SPL

We have looked at many converter designs and asked ourselves why innovations take place almost exclusively on the digital level and only very rarely on the analogue side. Perhaps it is because most developers have their background in digital technology and therefore tend to develop analogue technology according to the 'cookbook'.We have 30 years of experience in analogue technology and we find cookbook designs rather boring, inefficient and in need of improvement.The output of the DAC IC (AK4490) is an analogue signal that needs to be filtered with a low-pass filter. This analogue circuit is typically operated with the same voltage as the DAC IC - for example 5V. Imagine that the first stage that finds the analogue signal has a dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio limited by this voltage. What a bottleneck.In the Mercury, our 120V technology is used instead of the standard technology. And it does so twice in the newly developed DLP120 module. DLP stands for "Dual Low Pass". These are two separate analogue filters using 120V technology. Depending on the type of digital signal, the analogue signal passes through the PCM or DSD filter and can freely unfold into a huge dynamic range. This is audibly better.The DA converter (DAC) in the Mercury is the AK4490 Velvet Sound® converter chip from AKM. This offers a bit depth of 32 bits and a maximum sampling rate of 768 kHz for PCM digital signals and DSD4 or DSD256 for direct stream digital signals.

With the Crescendo duo, we are expanding the SPL 120V technology microphone preamplifier portfolio with a two-channel version of the SPL Crescendo.Crescendo duo convinces with the same outstanding sound and technical characteristics as the flagship of the product range - Crescendo. It is almost impossible to overdrive this microphone preamplifier. It shines with absolute signal fidelity and clarity and makes microphones appear in a completely new light - because they have never been amplified like this before.Crescendo duo offers switchable +48V phantom power for condenser microphones, a high-pass filter to eliminate low-frequency noise, the option to reverse the polarity of the signal and a PAD to lower the input level. The two large VU meters visualise the output level of the amplified signal. The option of reducing the level displayed in the VU meter by 10dB means that the dynamics of high levels can also be reproduced excellently. A highlight of the Crescendo duo is the individual controllability of mic gain and output gain. This ensures that the microphone signal is optimally amplified without losing a single dB.The signal can be tapped at the rear via two parallel XLR outputs per channel. This means, for example, that two different recording systems can be used (back-up/haviour) or two different signal paths can be fed.The Crescendo duo is the perfect introduction to the SPL 120V technology microphone preamplifier world.The Crescendo duo is predestined for the most demanding stereo recordings, but is also ideal for single signals such as vocals. It is the ideal front-end for all professional recording studios.