Antelope Amari Measurements

[Toine]

Hi,
First review here, so don't hesitate to tell me if you see something odd.
I just bought an Antelope Amari for mastering work and Antelope's specs were not precise enough to my taste.
Since the APX555 was just there I did some measurements. I tried to be consistent with most measurements I've seen on the forum.

DAC:
Inputs: ASIO
Outputs: XLR
Fs: 44.1kHz

Monitor:
Here's the monitor with a 0dBFS input.

Frequency Response:
Here's a sweep at 0dBFS. Keep in mind the left axis scale has 2dB amplitude.

THD+N:
THD+N for a 0dB sweep (sorry for the timeout).

Linearity:

SNR & Dynamic Range:
0dBFS at 1kHz. SNR (left) at 133dB and AES 17 Dynamic Range at 132dB.

IMD Ratio:
This measure kept timing out this is the best I could get.

Sinad vs Measured Level:

ADC:

Inputs: XLR
Outputs: ASIO
Fs: 192kHz

Monitor:
Monitor for a 23.9dBu input.

SNR & Dynamic Range:
Signal to Noise Ratio (left) from 0dBFS is 128dB. AES17 Dynamic Range is 124dB. Measured with a 20kHz bandwidth.

Frequency Response:
Taken at +23dBu.

IMD Ratio:

Headphone Amp:
Input: ASIO
Output: HP1 (Unbalanced then balanced)
Fs: 44.1kHz

Had to so measurements are in mono. So no channel matching etc sorry.
The headphone amp has a "membrane weight compensation" setting. The lower it is the louder is it's output.
All measurements were made with that setting in its minimum position of -4.6 Ohm.

Unbalanced SNR:
600 Ohm Load, from 0dBFS

Unbalanced THD+N Ratio vs Measured Power:
Firstly 300 Ohm resistive load

Then 32 Ohm resistive load

Balanced SNR:
600 Ohm resistive load, from 0dBFS

Balanced THD+N vs Measured Power:
Firstly 300 Ohm resistive load

Then 32 Ohm resistive load

Official Specs:

Closing Thoughts:
I'm curious of what you think about these.
The DAC A-Weighted SNR is 135.7dB so around 2dB off from the 138dB announced. I do like the distorsion measurement though.
I'm not sure what to think about the headphone amp. The unbalanced output seem to be better.
The ADC looks pretty good except that weird plateau in IMD starting at +5 dBu.
One selling point still remaining is the oven controlled clock as I couldn't set up the j-test.

 

[JSmith]

Hi,
First review here

Hi and welcome to ASR.

Since the APX555 was just there

Well that's a nice item to just have there, bonus.

As a reviewer, please request a reviewer tag by sending @amirm a PM;

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JSmith

 

[Toine]

As a reviewer, please request a reviewer tag by sending @amirm a PM;

Hi! Thanks for the reminder I asked Amir.

 

[amirm]

Very nice. Promoted to home page.

 

[SoundsGood2Me]

mazing Testing Sir! Thank You.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Thanks for the testing. I have one of their less expensive devices which is pretty good. But it isn't equal to the results you get here. Good job on the testing.

Welcome to ASR. An excellent first posting and first thread.

 

[CleanSound]

Since the APX555 was just there I did some measurements.

I wish I had an AP that was just there too.

 

[Music1969]

I wish I had an AP that was just there too.

Cosmos ADC + Scaler is good to have, just there

 

[Hemi-Demon]

Pretty expensive for 4 CS4398 chips and a AK5578. It measures pretty well other than the headphone output.

Does this unit have 48V phantom power?

Great first post by the OP, amd thanks for taking the time to share your findings

 

[Blumlein 88]

Pretty expensive for 4 CS4398 chips and a AK5578. It measures pretty well other than the headphone output.

Does this unit have 48V phantom power?

Great first post by the OP, amd thanks for taking the time to share your findings

Don't think it has microphone preamps on board so no 48 v phantom power.

 

[GXAlan]

This 0 dBFS shows 12Vrms. What happens if you send a -9.5 or -10 dBFS signal to get 4V or so? Is there any way to get the output voltage down?

 

[Eldus]

What makes this ADC a "mastering" ADC?

 

[Rja4000]

Interesting review
Thanks

 

[Rja4000]

What makes this ADC a "mastering" ADC?

Marketing
Helped by the fact it's line level only and has good enough performances.

 

[Toine]

This 0 dBFS shows 12Vrms. What happens if you send a -9.5 or -10 dBFS signal to get 4V or so?

You can kinda make that out on the SINAD vs measured level graph. But I tested it as a +24dBu line in/out, it's less easy to compare with other DAC measurements sorry about that.

Is there any way to get the output voltage down?

As in a special function ? Not really, TRS outputs have +18dBu

 

[DSJR]

Hope you'll be able to test gear more widely available in Europe/UK if possible - Welcome

This 'mastering' A-D-A is £2750 in the UK it seems from a quick search, so maybe a bit pricy for what it offers a domestic user performance wise?

Now what we need is someone in Europe with a Klippel who's happy to test speakers not available in the US...

 

[IamJF]

SNR is normally measured with A weighting - that would be part of the difference.

A/D SINAD is not nice, lot's of H3 too. Did you do SINAD over level? Maybe THD ocours with that high level in the front stage electronics and it's better at lower level.

I just recently bought an Antelope Zen Q USB as a high quality mobile interface. Didn't measure it for now but it's noisefree - will do for measurements ;-)
But the software and drivers ... it has no chance to exchange RME for reliable studio use.

 

[Toine]

SNR is normally measured with A weighting - that would be part of the difference.

Yep of course, the DAC's A weighted SNR is 135.7dB. I should have precised that in the statement.

Did you do SINAD over level?

I'll include that in a second round of measures. I wanted to test the balanced headphones out as a stereo line out just to see what it does.

But the software and drivers ...

I've read the horror stories but it went ok for me for now. I'll eventually see in lengthy sessions.

 

[GWolfman]

Since the APX555 was just there

Sounds like a problem many of us wouldn’t mind having.

Thanks for the review!

 

[Toine]

Did you do SINAD over level? Maybe THD ocours with that high level in the front stage electronics and it's better at lower level.

Here's the AD SINAD vs level. Reversed shape of THD.