Ferrum ERCO DAC and Headphone Amplifier

Ferrum ERCO DAC and Headphone Amplifier

The Ferrum ERCO DAC and headphone amplifier has combined parts of the awarded HYPSOS technology and OOR’s headphone amplifier magic.

We then proceeded to add our culminated 20 years’ worth of experience in making DA converters. And man, did we pull it off. We managed to get the best out of our two winners and put it in our new sibling, adding awesome DA conversion to the mix.

Clearing the path for high end audio
Perfect mix of flagship Ferrum technology combined with high grade in house developed Digital to Analog conversion. Choose from three digital and one analog input.

Suited for high end personal audio
Connect your favourite headphones to the balanced 4,4mm jack or unbalanced 6,35mm headphone jack outputs or powered loudspeakers on your desktop to the XLR or RCA outputs to perform to their max.

Ferrum Power Link
ERCO performs very, very good right out of the box. But ERCO is made to excel above and beyond when used together with HYPSOS. We use what we dubbed our Ferrum Power Link (FPL in short) to connect the two. HYPSOS then will perform to its maximum, unleashing unheard musicality from the combination with ERCO.

The name ERCO (not pronounced airco but 'ert?so) is Esperanto for ore. We took to Esperanto for the name inspired by its creator Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, who used to live around the corner from our offices near Warsaw. Zamenhof started developing Esperanto in his childhood while still in school, pursuing peace around the world where one language would bring together humankind. We want to do the same through pure and honest music reproduction. In the end it brings peace to the mind.

Unique output cable design: two wires delivering the power and two wires providing the feedback to ensure flat voltage at every moment. We named this technique Ferrum Power Link (FPL) and it eliminates the harmful effects of the cable's resistance effectively improving transient response. The current delivery speed at the powered device's input is significantly improved.

ERCO comes with a carefully selected DC power adapter. To get the most out of ERCO you can connect it with HYPSOS using our proprietary Ferrum Power Link DC power cable. This FPL cable can be ordered separately.

Discrete/IC hybrid design
Ultra-wideband ICs fine tuned for audio use to achieve the best possible analog quality.

Ease of use
Hassle free operation. Only three knobs on the front panel to control the most important settings.

Proprietary Technology
Industry leading technology is applied. All digital ports are optimised for audio, MQA decoding and rendering is optimised for use with internal ARM chip.

Truly Balanced
The signal path is truly balanced from early D/A stage and becomes truly balanced using the RCA inputs.

Enhanced transparency
The whole design remains focussed on a balanced and very transparent sound signature, making listening fatigue something of the past.

Headphone output gain: balanced -5.8 dB, +6 dB, +17.8 dB; single ended -11.8 dB, 0 dB, +11.8 dB
Operation: fully balanced, proprietary IC power amp
Power inputs: 5.5/2.5 mm DC connector center positive; proprietary FPL 4-pin DC connector (FPL)
Analog inputs: RCA (Consumer level; Pro option with future software update)
Digital inputs: USB-C (all formats); S/PDIF optical (up to 24-bit/96 kHz, DoP64); Coaxial (up to 24-bit/192 kHz, DoP64)
DAC chip: ESS Sabre ES9028PRO
PCM sample rates: 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 / 352.8 / 384 kHz
DSD sample rates: 2.8224 / 3.072 / 5.6448 / 6.144 / 11.2896 / 12.288 MHz 
MQA: decoder and renderer
DAC resolution: PCM up to 384k@32bit; DSD up to 256 (11.2 MHz / 12.2 MHz)
Headphone jack outputs: balanced 4.4 mm (TRRRS); unbalanced 6.35 mm (TRS)
Line outputs: balanced XLR; unbalanced RCA (both Consumer level; Pro with future software update)
Volume control: analogue with bypass option (bypass for line outputs only)
Frequency response: 10 Hz – 30 kHz (+/- 0.05 dB) 10 Hz – >200 kHz (+/- 1 dB)
Output power unbalanced: 300 mW into 300 O; 1,7 W into 50 O
Output power balanced: 1.2 W into 300 O; 6.1 W into 50 O
THD on balanced output: < 0.00018% / -115 dB, 1 mW into 16 O; < 0.00018% / -115 dB, 100 mW into 16 O
THD on unbalanced output: < 0.00032% / -110 dB, 1 mW into 16 O; < 0.00057% / -105 dB, 100 mW into 16 O
Dynamic range analog: 130 dB (A-weighted)
Dynamic range digital: 120 dB (A-weighted)
Input impedance: 47 kO
Output impedance unbalanced: 22 O on pre-amp
Output impedance balanced: 44 O on pre-amp
Output impedance Headphones: < 0.3 O
Power consumption: idle <15 W
Power adapter: 100-240V AC to 22-30V DC
Dimensions (W x D x H): 21.7 cm x 20.6 cm x 5 cm / 8.6” x 8.1” x 2.0”
Weight: 1.8 kg / 3.97 LBS

UK Delivery

• FREE delivery via DPD Local By 12pm on orders to value over £300, including one hour delivery window service 'Predict & Follow My Parcel'.
• Royal Mail Special Delivery By 1pm costs between £5.00 - £10.00 on orders to value under £300, dependent on weight.
• Saturday or Sunday delivery available upon request for supplemental charge.

EU Delivery

• £25 delivery charge 'Flat Fee' via DHL Europe by Road service (5-7 days) which provides comprehensive tracking of shipments online.
• £50 delivery charge 'Flat Fee' via DHL Europe by Air service  (2-3 days) which provides comprehensive tracking of shipments online.
  Receiver is responsible for the payment of local Duties and Taxes.

USA & Canada Delivery

• Services based on your order being shipped to the U.S. and Canada are calculated as follows:
  £100 delivery charge 'Flat Fee' via DHL international 'Day Definite' service per parcel.
  Receiver is responsible for the payment of local Duties and Taxes.

Exceptions

• Not all products are available for order into Europe, USA & Canada

WARRANTY

• Full manufacturer's warranty on all new purchases. Standard warranty is typically 12 months to 2 years with some goods coming with 6 years manufacturer's warranty.
• Goods purchased in UK and EU are covered by the Consumer Contracts Regulations.