Denafrips Gaia ddc User manual

V1.0

19th July 2020

GAIA DDC

OWNER’S MANUAL

Contents

1. INSTALLATION & SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS ........................................................................... 2

2. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 3

3. DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS ........................................................................................................... 4

3.1 DIGITAL ISOLATION ..................................................................................................... 4

3.2 OVEN-CONTROLLED CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR – OCXO ................................................... 4

3.3 ADAPTIVE FIFO BUFFER RECLOCKING ......................................................................... 4

3.4 PROPRIETARY, STATE-OF-THE-ART USB INTERFACE ................................................... 5

3.5 PROPRIETARY SPDIF DIGITAL AUDIO RECEIVER .......................................................... 5

3.6 DDC ARCHITECTURE .................................................................................................... 5

3.7 CLOCK IN ...................................................................................................................... 5

4. OPERATING INSTRUCTION .................................................................................................. 6

4.1 Quick Start Guide ........................................................................................................ 6

4.2 USB DRIVER INSTALLATION – WINDOWS OS ............................................................ 10

5. SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................................................ 14

6. WARRANTY ....................................................................................................................... 15

1. INSTALLATION & SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

This DDC is designed and built to provide trouble-free performance, but as with all

electronic devices it is necessary to observe a few precautions:

 Unpack the DDC carefully.

 Position the DDC on a stable, horizontal surface, i.e. sturdy rack.

 The DDC supports voltage 100-250VAC worldwide voltage. Please connect the AC

power cord with earth(ground) pin unless it is absolutely required to reduce hum

from the ground loops of the connected devices.

 Always ensure that when disconnecting and reconnecting your audio equipment the

mains supply is turned off.

 Position the power cord and signal interconnects where they are not likely cause trip

and fall hazard.

 Do not use the DDC near water, or place water-filled containers on the DDC. Entry of

liquid into the DDC is hazardous and may cause electric shock and/or fire hazard.

 Do not place the unit under direct sunlight or heat source.

 Do not remove any covers or try to gain access to the inside. There are no user

adjustments or fuses to change without qualification.

 Clean regularly with a damp soft cloth. Do not use any cleaning agents as it might

damage the surface finishing.

 The electronics in modern hi-fi equipment is complex and may, therefore, be

adversely affected or damaged by lightning. For protection of the audio system

during electrical storms, disconnect the mains plugs.

2. INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing the DENAFRIPS GAIA DDC. It is a state-of-the-art Digital to Digital

Converter, one of the finest available on the market.

The flagship DDC, built upon the success of the DENAFRIPS Digital Know-How. GAIA DDC

isolates and buffers the digital signal, re-clock them via the local OCXO. The cleansed, ultra-

low jitters digital output can be connected to any external DAC. It is the answer to the

Digital Audio System. The top-quality performance of the GAIA DDC is for the serious

audiophile who seek the very last bit of ultimate refinement.

3. DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS

3.1 DIGITAL ISOLATION

The GAIA Digital Signals are completely isolated by the 50-Mbps high speed photocouplers.

The optical isolation yields even lowered noise-floor and achieved high signal to noise ratio.

3.2 OVEN-CONTROLLED CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR – OCXO

The GAIA is equipped with dual OCXO operating at audio frequencies 45.1584Mhz,

49.152Mhz. Encapsulated in a metal casing, located at the centre of the DDC, these OCXO

are specially designed for high-end audio applications with ultra-low phase-noise and ultra-

accuracy. The dual OCXO are powered by the o-core transformer, supplying constant

current to the OCXO. The adequate power reserves ensure the superior linearity and

stability of the OCXO.

3.3 ADAPTIVE FIFO BUFFER RECLOCKING

The DENAFRIPS approach to address the jitters issue by FIFO BUFFER RECLOCKING. The

adaptive FIFO buffer store the source digital audio data in the memory. These data are read

from the memory using the ultra-low phase noise, ultra-accuracy OCXO, located right in the

DDC.

This technology is close to the perfection, especially so with the local OCXO. The jitter is so

small that it can be neglected.

3.4 PROPRIETARY, STATE-OF-THE-ART USB INTERFACE

The GAIA is equipped with the proprietary USB Audio Solution, powered by STM32F446

Advanced AMR Based MCU. DENAFRIPS redesigned and optimized circuitry, allow the DDC

to be used as high-end DDC with computers / streamers. It supports 24bit/768kHz PCM data

stream, and native processing of DSD up to DSD512. It comes with licensed THESYCON USB

Driver for Windows Platform.

NOTE: The USB Module is designed to trigger on only when USB Input is selected. This is

intended design to reduce digital input interfaces cross-interference for best sound

reproduction.

3.5 PROPRIETARY SPDIF DIGITAL AUDIO RECEIVER

The SPDIF Coaxial, Optical, AES/EBU input support up to 24bit/192kHz digital audio format.

The GAIA abandon the use of Digital Audio Receiver chip. The digital data is decoded by the

on-board FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), signal path is shortened and eliminated

the undesirable coloration.

3.6 DDC ARCHITECTURE

DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING – All digital input data are stored in the on-board FPGA high-

speed RAM.

OCXO – These data are read from the memory using the ultra-low phase noise, super

accurate OCXO, located right in the DDC. The processed data are sent to the digital outputs.

DIGITAL OUTPUTS – The cleansed, ultra-low jitters data are output via multiple digital

output interfaces simultaneously to the external DAC.

3.7 CLOCK IN

The GAIA supports clock in of audio frequencies 45.1584Mhz, 49.152Mhz. It makes a perfect

companion with the TERMINATOR-PLUS to synchronize the CLOCKS.

4. OPERATING INSTRUCTION

4.1 Quick Start Guide

Figure 1. Front Panel

(1) Setup Button

Press the setup button once to enter configuration mode. In configuration mode, user may

enable/disable the CLOCK-IN feature.

 Press Setup button once (enter config mode)

 Press OPT button twice

 CLOCK light should be on/off as the OPT button is pressed momentarily

 CLOCK light on = Enable clock in

 CLOCK light off = Disable clock in

 To confirm the setting, press Setup button once to save and exit config mode

(2) Input Selection Button

Press the following button to select the desire input to use with the GAIA DDC.

a. USB

b. OPT

c. AES

d. COAX

(3) Digital Audio Signal Input Sampling Rate

The following table illustrate the Input Sampling Rate LED status.

Base Sampling Rate Indicator Input Format

44.1 kHz

44.1K 44.1 kHz

88.2K 88.2 kHz

176.4K 176.4 kHz

352.8K 352.8 kHz

705.6K 705.6 kHz

48 kHz

48K 48 kHz

96K 96 kHz

192K 192 kHz

384K 384 kHz

768K 768 kHz

DSD

64 DSD 64

128 DSD 128

256 DSD 256

512 DSD 512

Table 1. Sampling Rate

Figure 2. Read Panel

Description:

(1) AC Power Supply

CAUTION! GAIA supports worldwide AC mains, range from 100-250VAC. The Please use a

good quality power cord with earth/ground pin connected.

(2) Digital Input Interface

There are 4 Digital Input Interfaces, namely, COAX, AES/EBU, OPT, USB.

(3) Digital Output Interface

There are 6 Digital Output Interfaces, namely, COAX, AES1, AES2, OPT, I2S-A, I2S-C. All

outputs are active simultaneously.

I2S-A HDMI (LVDS) I2S-C RJ45 (LVCMOS)

(4) CLOCK IN

The GAIA supports the following clock frequencies input, leveraging the high-quality OCXO

of the TERMINATOR-PLUS DAC, it may be connected to GAIA CLOCK-IN to improve the sonic

performance.

MASTER CLOCK

 45.1548MHz, 49.152Mhz

Use Case Example:

Table 2. Use case examples of GAIA CLOCK IN

4.2 USB DRIVER INSTALLATION – WINDOWS OS

USB driver is required for Windows Operating System (Windows 7/8/8.1/10, X86/X64). The

USB driver is licensed by THESYCON to provide the highest quality audio playback for

Computer Audio System.

NOTE: Mac and Linux OS do not require the USB driver.

Installation Guide:

 Download the driver from the support page: https://www.denafrips.com/support

 Do not connect the USB cable from the computer to the DDC. Remove it before the

USB driver installation

 Double click the “DENAFRIPS_UsbAudio_v4.82.0” (or the latest version) to install the

USB driver.

 Follow the on-screen instruction to complete the installation

Figure 3. Welcome screen

Figure 4. Default Installation Directory

Figure 5. Preinstallation Successful

Figure 6. Completed

 Restart the computer to complete the installation

 Connect the USB cable to the DDC

 Power on the DDC. Select USB input

 The USB DDC shall be detected. The driver status can be monitored as follows

Figure 7. Taskbar & Control Panel

 Select DENAFRIPS USB DDC as default Windows OS Soundcard

Press Set Default button

Properties of the DENAFRIPS USB

DDC

Direct

Sound default format

ASIO Buffer Size

Playback software recommendation:

 roon

 JRiver

 Foobar2000

 Sonicstudio Amarra

5. SPECIFICATIONS

Description Parameters

AC Power

Worldwide AC Power Supported 110 - 230V, 50/60Hz

In 110VAC mains, the min voltage ranges from 92V to max 126V

In 230VAC mains, the min voltage ranges from 184V to max 253V

Power Consumption < 30W

Digital Input

Coax SPDIF via RCA

TOSLink x 1

AES/EBU x 1

USB

External Clock Input

45.15

MHz

49.152Mhz

Digital Output

Coax SPDIF via RCA

TOSLink x 1

AES/EBU x 2

I²S HDMI LVDS Standard

I²S RJ45 LVCMOS Standard

Supported Format (DSD) DSD64 All Input

DSD64 – DSD512 USB & I²S Only

Supported Format (PCM) 24bit/44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz All Input

44.1 – 768 kHz USB & I²S Only

Dimension

340W x 260D x 66H mm (Feet

+18mm)

Weight

6. WARRANTY

DENAFRIPS GAIA purchased from the Authorized Distributor comes with 36 months of

warranty from the date of purchase / delivery (whichever later).

Defective

Within

Warranty Policy

First 30 Days

DENAFRIPS

to bear both way shipping fee.

Within 1st Year

Customer to bear one

way shipping fee.

DENAFRIPS

shall

cover the return shipping fee.

Within Warranty

Period

Customer to bear both way shipping fee.

DENAFRIPS

to repair

at free of charge.

Out of Warranty Customer to bear both way shipping cost. DENAFRIPS to

provide repair / maintenance services at cost.

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