Rowland Aeris DAC

GuidoCorona

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Apr 23, 2010
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The Rowland suite at CES 2011 showcased a working prototype of the new Jeff Rowland Aeris DAC. To the best of my knowledge, Aeris is JRDG's 1st entry in the digital front end arena.

I have little information on Aeris this far, except for what I extracted from the internet, pasted below:

• Machined aluminum chassis
• 1 x USB 24/96
• 1 x toslink and 1x RCA S/PDIF 24/192
• 24/352.8kHz capable DAC chip
• 6 layer circuit board
• Plug-n-play driver free USB
• Total jitter output of less than 10 ps from any input source
• Separated multi-stage isolated low noise power supply
• Separated analog and digital circuits
• Dual stage analog and digital volume control (70dB range)
• 1 x balance transformer coupled outputs (XLR) and 1 x unbalanced RCA
• Rhodium cardas output connectors
• Suggest U.S. retail price: $9800.

I have no official information yet on Aeris release date. I will update this stubb as soon as I find out more.
 
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GuidoCorona

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Thank you Wizard.... did you see/hear Aeris at CES.... Any other info/impressions you can share?

G.
 

flez007

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Hi again Guido:

I remember having a conversation some years back with both Jeff and Neil Pattel, and by that time Jeff said that he was OK with EAD as their "preferred" DAC, as well as an interesting story on why Avalon speakers did not end with the JRDG sticker.... So yes, I do not recall any other attempt from Rowland designing DACs.
 

wizard

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GuidoCorona

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Thank you Flez, indeed there has not been a DAC in JRDG product lineup until Aeris.... I am very curious as of Aeris sound. Guido
 

GuidoCorona

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Hi Bill, I will call the factory next week... But I suspect it may still be several weeks before Aeris starts shipping. Guido
 

microstrip

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So yes, I do not recall any other attempt from Rowland designing DACs.

I think that in the 80's Jeff Rowland did some modifications to a Sony top of the range CD player, but I also never heard about a DAC.
 

GuidoCorona

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Husk, unfortunately I have no information on M925 ship date. As soon as I hear something definite from the factory, I will let everyone know.... I am awaiting for my pair. G.
 

GuidoCorona

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Apr 23, 2010
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According to the RMAF official spreadsheet that I downloaded from audiofest.net, Rowland Aeris will be shown at RMAF 2011 next week starting Friday 14th in the Marriott Tower, level 10, room 1004. It is likely that the DAC will also be on static display in Blu Note's units 21, 22, and 23 on the lobby level. You may also want to have a peek at Avalon's room 2002.... Last year they used Rowland electronics.
 

GuidoCorona

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Yes Doc, I will stay at the Marriott starting Friday, and will leave Sunday evening. I'll PM you my cell number. G.
 

GuidoCorona

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Apr 23, 2010
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In answer to some of the questions above, Aeris has started to ship. There is instead no new information on M925

At RMAF, Aeris was being driven by a Brighston server, and in turn was driving directly the M625 amplifier.... there was no traditional preamplifier in the system.. As I have not experienced Aeris in my own system yet, I can't address the obvious question.... how does a pure Aeris presentation differ from that yielded by a combination of Aeris + Criterion? Future may tell.

G.
 

GuidoCorona

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Apr 23, 2010
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I have received confirmation on Friday from the Rowland factory that Aeris is now shipping in quantities. G.
 

flez007

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Aug 31, 2010
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I really enjoyed my time at the Rowland/Thiel room at RMAF, the Aegis was playing directly via its variable output tonthe 625 - that room was listed in my top-10!
 

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