Prism Sound, makers of recording studio and pro audio A/D and D/A converters and the SADiE digital workstation, has announced plans to enter the home audio market with their first product later this month. The announcement follows similar entries into the home audio market by a series of companies that started in the pro audio market including dCS, EMM Labs, Grace Design, Grimm Audio, Merging Technologies and Mytek.
The Prism Sound Callia is a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) and Pre-amplifier. It features Stereo DSD playback up to DSD 128 and Stereo PCM playback up to 384 kHz.
Callia is compatible with Windows, Apple Macintosh OSX, Linux, iOS and Android devices that support USB 2.0 interfaces. This includes support for the DoP protocol (DSD packaged into PCM frames for transmission) along with ASIO and WDM drivers for Windows devices.
Professional Grade Audio Circuitry
According to Prism Sound, the Callia uses the same audio signal path, ARM Cortex processor and USB platform that are found in the company's professional D/A converters. This includes the company's "CleverClox" hybrid 2-stage digital phase locked loop (DPLL) circuitry. Prism says that their products "re-generate ultra-stable clocks for best quality conversion" and offer "no compromise" sound quality.
Digital Inputs and Analog Outputs
In addition to a USB 2.0 input, the Callia features Optical and Coax SPDIF inputs that allow the listener to play discs through the DAC circuitry.
The Callia features a pair of XLR balanced outputs and a pair of RCA style unbalanced outputs at +14dBu (balanced) and 2Vrms (unbalanced).
Front Panel Controls and Headphone Output
The Callia front panel allows the listener to select the source manually or the source can be auto detected by the DAC. A master volume control is also available on the front panel.
The unit's front panel also includes a Headphone Output. The rear panel includes a DIP switch that provides sensitivity settings to avoid variations in level among headphone models which may have impedances from "a few ohms to more than 250 ohms".
Availability
The Prism Sound Callia is scheduled for release at the end of January 2016. It will have a Suggested List Price of $1,895.
Prism Sound
