PATHOS CONVERTO MKII

CONVERTO MKII - Made in Italy (Special Order Only)

D/A Converter Preamplifier and Headphone Amplifier

Overview

A fully balanced DAC built around SABRE chips with a headphone amp, and entirely handmade in Italy

"Musical." That's the word that comes to mind as soon as music starts playing through the Converto. What does that mean though? With "unmusical" DACs, think about the banding in the sky in low-res digital photos--the inability to smoothly run through subtle shades of the same hue. That's what happens in noisier, less optimized digital products; there's an inability to present the subtle shading that makes music human and real. All those little echoes, instrument decays, and minute resonances are buried under the noise floor of lesser DACs, and hence the use of "digital' as a pejorative.

But "digital" isn't and shouldn't be a bad word. When done right, it has tremendous inner detail and life. High-resolution streams and recordings are commonplace, and these offer air and spaciousness just like good vinyl does. The Converto is no exception. The innate detail orientedness of the SABRE chip is implemented in a supremely, yes, musical circuit, that instantly draws you into the emotion and intention of the music.

The Converto MkII does not have a remote control. The Converto MkII RR is the same DAC but with remote control capability.

Specifications