Nuprime DAC-10H User manual

NuPrime

DAC-10H

NuPrime

Hereby, NuPrime Audio, Inc. declares that this device is in compliance with the essential requirements
and other relevant provisions of Directive 2004/108/EC.

Disposal of Old Electrical & Electronic Equipment (Applicable in the European Union and other
European countries with separate collection systems)
This symbol on the product or on its packaging indicates that this product shall not be treated as
household waste. Instead it shall be handed over to the applicable collection point for the
recycling of electrical and electronic equipment. By ensuring this pr
you will help prevent potential negative consequences for the environment and human health,
which could otherwise be caused by inappropriate waste handling of this product. The recycling
of materials will help to conserve natural resources. For more detailed information about
recycling of this product, please contact your local Civic Office, your household waste disposal
service or the shop where you purchased the product.

FCC Notice - Declaration of Conformity Information

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part
15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a
residential installation. This equipment uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does
cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment
off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

WARNING: Only peripherals complying with the FCC class B limits may be attached to this equipment.

Changes or modifications made to this equipment, not expressly approved by us or parties authorized by us
could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2)
this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

Notice for customers: The following information is only applicable to equipment sold in countries applying EU
Directives.

EU Declaration of Conformity

The manufacturer of this product is NuPrime Audio, Inc., 1712 Pioneer Ave. Ste 1817, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001,
USA.
The Authorized Representative for EMC and product safety is NuPrime Audio, Inc., 1712 Pioneer Ave. Ste 1817,
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001, USA.
For any service or guarantee matters please refer to the addresses given in separate service or guarantee
documents.

For customers in Europe

oduct is disposed of correctly,

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SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

There are two categories of Safety Instructions included in this manual:

• Product Warnings, (i.e., what must never be done to assure avoiding those hazards that could cause

bodily injury or property damage); and

• User Directions (i.e., what must always be done to assure the safe use of your device).

The Safety Instructions contained in this manual have been categorized in accordance with the seriousness of
the potential hazards through the use of Signal Words. Those Signal Words, and their intended meanings, are as
follows:
DANGER: Indicates that a failure to observe the Safety Instructions could result in death or catastrophic bodily
injury.

WARNING: Indicates that a failure to observe the Safety Instructions could result in serious bodily injury.
CAUTION: Indicates that a failure to observe the Safety Instructions could result in minor bodily injury or
property damage.
NOTE: Designates important information that relates to activities and/or conditions that might result in loss of

data and/or damage to your device.

Safe Use and Operation of Your Device

This equipment emits stray RF energy and will interfere with the reception of signals by airborne electronic
navigational devices or medical devices. Do not operate this equipment near any sensitive medical devices.

WARNING: Use only grounded AC power cords.
Always immediately disconnect the power to the equipment in the event the device emits an unusual odor or
sound or generates smoke.

WARNING: Never attempt to disassemble, repair or make any modification to your device. Disassembly,
modification or any attempt at repair could cause bodily injury or property damage, as well as damage to the
device itself.

WARNING: Your device is not a toy. Never allow children to play with your device. Misuse, rough or improper
handling of your device by children could result in serious bodily injury for any of the enumerated safety
warnings in this manual. In addition, always keep all accessories and components out of the reach of small
children as small parts might present a choking hazard. Seek immediate medical attention if choking occurs or if
any small part has been swallowed.

CAUTION: Never raise the sound volume level too high when using your device with earphones. An excessive
sound volume level could cause damage to your hearing.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose the unit to moisture or water.

Do not allow foreign objects to get into the enclosure. If the unit is exposed to moisture, or a foreign object gets
into the enclosure, immediately disconnect the power cord from the wall. Take the unit to a qualified service
person for inspection and necessary repairs.

Read all the instructions before connecting or operating the component.
Keep this manual so you can refer to these safety instructions.
Heed all warnings and safety information in these instructions and on the product itself. Follow all operating
instructions.
Do not use this unit near water.

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You must allow a minimum 10 cm or 4 inches of unobstructed clearance around the unit. Do not place the unit
on a bed, sofa, rug, or similar surface that could block the ventilation openings. If the unit is placed in a bookcase
or cabinet, there must be ventilation of the cabinet to allow proper cooling. Keep the component away from
radiators, heat registers, stoves, or any other appliance that produces heat.

The unit must be connected to a power supply only of the type and voltage specified on the rear panel.

Connect the component to the power outlet only with the supplied power supply cable or an exact equivalent.
Do not modify the supplied cable.

Do not route the power cord where it will be crushed, pinched, bent, exposed to heat, or damaged in any way.
Pay particular attention to the power cord at the plug and where the cord exits the back of the unit.

The power cord should be unplugged from the wall outlet during a lightning storm or if the unit is to be left
unused for a long period of time.

Immediately stop using the component and have it inspected and/or serviced by a qualified service agency if:

• The power supply cord or plug has been damaged.

• Objects have fallen or liquid has been spilled into the unit.

• The unit has been exposed to rain.

• The unit shows signs of improper operation.

• The unit has been dropped or damaged in any way.

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Company Background

In 2005, NuForce invented an amplifier that utilizes self-oscillating switching principles in an
analog-based topology (US patent #7,221,216) as a significant departure from bulky Class
A/AB designs using tubes or transistors, and Class-D digital designs that convert signals into
digital data. Thanks in full measure to unique innovations, the NuForce Reference 9 amp
received the Power Amp of The Year 2005 award from The Absolute Sound, a prestigious
American audiophile magazine. Subsequent versions of the Reference 9 received similar
awards in Japan and France. In the years that follow, NuForce has grown to include a full line
of Mobility, Home Theater and Home Stereo products.

In 2014, having decided to focus on mobility products, NuForce sold the high-end line along
with its technology to investors who then created NuPrime Audio. Under the leadership of
NuForce co-founder and original CEO, NuPrime has assembled a design team comprised of
talented engineers who earlier worked on NuForce’s high-end line along with newly recruited
experts in switching-power circuit design. Recent developments have made it possible to
redesign NuPrime’s switching- amp topology from the ground up in order to create a new
generation of amps classified as Reference LE. The NuPrime DAC-10H is developed as a
Reference class Digital to Analog Converter for both the Reference and Reference LE class
amplifiers.

From Hi-Res to Extreme Resolution

High-volume storage has become cheap enough for the proliferation of hi-res music beyond
CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz). Storing 24-bit/96 kHz or 192 kHz music with PCM encoding in
uncompressed format (typically WAV) or lossless compression format (such as FLAC, M4A,
WMA) has become standard practice for audio enthusiasts.

Music is typically recorded in 24 or 32-bit PCM or DSD format at the recording studio. It is then
converted to lower resolution format for mass-market distribution.

Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals.
It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, compact discs, digital telephony and
other digital audio applications. In a PCM stream, the amplitude of the analog signal is
sampled regularly at uniform intervals and each sample is quantized to the nearest value
within a range of digital steps. A PCM stream has two basic properties that determine the
stream's fidelity to the original analog signal: the sampling rate, which is the number of times
per second that samples are taken, and the bit depth, which determines the number of
possible digital values that can be used to represent each sample. DXD is simply PCM 24­bit/352.8 kHz.

Direct-Stream Digital (DSD) is the trademark name used by Sony and Philips for their system
of digitally recreating audible signals for the Super Audio CD (SACD). DSD uses pulse-density
modulation encoding – a technology to store audio signals on digital storage media that are

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