British company Warwick Acoustics has introduced the Gold Aperio personal audio system, consisting of over-ear headphones and an external DAC combined with a headphone amplifier. The manufacturer positions this set as the perfect choice for professionals working as reference monitors for processing, mastering, and mixing music in high resolution.
Features:
- Handcrafted 24-carat gold headphone grilles, hardware, and front panel of the amplifier
- Limited edition of 100 handmade gold versions
- Individually numbered limited edition plaque
- Choice of professionals for processing, mastering, and mixing music as reference monitors
- DAC-headphone amplifier equipped with balanced and unbalanced analog inputs
- Fullness and richness of sound, wide and three-dimensional soundstage
- Output stages operate in class A and are built with field-effect transistors
- Built-in DAC in a "dual mono" concept capable of processing PCM signals up to 32 bit / 384 kHz and DSD up to DSD256.
On the front panel of the device, there are a power button, volume control, high-resolution color LCD screen, volume control, headphone outputs, and a switch for headphone output and line output.
The headphones with amplifier have a frequency range from 10 Hz to 60 kHz. The system can provide a sound pressure level of 104 dB when connected analogically and 106 dB when using digital connectivity. The ear pads and headband of the over-ear headphones are finished with soft sheepskin leather, with perforated surfaces on the ear pads for better ventilation. The two-meter balanced cable made of silver-plated multi-stranded copper with silicone insulation and Kevlar reinforcement connects to both ear cups.
Key structural elements of the headphones, such as ear pads, are made of die-cast magnesium - a rigid material that is lighter and significantly better at damping than aluminum and most polymers. Die-cast magnesium allows for the manufacture of complex and precise parts that usually require CNC machining.
Aperio uses a new transducer HPEL with Balanced Drive (BD-HPEL) - a version of the High Precision Electrostatic Laminate (HPEL) transducer from Warwick Acoustics with a symmetrical drive, originally developed for the Sonoma Model One headphone system. The main technology of BD-HPEL has been improved to be stable against environmental changes such as temperature and humidity fluctuations; stable in operation and sound quality over time; and very durable.
The DAC-headphone amplifier is equipped with balanced and unbalanced analog inputs. It also has digital connectivity - USB-B port, RJ45, balanced AES/EBU input, and coaxial SPDIF. The built-in DAC is designed in a "dual mono" concept and can process PCM signals up to 32 bit / 384 kHz and DSD up to DSD256, in both DoP and native formats. There are analog outputs - balanced and unbalanced, allowing the component to be used as a preamplifier if needed. The output stages of the device operate in class A and are built with field-effect transistors.
The component's enclosure is entirely aluminum. The device's power supply unit provides completely separate power supply channels and is reliably shielded from other amplifier blocks.
Package includes:
- Amplifier with DAC
- Headphones
- Case
- USB-A to USB-B cable
- RJ45 cable
- Documentation.
