Merging Hapi - A few words about one of the best DACs I ever listened to, and that money can buy to make happy an Audiophile like me.

[improvedsound]

The HAPI in D/A version by Merging Technology, in my opinion is the best DAC DSD 64/128/256 and PCM / DXD 44.1> 384 kHz currently available on the market for remarkable technological and sonical quality!
Belonging to the Professional applications devices, it is the "smallest", equipped with "only" eight independent channels whose configuration can be decided and managed by the user through a powerful software management and control interface. To give a more details about the  "Merging Tecnology" I would like to inform that, this factory produces two product lines. Consumer devices for the Hi Fi / Hi End and for the Professional market.
By making acquaintance with the machine and by shaping up the settings, I have been led to discover a universe that otherwise would have remained unknown to me.
There is nothing in the Hi-Fi market, with the exception of NADAC (a version dedicated to the Hi-Fi market, always produced by the same Swiss company), which allows such an advanced and refined level of configuration.
As already mentioned, the eight converters that equip the DAC, are totally configurable through the setting of the powerful and flexible Driver ASIO Ravenna that allows the setting of each of them.
In this way, the possible uses for this machine can be multiple, making it extremely flexible.
For example, for the eight audio converters (equipped with a single and independent "line" output on D-SUB 25 connector) it is possible to assign a specific task, as the multi amplification; the high quality performance for the digital crossover application; as well as for a refined use in multi-channel configuration and other.....
For my needs, in my  two-channel Hi-Fi system, I hade configuration the DAC,  assigning for the Left and the Right channel a group of four converters that work in parallel.
In this way we obtain greater and more precision, dynamics, definition sound, resolution, warmth and MUSICALITY. All in favor of a huge PLEASURE OF LISTENING!
I repeat, in my opinion, nothing in the Hi Fi market has in common, so refined, flexible technology and audio quality if we consider its purchase price.
The listening evaluations have been obtained in different systems characterized by electronic and loudspeakers quite different from each other by type of construction and design philosophy where Hapi is the official converter in a stable plan in the systems that you will find later described just to give you a idea.

The Hapi inserted in each of these systems has always shown great compatibility at the level of electrical interfacing. Only in a specific case out of five has there been a need to change outgoing sensitivity. Simple thing to do through the menu available through the small OLED display of which the converter is equipped or through the control interface and setting via computer. Thanks to it, it is possible to choose two output levels; +24 dBu or + 18dBu. Sufficient output levels to be coupled to the vast majority of analogue preamplifiers and amplifiers on the market.
What strikes me most about this converter is the absolute transparency and the way in which it is able to reconstruct the soundstage.
Precise, firm, natural, full-bodied with finely chiseled and credible tools and voices. If the records contain micro environmental information, the Hapi is able to return them in their total completeness, also returning the most hidden bit to the clear advantage of a vertex holograph. The depth and width of the stage is extraordinary. The sounds seem to come beyond the physical limits of the room in the three dimensions giving the illusion that you are virtually in the environment where the audio shot was taken.
The low range is able to go down to the maximum allowed by the host plant. The male and female voices are characterized by a realism hardly found in converters of the same cost and / or higher. The high and very high range instead is simply refined and very balanced.
This converter does not favor any kind of music. Everything that he is asked to convert is returned in an exemplary manner without ever breaking down, without ever interpreting and with great transparency. With certain musical genres, where the sound plot is characterized by an important complexity such as symphonic and / or orchestral music, we immediately realize that we are dealing with a machine of great value.
It could not be otherwise, since these converters are used in the best recording studios around the world where transparency, precision and sound quality are an essential parameter for a sound engineer who must be able to understand what happens in the delicate process of acquisition of the sounds and relative conversion.
The listeners in 90% of the cases were conducted listening to files, extracted from my Compact Disc collection, using very high quality ripping software. So losless files, in Red Book format -16-bit resolution and sampling frequency 44.1 kHz- converted on the fly This technique, used by many demanding audiophiles around the world, requires veri high quality computers.
In order to achieve great sonic results, a no compromise  Software Player is request as HQplayer 
 

[ThenewGearPPK]

improvedsound, are you a employee of Merging Technology?

[bibo01]

3 hours ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

improvedsound, are you a employee of Merging Technology?

No, he is not, I assure you, only a Hapi enthusiast owner.

[matthias]

@improvedsound

Do you use the new DA8P card with the ES9028PRO in your Hapi?

Thanks

 

Matt

[asdf1000]

12 hours ago, improvedsound said:

The HAPI in D/A version by Merging Technology, in my opinion is the best DAC DSD 64/128/256 and PCM / DXD 44.1> 384 kHz currently available on the market for remarkable technological and sonical quality!
Belonging to the Professional applications devices, it is the "smallest", equipped with "only" eight independent channels whose configuration can be decided and managed by the user through a powerful software management and control interface. To give a more details about the  "Merging Tecnology" I would like to inform that, this factory produces two product lines. Consumer devices for the Hi Fi / Hi End and for the Professional market.
By making acquaintance with the machine and by shaping up the settings, I have been led to discover a universe that otherwise would have remained unknown to me.
There is nothing in the Hi-Fi market, with the exception of NADAC (a version dedicated to the Hi-Fi market, always produced by the same Swiss company), which allows such an advanced and refined level of configuration.
As already mentioned, the eight converters that equip the DAC, are totally configurable through the setting of the powerful and flexible Driver ASIO Ravenna that allows the setting of each of them.
In this way, the possible uses for this machine can be multiple, making it extremely flexible.
For example, for the eight audio converters (equipped with a single and independent "line" output on D-SUB 25 connector) it is possible to assign a specific task, as the multi amplification; the high quality performance for the digital crossover application; as well as for a refined use in multi-channel configuration and other.....
For my needs, in my  two-channel Hi-Fi system, I hade configuration the DAC,  assigning for the Left and the Right channel a group of four converters that work in parallel.
In this way we obtain greater and more precision, dynamics, definition sound, resolution, warmth and MUSICALITY. All in favor of a huge PLEASURE OF LISTENING!
I repeat, in my opinion, nothing in the Hi Fi market has in common, so refined, flexible technology and audio quality if we consider its purchase price.
The listening evaluations have been obtained in different systems characterized by electronic and loudspeakers quite different from each other by type of construction and design philosophy where Hapi is the official converter in a stable plan in the systems that you will find later described just to give you a idea.

The Hapi inserted in each of these systems has always shown great compatibility at the level of electrical interfacing. Only in a specific case out of five has there been a need to change outgoing sensitivity. Simple thing to do through the menu available through the small OLED display of which the converter is equipped or through the control interface and setting via computer. Thanks to it, it is possible to choose two output levels; +24 dBu or + 18dBu. Sufficient output levels to be coupled to the vast majority of analogue preamplifiers and amplifiers on the market.
What strikes me most about this converter is the absolute transparency and the way in which it is able to reconstruct the soundstage.
Precise, firm, natural, full-bodied with finely chiseled and credible tools and voices. If the records contain micro environmental information, the Hapi is able to return them in their total completeness, also returning the most hidden bit to the clear advantage of a vertex holograph. The depth and width of the stage is extraordinary. The sounds seem to come beyond the physical limits of the room in the three dimensions giving the illusion that you are virtually in the environment where the audio shot was taken.
The low range is able to go down to the maximum allowed by the host plant. The male and female voices are characterized by a realism hardly found in converters of the same cost and / or higher. The high and very high range instead is simply refined and very balanced.
This converter does not favor any kind of music. Everything that he is asked to convert is returned in an exemplary manner without ever breaking down, without ever interpreting and with great transparency. With certain musical genres, where the sound plot is characterized by an important complexity such as symphonic and / or orchestral music, we immediately realize that we are dealing with a machine of great value.
It could not be otherwise, since these converters are used in the best recording studios around the world where transparency, precision and sound quality are an essential parameter for a sound engineer who must be able to understand what happens in the delicate process of acquisition of the sounds and relative conversion.
The listeners in 90% of the cases were conducted listening to files, extracted from my Compact Disc collection, using very high quality ripping software. So losless files, in Red Book format -16-bit resolution and sampling frequency 44.1 kHz- converted on the fly This technique, used by many demanding audiophiles around the world, requires veri high quality computers.
In order to achieve great sonic results, a no compromise  Software Player is request as HQplayer 
 

 

Hi, did you know about the upcoming Merging Anubis?

 

If so, especially since you are a 2-channel user and Merging Anubis (with DXD/DSD 6-channel DAC) is rumoured to be just over half the price of Hapi + DA8P, what made you decide to go ahead with Hapi instead?

 

 

[bibo01]

2 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

 

Hi, did you know about the upcoming Merging Anubis?

 

If so, especially since you are a 2-channel user and Merging Anubis (with DXD/DSD 6-channel DAC) is rumoured to be just over half the price of Hapi + DA8P, what made you decide to go ahead with Hapi instead?

 

 

I reply for him... He has had a Hapi for about one year, so he was not aware of Anubis.

[matthias]

30 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

.......and Merging Anubis (with DXD/DSD 6-channel DAC) is rumoured to be just over half the price of Hapi + DA8P.......

 

That would be nice as Hapi+DA8P is around 4100 Euro in Europe.

 

Matt

[asdf1000]

29 minutes ago, bibo01 said:

I reply for him... He has had a Hapi for about one year, so he was not aware of Anubis.

 

Ah ok no problem. 1 year makes sense.

 

It read like he just purchased Hapi recently. 

 

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[One and a half]

Somehow I couldn’t see the DB25 connectors having the same durability as standard XLR and worse to use a snake to convert from one t’other. The Hapi wasn’t cheap either, so passed on this design. 

[asdf1000]

2 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

That would be nice as Hapi+DA8P is around 4100 Euro in Europe.

 

Matt

 

Rumoured to be well under.

 

Somewhere between that number and half but closer to half.

 

All revealed next week, so we'll see how close (or far) rumours are.

[matthias]

9 minutes ago, One and a half said:

Somehow I couldn’t see the DB25 connectors having the same durability as standard XLR and worse to use a snake to convert from one t’other. The Hapi wasn’t cheap either, so passed on this design. 

 

Agree.

I am considering Anubis.

But also Anubis must be compared vs. other contenders.

 

Matt

[asdf1000]

I see a pair of XLR outputs there, line outs?

 

At least good news for those interested only in 2-channel DAC output?

 

[matthias]

11 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

I see a pair of XLR outputs there, line outs?

 

At least good news for those interested only in 2-channel DAC output?

 

 

Yes, good news.

There are even rumours that the DAC is superior to Hapi.

 

Matt

[matthias]

1 hour ago, bibo01 said:

He has had a Hapi for about one year.......

 

I suppose the listening impressions are with the old DAC card.

AFAIK, the new one was launched July/August 2018.

 

Matt

[bibo01]

2 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

I suppose the listening impressions are with the old DAC card.

AFAIK, the new one was launched July/August 2018.

 

Matt

No, I am almost sure that now he has the new card DA Premium

[Miska]

1 hour ago, One and a half said:

Somehow I couldn’t see the DB25 connectors having the same durability as standard XLR and worse to use a snake to convert from one t’other. The Hapi wasn’t cheap either, so passed on this design. 

 

The TASCAM DB25 connection is pretty much standard in pro-audio gear. Hapi rear panel wouldn't have space for 8x AES, 8x XLR in and 8x XLR out...

 

I admit it can be somewhat tricky and one needs to be careful with the cables. I have this kind of cabling for gear with TASCAM standard connections:

[Kal Rubinson]

5 hours ago, Em2016 said:

Hi, did you know about the upcoming Merging Anubis?

 

If so, especially since you are a 2-channel user and Merging Anubis (with DXD/DSD 6-channel DAC) is rumoured to be just over half the price of Hapi + DA8P, what made you decide to go ahead with Hapi instead?

According to what I have heard, the Anubis is not particularly convenient for multichannel because "Two channels come out through XLR connectors, two through line level phone jacks, and the remaining two through the headphone jacks."

I prefer DB25 snakes to that!

[asdf1000]

2 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

According to what I have heard, the Anubis is not particularly convenient for multichannel because "Two channels come out through XLR connectors, two through line level phone jacks, and the remaining two through the headphone jacks."

I prefer DB25 snakes to that!

 

Agreed (and I've heard the same) 

 

2-channel is all I need though, so very interested in Anubis.

[matthias]

4 hours ago, matthias said:

There are even rumours that the DAC is superior to Hapi.

 

Correction.

According to info from @tailspn the rumours are related to the ADC and not the DAC.

 

Matt

[asdf1000]

Just now, matthias said:

 

Correction.

According to info from @tailspn the rumours are related to the ADC and not the DAC.

 

Matt

 

Yeh the 'Premium' DAC option for Anubis (DXD/DSD) is rumoured to be very similar performance to Hapi/Horus DA8P

[matthias]

6 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

2-channel is all I need though, so very interested in Anubis.

 

Same for me.

 

Matt

[asdf1000]

22 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

According to what I have heard, the Anubis is not particularly convenient for multichannel because "Two channels come out through XLR connectors, two through line level phone jacks, and the remaining two through the headphone jacks."

I prefer DB25 snakes to that!

 

I know you're a big multi-channel fan.

 

In your reference system, is your multi-channel D-to-A done by Merging? A NADAC or Hapi/Horus?

 

Or something else at the moment?

 

If Merging - playing of multi-channel files is from a Mac or Windows PC via Ravenna?

 

Can you share your entire playback system/chain, include PC/Mac, software etc.

 

Only if you don't mind me asking of course.

 

[matthias]

BTW, does anyone know if Anubis has the power supply internal or external?

Thanks

 

Matt

[asdf1000]

5 minutes ago, matthias said:

BTW, does anyone know if Anubis has the power supply internal or external?

Thanks

 

Matt

 

It's hard to see what's on the far left - if there's a DC input or AC input... I would guess for the small size it's DC input somewhere, maybe to the left of the Ravenna ethernet input (out of picture in the video).

 

Unless it's power over ethernet? I hope not... for selfish reasons.

 

Tom seems to know more than everyone about this, so ping him a query on GS Forum.

 

 

[matthias]

19 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

Tom seems to know more than everyone about this.......

 

Yes, I asked him to chime in here.

 

Matt