The Frerot DAC from Merason is the little brother of the acclaimed DAC-1, with the same design philosophy and house sound. Like it’s sibling, the Frerot is a non-oversampling, discreet circuitry DAC. It differs from the DAC-1 in that incorporates a single Texas Instruments (formerly Burr Brown) 1794A DAC chip, and an external wall wart style switching power supply.
Precision Swiss Made
Peering inside the Frerot, it becomes obvious that Merason takes great care in handling of the digital signal. The electrically incoming digital signals are all initially galvanically isolated. With the coaxial input isolation via transformer, and with the USB input capacitive isolation. The signals are then converted into the I²S format using an AK4118 chip and fed to the 1794A DAC. The post DAC conversion of current to voltage is handled with discreet components and a Class A buffer. Voltage regulation is handled via a proprietary circuit.
Upgrade Path
Unusual in this price class, the Frerot’s performance can be improved greatly by the addition of the Pow1 external linear power supply. This power supply has three separate circuits from the oversized input transformer to the output. This ensures the optimal supply of the Frerot, since digital part and both poles of the analog part are supplied directly.
Well Connected
The Frerot comes fully equipped with a wide array of digital inputs, allowing the user to improve the sound quality of multiple devices.
- 1 x Coaxial digital input (S/PDIF)
- 1 x Optical digital input (TOSLINK)
- 1 x Balanced digital input (AES)
- 1 x USB Audio Class 2.0 (Type-B)
