Ferrum ERCO Gen2 DAC Headphone Amplifier

Ferrum ERCO GEN2 Headphone DAC & Amp

The Ferrum ERCO GEN2 Headphone DAC & Amp clears 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.

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 Gen 2 comes with a carefully selected DC power adapter. To get the most out of ERCO Gen 2 you can connect it with HYPSOS using our proprietary Ferrum Power Link DC power cable. This FPL cable can be ordered separately.

The name ERCO (not pronounced airco but ˈert͡so) 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.
Marcin HamerlaFounder and CEO HEM

Key Features

• ERCO Gen 2 fully balanced headphone DAC/AMP
• Improved I/V converter
• Improved DSP engine
• Improved Digital Filter (HQ Apodizing)
• Improved max resolution (768 kHz / DSD 512)
• Proprietary IC power amp design
• Proprietary optimised-for-audio digital inputs
• Proprietary optimised MQA rendering and decoding for ARM chip
• Proprietary 4-pin Ferrum connector for HYPSOS
• Balanced 4.4 mm jack and unbalanced 6.35 mm jack headphone outputs
• Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA line outputs

Improvements brought to you by ERCO Gen 2

The I/V converter stage has better overall performance and SERCE’s DSP engine provides oversampling using DDF preferred HQ Apodizing digital filter, which get the most out of the DAC chip almost emulating WANDLA performance.. Last but not least maximum resolution is now PCM 768 kHz and DSD 512.

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.

Suited for high end personal audio

Connect your favorite headphones to the balanced 4.4 mm jack or unbalanced 6.35 mm headphone jack outputs or powered loudspeakers on your desktop to the XLR or RCA outputs to perform to their max.

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.

Discrete/IC hybrid design

Ultra-wideband ICs fine tuned for audio use to achieve the best possible analog quality.

Enhanced transparency

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

Truly Balanced

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

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.

Specifications

• 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 (Red Book level 2V RMS recommended, PRO level supported)
• Digital inputs: USB-C (MQA, up to PCM 32-bit/768kHz, DSD512, DoP256); S/PDIF coaxial (MQA, up to PCM 24-bit/192 kHz, DoP64); S/PDIF optical (MQA, up to PCM 24-bit/96 kHz guaranteed, should work up to PCM 24-bit/192 kHz and DoP64 – depends of user’s optical cable and transmitter)
• DAC chip: ESS Sabre ES9028PRO
• PCM sample rates: 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 / 352.8 / 384 / 705.6 / 768 kHz
• DSD sample rates: 2.8224 / 3.072 / 5.6448 / 6.144 / 11.2896 / 12.288 / 22.5792 / 24.576 MHz
• DAC resolution: PCM up to 768k@32bit; DSD up to 512 (22.6 MHz / 24.6 MHz)
• MQA: decoder and renderer (USB, OPTO and COAX inputs)
• Headphone jack outputs: balanced 4.4 mm (TRRRS); unbalanced 6.35 mm (TRS)
• Line outputs: balanced XLR; unbalanced RCA (both Red book level: 4V RMS bal./2V RMS unbal.)
• 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 Ω; 1.7 W into 50 Ω
• Output power balanced: 1.2 W into 300 Ω; 6.1 W into 50 Ω
• THD on balanced output: < 0.00018% / -115 dB, 1 mW into 16 Ω; < 0.00018% / -115 dB, 100 mW into 16 Ω
• THD on unbalanced output: < 0.00032% / -110 dB, 1 mW into 16 Ω; < 0.00057% / -105 dB, 100 mW into 16 Ω
• Dynamic range analog: 129 dB (A-weighted)
• Dynamic range digital: 117 dB (A-weighted)
• Input impedance: 47 kΩ
• Output impedance unbalanced: 22 Ω on pre-amp
• Output impedance balanced: 44 Ω on pre-amp
• Output impedance Headphones: < 0.3 Ω
• Power consumption: idle <15 W
• Power adapter: 100-240 VAC to 22-30 VDC
• 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