Description
“Best DAC, Preamp, HDMI switcher, balanced output, remote. Can’t be touched at it’s price of $649.” Ron Bufford, Audiophile Consumer, July 2023
Upgrade Vintage Receivers, Legacy Receivers, and current analog preamps to the latest and best digital media of all time with the Essence HDACC II-4K DAC Preamp with remote control. Add 4 HDMI digital inputs for the most popular sources like an Apple TV4K, 4K Blu-ray Player, SACD, 4K video games, one HDMI output goes directly to your 4K TV. RCA or XLR analog stereo output feeds your vintage, classic, or modern audio system that lacks digital inputs or has older versions of HDMI that don’t support 4K.
If you’re adopting the 4K video standard but own an AVR or Pre-pro built before 2016 that still works great but only supports 2K (1080p) sources, you’re going to need the HDACC II-4K. With HDMI v2.0b you’ll be able to see and hear sources like the Apple TV4K AV Streamer, 4K Blu-ray, SACD, and more. HDMI 4K sources don’t work when they’re plugged into downstream components or TVs with the older HDMI v1.3/4 standard. Upgrading to 4K requires changing out or working around your existing controller so you gain access to HDMI v2.0b throughput for the best AV content ever.
The HDACC II-4K is an advanced digital control center designed to enable 4 HDMI 4K sources to be controlled, 
switched, and output via analog stereo to a variety of analog audio components. With video support up to 6G at 4K x 2K and audio sample rate support up to 384K at 32 bits, this device has an unbeatable feature set not found on any other DAC on the market today.
In addition to the HDMI inputs, the HDACC II-4K also includes USB 2.0 input, plus Coaxial and Optical Digital inputs and outputs, as well as an A to D converter for your analog sources.
So what exactly do all the various resolutions mean sonically? The lowest resolutions can’t be played very loud, their dynamic range is compressed to save space. The storage space of vinyl, CD, & cassette tapes is limited For example a CD can only store 700 Mb of data while a standard Blu-ray can store 50 Gb of data. The original master recording is at least 5 Gb, that’s why SACD and Blu-ray sound so good, there’s no compression. To hear this level of performance requires an HDMI connection because its encrypted and requires a security protocol that prevents piracy to be de-crypted; we can listen and watch but we cant copy the best content ever. It’s protected against copyright infringement.
This simple chart is all about dynamic range. The dark orange in the tall bar is Blu-ray LPCM 24/96K, with the full 120 dB dynamic range of the original master recording. That’s as good as it gets, a one to one copy of the original is the very definition of the term “high fidelity”, true to the original. The HDACC II-4K can improve the sound of all the low res sources with its “Upsampling” feature, it can take a CD up from 16 bit / 44.1K sample rate to 24 bit / 96K hi res audio, adding smoothness, richness with better detail.
The Blu-ray Live Concert format is hugely entertaining, seeing your favorite artists at their craft creates an emotional intimacy that can never be conveyed at a live concert. In that sense, Blu-ray concerts are a new art form and how the artists make a decent living these days. Here’s some good examples of what I’m talking about.
Note: No USB audio driver required for Mac Computers; Win 10 PCs are now equipped with their own USB Audio Driver.
You can do all this with an HDACC II-4K:
Featuring:
- HDMI v2.0b with HDCP v2.2 for native uncompressed 4K video
- THD + N = 0.00001% at -141 dB S/N ratio
- USB Audio 2.0
- Optical and Coaxial input / output
- Analog Input with A to D Conversion
- Conversion to analog out via RCA, XLR Or Headphone Amp
- HDMI support For SACD Native DSD256 Pass-Through from SPDIF Outputs To a Downstream DSD DAC (DoP not required)
- Up To DSD256 Downloads via DoP (DSD over PCM) over USB, Optical, and Coaxial inputs.
- Includes 4 HDMI v2.0 inputs with one HDMI v2.0 output for switching multiple HDMI v2.0 source devices.
- Supports Coaxial, Optical, USB and 4 HDMI v2.0 Digital inputs
- Supports digital audio signal input and conversion into analog stereo
- Supports HDMI Audio output can either output the incoming embedded HDMI (Bypass Mode) or insert the selected audio signal (Ext Audio Mode)
- HDMI video always bypassed to HDMI output to feed 4K TV
- Supports HDMI video resolutions with HDR / Dolby Vision up to 4Kx2K (3840×2160@24/25/30/50/60 and 4096×2160@24/25/30/50/60Hz)
- Supports Coaxial and Optical input sampling rate up to 384 KHz at 32-bit
- Coaxial and Optical input support DoP (DSD over PCM)
- Supports headphone output volume control
- Supports Sampling Rate Conversion, all inputs can be SRC to 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 and 384 KHz via DSP engine
- Supports L/R RCA, XLR and 6.3mm headphone outputs
- Control by remote control or on-panel master knob
- HDMI Stereo audio de-embedding of uncompressed Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master HD Soundtracks on Blu-ray, SACD, or DVD-A
- Headphone output volume control over main control dial or remote control
- Direct power and mute button on unit
- High viewing angle OLED display
- Headphone output fades in after system is muted
- Win 10 PCs include USB Audio Driver; No driver required for Mac computers
- Analog Output Impedance; Line Out 600 Ohms, XLR Out 300 Ohms
- Warranty is 1 Year from Date of Purchase
| Inputs | 4x HDMI v2.0b [4x Uncompressed AV and Data] 1x Toslink [1x OPTICAL 2 Channel LPCM] 1x RCA [1x COAX 2 Channel LPCM] 1x USB Type B [1x USB (2.0) Audio] 1x 3.5mm Stereo mini-jack [1x Stereo(L/R)] |
| Outputs | 1x HDMI [1x Uncompressed AV and Data] 1x Toslink [1x OPTICAL 2 Channel LPCM] 1x RCA [1x COAX 2 Channel LPCM] 2x RCA [1x Stereo (L/R)] 1x 6.35mm Stereo Jack [1x Headphone] 2x XLR [1x Stereo (Balanced)] |
| PSU: | 5V/3A |
| Dimensions | 8.8″ (223mm) W x 5.7″ (145mm) D x 1.9″ (48mm) H |
| Net Weight | 2 lbs (886g) |
Link to HDACC II-4K Owners Manual
Note: USB sources no longer require an external USB audio driver for Windows 10 PCs, Microsoft added native USB support for 24 bit Hi Res audio soundtracks as a standard feature of Windows 10. Mac computers do not require USB Audio Drivers.
The latest firmware version is v3.11, implemented in March 2022. If your HDACC II-4K works fine at v2.29, it’s not necessary to upgrade at this time. Chipset code management is the main goal of the new firmware version. Send an email to [email protected], I’ll send you the file and instructions for loading on your Win 10 computer.
