Drawmer HQ Precision Pre-amp / DAC

Drawmer has unveiled the HQ, a combined monitor pre-amp/volume controller and DAC aimed at devotees to high-fidelity audio.

The HQ is a listening device incorporating a pre-amp and offering balanced volume control over a variety of analogue and digital input sources, with low inter-channel crosstalk. The HQ also has a DAC for clean conversion of digital sources to analogue for reference monitoring, the manufacturer says.

Volume adjustment and source selection take place via the pair of rotary controls on the front panel. A third, smaller front-panel rotary control allows you to switch between two different sets of speakers for quick A/B comparisons, or allows the HQ to drive both sets of outputs simultaneously.

Designed to act as a central hub in a studio, mastering room, reference library or any high-end listening environment, Drawmer’s HQ is designed to facilitate fast switching between sources and outputs in multi-speaker setups, according to Drawmer. Analogue inputs accept audio on balanced XLRs and unbalanced phonos. In addition, separate stereo RIAA-corrected phono inputs are provided, so that turntables may be directly connected for restoration work or reference without the need for a separate phono pre-amp. The HQ also permits the connection of digital sources at up to 192kHz in AES format (via XLRs), TOSlink (on an RCA jack) or AES3id (on a BNC connector), and a standard USB 'B’-type connector allows audio to be streamed at lower rates from a laptop.

Each input source, whether in the analogue or digital domain, may be given its own input gain settings for optimum level-matching of the connected devices. Audio from mixing desks, turntables, digital audio workstations and DVD, Blu-ray or CD players may all be united within the HQ and sent to the balanced and unbalanced analogue outputs simultaneously. Digital sources at their original sample rate and bit depth can also be routed to a dedicated S/PDIF output.

For more information, visit www.drawmer.com.