T+A PSD 3100 HV

The streaming preamplifier DAC

The PSD 3100 HV has been designed to combine the power of our best preamplifiers and converters with the ease of use of a multi-source player.

Starting with professional digital inputs, FM, FM-HD, DAB+, Bluetooth and Connect services playback through to streaming local and global internet and network sources, the PSD 3100 HV converts all digital directly into high quality analogue signals and is the consistent audiophile answer for anyone whose music collection has outgrown the CD era. The PSD 3100 HV is the universal control unit for a high-end installation, to which the corresponding power amplifiers or active loudspeakers are simply connected.

At the same time, it embodies our uncompromisingly scientific approach: the best possible reproduction quality without harmful interactions between the various analogue and digital modules is only possible in a multifunctional device through the combination of unique technologies and decades of experience.

At the heart of the PSD 3100 HV is a network card designed with audiophiles in mind, whose task is to process the incoming WLAN, LAN and USB master mode signals and to access high-quality streaming services such as Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer. For local applications, the new third-generation T+A streaming client streams PCM data at up to 192/32 (HD) quality and DSD files at up to DSD 256 resolution directly from the network.

In addition to exceptionally high playback quality, the streaming client focuses on equally high user convenience:

the free airable service manages streaming services and Internet radio stations, allowing full automated management in the background.

The PSD 3100 HV overcomes the contradiction that has long existed between mobile data transmission and playback quality thanks to AirPlay2 and aptX HD™ technology, which is able to transmit even uncompressed Flac files without loss of quality.

In addition to the Internet radio access integrated in the streaming client, the PSD 3100 HV enables three other radio services: FM, FM-HD and DAB+. Their exceptionally high sound quality is guaranteed by the digital intermediate frequency, demodulation and stereo decoder final stage used, while the high sensitivity allows the PSD to pick up even the weakest signals and process them cleanly: Only the intelligent combination of all these features allows the most classic of signal sources to sound excellent, both on cable and on aerials.

Thanks to a Class A preamplifier built discreetly in HV technology, the relay-controlled volume control with balance and loudness function, the tone control that can be switched off and the "state of the art" dual mono output stages used, the PSD 3100 HV is also a first-class preamplifier. Its high-quality unbalanced XLR and RCA outputs provide a signal bridge to power amplifiers and active loudspeakers, while headphones can be connected via a Pentaconn 4.4 mm balanced headphone output. This receives its signal from a special high-performance headphone amplifier which, in addition to offering excellent sound, is very stable in voltage and current. This means that it can easily power any dynamic headphones with high reserves.

The PSD 3100 HV's digital connection board covers the full range of modern digital sources: professional AES/EBU, BNC, optical and SP/DIF coaxial inputs are available, as well as two HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. All of these allow you to connect any external source, such as a set-top box, player or source. The IPA-LINK socket is intended for the connection of our reference SACD player PDT 3100 HV and transmits its data in full resolution, i.e. also SACD files, unlike the SP/DIF inputs. The USB B (Device Mode) input, based on the Thesycon chip, allows the processing of very high resolution PC formats up to DSD 512 and PCM 768 by downstream conversion modules.

We believe in unaltered sound reproduction, as this is the only way to convey the artists' intent, without adding or removing anything. Converters therefore have a crucial role to play, as they must recreate the original analogue music as close as possible to the original from the digital data. The common digital audio formats are PCM and DSD, they are fundamentally different, but most manufacturers use only one type of converter for both. Not so at T+A, our answer to this problem is the revolutionary Path Separation technology: to get the best possible results from both formats, we have developed dedicated PCM and DSD converter types for our high-end devices. PCM formats are converted up to 32bit/768kSps with our quadruple differential dual converter and DSD formats up to DSD 512 (24.6MHz) with the single T+A True-1Bit DSD D/A converter.

The quad PCM converter has a double-balanced circuit with eight 32-bit BurrBrown converters, which allows for above-average compensation of non-linearities and a further 6 dB reduction of the already low residual noise. Even for critical passages and the smallest musical details, this converter provides virtually unparalleled resolution, dynamics, linearity and freedom from distortion. The converter is controlled by a 56-bit signal processor that offers different oversampling algorithms and thus the possibility to individually adapt the sound characteristics in the time and frequency domain. Four types of filters are available, the Bézier filters we have developed have an optimal temporal behaviour and do not show any pre- or post-oscillations in the analogue signal.

Our T+A True 1Bit DSD converter is also absolutely unique because it breaks with a paradigm: conventional converters process DSD signals by converting them to PCM and reproducing them via the PCM mode. We believe that this results in a loss of the native quality of DSD recordings. That's why we developed the True 1-Bit DSD Converter, which does not convert DSD data but transforms it natively, thus fully preserving the sonic advantages of a bit stream.