CONVERT-2 rounds out a line of converters Dangerous Music has developed since 2002, when the built-in DAC in the original Monitor became an unofficial industry reference point. Five switchable digital inputs — AES, S/PDIF, ADAT, TOSLINK, and bi-directional USB — feed an analog front end and reconstruction filters personally tuned by Chris Muth, and Dangerous Music publishes actual measured specifications rather than theoretical numbers from a chip manufacturer's datasheet.
USB Uplink: a two-way bridge between a digital source and the DAW
USB Uplink technology routes the signal arriving at the AES/SPDIF-2 input back through the USB cable straight into a DAW session, so any digital source — a CD transport, another converter, a streaming device — can be captured without connecting a separate audio interface just to grab the reference. Instant switching between monitoring the original digital signal and the Uplinked version lets you add finalizing plugins on a DAW return track and immediately compare processed against unprocessed, with no cable swapping or routing changes.
Calibration and metering built for mastering work, not hi-fi playback
Three input calibration levels — -14, -16, and -18dBFS — switch with one front-panel button rather than being locked in permanently at the factory, as on many professional converters. Peak-over-average metering, the kind found on expensive outboard mastering meters, calibrates automatically to whichever reference level is selected, and a three-consecutive-sample-over indicator warns when the signal is approaching a CD-spec violation. The output pot can be bypassed entirely via a relay by turning it fully clockwise — useful when CONVERT-2 is working alongside an external monitor controller and volume control needs to happen elsewhere.
KEY FEATURES
- Five switchable digital inputs: AES, S/PDIF, ADAT, TOSLINK, USB (bi-directional)
- USB Uplink technology for capturing the AES/SPDIF-2 signal straight into the DAW
- Automatic sample-rate detection, range 44.1-192kHz
- Three input calibration levels: -14, -16, -18dBFS
- Peak-over-average metering with automatic calibration to the reference level
- Three-consecutive-sample-over indicator
- Output pot with a full relay-bypass option
- Ultra-low-jitter JetPLL clocking, three clock modes: Normal, External, Master
- Word Clock input/thru
- Integration with the MONITOR-ST remote for remote digital input selection
- Analog outputs: 2x XLR, balanced
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Signal-to-noise ratio (A-weighted), 20Hz-20kHz: better than 114dB
- Signal-to-noise ratio (unweighted), 20Hz-20kHz: better than 113dB
- Dynamic range (A-weighted/unweighted): better than 114dB / 113dB
- THD+N at 1kHz, +4dBu output: below 0.00188% (94.5dB)
- THD+N at 1kHz, +22dBu output: below 0.00048% (106.5dB)
- Frequency response @96kHz: to 20kHz +0/-0.25dB, to 30kHz +0/-0.5dB, to 40kHz +0/-1.0dB
- Jitter: 16ps (100Hz-40kHz), 18ps (100Hz-1MHz)
- Crosstalk rejection: greater than 114dB at 1kHz
