HESCHL AUDIO LABS HAL 350

Australian company Heschl Audio Labs has released its Hal 350 amplifier/DAC, which was designed by local Australian designer Rod Harris. So-named because of its rated power output (350-watts into 8Ω) the Hal 350 is said to be completely stable into loads as low as 2Ω and able to deliver 600-watts per channel into 4Ω loads while maintaining a frequency response of 2Hz–250kHz (–3dB). The DAC section of the HAL350 uses a custom DAC based on a discrete R-2R sign magnitude DAC design, with FPGA based FIFO buffering/ reclocking and custom digital filters. It can process up to 24-bit /384kHz data from the HAL350’s USB input and up to 192kHz on the coaxial (S/PDIF) and optical (Toslink) inputs. ‘ The DAC has a low jitter digital controlled oscillator, data is sent though a short FIFO and the FPGA and uC measure incoming bit-rate and adjust the clock as needed,’ says Harris. ‘ Basically it’s a digital PLL with very fast lock and very slow filtering. So, the DAC itself only needs serial data, word clock and bit clock… no master clock required: it will sync to whatever you feed it.’

‘ The Heschl HAL350 Integrated DAC Amplifier is our flagship product, and is the result of many years of research, prototypes and perseverance,’ said Simon Garcia, of Heschl. ‘ We can confidently promise you something that is both state-of-the-art and of audiophile-quality that will give you music listening enjoyment for years to come. It has been designed as a longlived device—all of the amplifiers Rod has designed over the past twenty years are still going strong and still sounding awesome.’ All amplifier control is accomplished via a single multifunction control on the front panel, or via Bluetooth using an iOS/Android app. Available now, the Heschl HAL350 integrated amplifier/DAC retails for $24,999 (RRP). For more information, contact Heschl Audio Labs via its website at www.heschl.com.au