can try
series vs shunt regulation can understand without any doubt the sound difference!
Between the input pin (gold plated RCA with Teflon insulation and the digital receiver it is used a digital
transformer of the highest quality, not so common even in high cost products. This choice is very important to
reduce the noise, as shown in AES Journal articles (
www.scientificconversion.com . Even if it’s clear the advantage,
it’s not so common to find a digital transformer also in cost-no-object products. Not only you can find such a
component in the DC-1, but it’s also one of the best (and not a cheap model : Scientific Conversion
Scientific ConversionScientific Conversion
Scientific Conversion!
The signal then goes from the receiver to the converter chip through an asyncronous reclocking
reclockingreclocking
reclocking circuit. This is
another unusual choice. This circuit is another time unusual and allows to de-correlate the input jitter to the audio
signal. This is another unusual choice, and it allows to have an output jitter uncorrelated to the signal (the input
jitter is correlated instead . This way we have a low jitter sound. The used oscillator has a high stability of only a
few ppm (parts per million to maximise the result.
The digital to analogue conversion is without oversampling (zero
zerozero
zero-
--
-oversampling
oversamplingoversampling
oversampling . This technique is now rather
known ( www.sakurasystems.com/articles/Kusunoki.html and known are also many related designs. But even if
rather simple, this technique is hard to be implemented in a top quality sound. To verify this, audiophiles can
compare the DC-1 to other zero-oversampling “similar” designs. The digital to analogue chip is a 16bit multibit
type.
Then, the signal goes to the analogue output stage. This is a very simple circuit in pure Class A without feedback
without feedback without feedback
without feedback
(and feedforward
feedforwardfeedforward
feedforward . In many products made by competitors, OP Amps (Operational Amplifiers are used, often low
cost types, sometimes high speed type. This is a good choice for the money point of view, not for the sound! In
effect, with OP Amps the circuit is very simple and it’s fast to design. On the contrary, a zero-feedback design is
hard and difficult, time spending and hard to be constant in performance during a production. But if well done, the
best sonic results are achieved. This is what we made for the DC-1.
Another exclusive, a proprietary use of a very expensive product, called HDG
HDGHDG
HDG (High Density Graphite . This is a
very special graphite created for very extreme applications, such as industrial, aerospace, military etc. and able to
absorb vibrations in a very effective way. Using this device, we can absorb unwanted vibrations so dangerous in
analogue and digital chips. In effect, a silicon wafer is very sensible to vibrations because is very thin: the use of
HDG allows results behind your imagination!
We reduced the length of the digital and analogue sections: short paths are as important as active and passive parts;
only considering every aspect it’s possible to preserve the integrity and to reach the Music.
All active and passive parts have been chosen and optimized
optimized optimized
optimized for this project. We used, in the output analogue
stage, very low noise military standard resistors, chosen for their sound; high precision resistors in the digital
section, low ESR electrolythic capacitors, ERO-Vishay film etc..
The PCB
PCB PCB
PCB follows professional high quality standards and is designed without edges
without edgeswithout edges
without edges. All final bypass capacitors of the
power supplies are very near to the relative part of circuit.
Thanks to the very high quality design and building, the noise
noise noise
noise is very low, lower than high priced products, but
without any feedback or feedforward technique.
Each AudioNemesis product has a test of at least 30 minute at the end of the production chain, then it is
individually checked. We suggest a minimum of 50 hours of break-in, better if 100 hours. A warm-up of 20 minutes
is suggested before any use for the best performance.
AudioNemesis DC-1 competes with much more expensive products, from higher class, with no fear of comparison.
Use this product for many days, listening to Music and only Music, live with it. Then go back to the old previous
product and listen again: the upgrade using the DC-1 zero-os converter will be so clear you can’t believe!
M DC1 REV.02 ENG MAR 2007
AudioNemesis

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Power Supply: 110/120 Vac or 230/240 Vac 50/60 Hz +/- 10%
Power consumption: 7 Watts
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20 KHz + 0dB/ -1dB
Output level @ 0 dB: 2,2 Vpp @ digital full scale
Output: Inverting
Converter: 16 bit
Oversampling: 0 times
THD: <0.3% @ 2,2Vpp @ 1kHz
Output impedance: <200 ohm
Input: Gold plated RCA, Teflon - S/PDIF 75 Ohm - 24 bit/96 KHz
Output: Gold plated RCA, Teflon - unbalanced
Dimension (WxHxD : 23 x 8,5 x 34 cm.
Weight: 3.5 Kg
Shipping weight: 3.8 Kg
All specifications can change without notice.
PECIFICATION

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1.
1.1.
1. Name
Name Name
Name AudioNemesis
When the item is ON the name turns ON with a blue light.
2.
2.2.
2. On
OnOn
On-
--
-switch
switchswitch
switch
The on-switch is in the lower part of the chassis, front-right side.
3.
3.3.
3. Mains connector
Mains connectorMains connector
Mains connector
Always connect the power cable with the on-switch turned OFF (on-switch pushed to the rear side of
the chassis
4.
4.4.
4. Mains characteristics
Mains characteristicsMains characteristics
Mains characteristics
Verify that the data reported on the rear panel of the chassis match the characteristic of the mains
line of your country.
5.
5.5.
5. Analogue outputs
Analogue outputsAnalogue outputs
Analogue outputs
Connect the analogue signal cable to this output pins. Then connect the other side of the cable to
your preamplifier or integrated amplifier etc. Be sure that the output characteristics of this unit match
the input characteristic of the unit you want to connect to.

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6.
6.6.
6. Red LED for digital error
Red LED for digital errorRed LED for digital error
Red LED for digital error
This LED turns on when the input digital signal is un-correct, not valid or not present.
7.
7.7.
7. Digital input
Digital inputDigital input
Digital input
Connect this input pin to the digital cable from your CD player or transport.
HOW TO U E THE APPLIANCE
• How to turn on the converter
How to turn on the converterHow to turn on the converter
How to turn on the converter
Turn ON the appliance AFTER turning on the CD player / transport first.
• Mains voltage
Mains voltageMains voltage
Mains voltage
No power cable is offered with this appliance. Please use a good quality power cable: this improves
the performance is this d/a converter.
• Connection cables
Connection cablesConnection cables
Connection cables
No digital and analogue cable is offered with this appliance. Please use good quality cables both for
digital and analogue connections. Using good quality cables may give a very big improvement in
sound quality reproduction and gives you even better Music listening sessions.
• Mains filtering
Mains filteringMains filtering
Mains filtering
In this appliance there is a high quality mains filtering unit. This is a custom design to assure the
highest final quality and to meet CE requirements. Before using an external filter, conditioner,
stabilizer or any other appliance please do a deep listening session to verify effectiveness, to
avoid sound quality problems.
• Cleaning
CleaningCleaning
Cleaning
Use a high quality lint-free cloth that has not been treated with chemicals of any kind. Dampen the
cloth with warm water only. Do NOT use cleaning agents of any kind, such as alcohol or other
common cleaning products.

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PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUSE
POSSIBLE CAUSEPOSSIBLE CAUSE
POSSIBLE CAUSE SOLUTION
SOLUTIONSOLUTION
SOLUTION
The appliance does not
turn on
Main voltage is not present,
the power cable is not
properly connected or it is
damaged
Be sure that the turn on switch is in
ON position.
Verify that the power cable is
properly connected and that it’s is in
proper working condition.
There is no output signal
The digital cable is not
properly connected or it is
damaged
Verify that the digital cable is
properly connected and that it’s is in
proper working condition. Turn off
then turn on the appliance.
The LOCK ERROR LED is
flashing
The CD player has the
PAUSE function active, the
disc is damaged or is not
original and the transport
can’t read it
Press PLAY in your CD player, use
original discs
The appliance doe not
work properly, it has
distorsion, it works to
strokes
Main voltage with noise or
incorrect main voltage
Remove the sources of noise or use
stabilizers, verify that the appliance is
connected to the right main voltage
as reported by the rear label (4
TROUBLE- HOOTING
For any other problem, please contact your dealer.

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WARRANTY RECORD FORM
Last name ……………………………………………….. First name…………………………………………
Address……………………….…………………………………………………………..………………………
City …………………………………………………...……………… ZIP Code……………………………….
Country ………………………………………..
Owner’s information
Owner’s informationOwner’s information
Owner’s information
Model:
Model: Model:
Model: Audio D/A Converter DC-1 /N
/N/N
/N:
Purchasing:
Purchasing:Purchasing:
Purchasing:
Warranty
WarrantyWarranty
Warranty: This appliance has a limited warranty of 3 years from the date of purchasing on labour and
parts . The mechanical and electronic components of this appliance are warranted to be free
of defects in material and workmanship for that period. The warranty does not include
damage due to misuse or abuse or modified products and also does not include consequential
damage. The warranty begins on the date of the original retail purchase, as noted on the bill
of sale or receipted invoice from an authorized AudioNemesis dealer or distributor.
Privacy
PrivacyPrivacy
Privacy: All data from this document will be used for standard administration records and warranty
and will be protected and taken secure.
Note
NoteNote
Note: Every effort is made to ensure the highest standard of quality. The producer reserves the right
to change the specifications without any notice. The specifications and the design of the
device may differ from the information given in this manual.