Nuforce Icon HDP

NuForce Icon HDP

The Nuforce Icon HDP incorporates a full-speed USB DAC and full-function S/PDIF D/A converter, plus a headphone-amplifier circuit and preamp output. Supporting digital USB, S/PDIF in coaxial and 3.5mm optical (3.5mm) modes, along with an analog line input, the HDP's flexibility has been designed to accommodate all manner of audio devices. Icon HDP is expected to compete with other DAC and preamp costing up to several times its price and serve as the heart of a high performance audio system.

Note: Icon HDP uses the same DAC as the high-end CDP-8 (MSRP $1450.00) and similar preamp as P-8S (MSRP $1650.00). The following design features contributed to the performance of Icon HDP

• The digital input has no capacitors in its signal path. The analog input utilizes a single DC-decoupling capacitor.
• Components along the signal path are minimized.
• The 24/96 USB interface outputs a I2S signal to a high-quality DAC.
• The digital circuit occupies a separate daughter board.
• The DAC chip consists of four internal 24/192kHz DACs that provide a fully differential and balanced output. The differential signal's DC offset operates without a need for decoupling caps.
• Digital and analog voltages each have separately isolated internal power regulations.

Features

• USB 2.0 Full Speed compliant and 1.1 supported, 8-96kHz/16-24-bit
• S/PDIF input: Coaxial up to 192kHz/24-bit or Optical up to 192kHz/24-bit
• Analog input: 3.5mm or RCA input
• Audiophile-grade DA converter
• Low-distortion, high-current headphone amplifier
• High quality analog volume control