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Philips
DAC960
(1987 - 1989)
All but forgotten nowadays - but this is the unit that would lead
to a well remembered and sought-after Marantz d/a converter: CDA-94 and their (many) LHH-1000
equivalents, like the export-only
CD-12
combo. The DAC960 was the original,
before BitStream, and before Philips would gradually delegate its
highend audio duties to Marantz
only.
As
you can see in the image below, the DAC960
really was no mere afterthought: triple transformers, two dedicated
transformers for the balanced outputs and Silver Crown TDA-1541.
An absolute phase switch is present, just like (real sci-fi at the
time) an optical TOS input.
Even if barely available in '88, a monitor loop for a DAT
recorder was implemented as well. 32kHz
for Digital Radio decoding is accepted - just as barely available.
The future was bright and soon all sources were to be digital -
so the DAC960 doubles in fact as a
preamplifier. In retrospect, the future was bright indeed as nobody
was yet hassled with SCMS, DRMs or any other such nice nasties:
if digital sure was expensive then, it still was free.
The DAC960 was made to complement the
CD960
CD player - another hoogtepunt in Philips' history.
...a
DAC960 in use right here,
properly showing the glow of the backlit volume attenuator :)
Detailed inside views and (mad) modding at the lampizator. |