Advances to component base and in the standards for digital audio transmission and distribution have lead to the necessity for a glimpse at the future. The input section of the original Maximinus has been completely redesigned. Now it implements as standard the support of all HI Resolution formats including DSD up to 512 and sampling rates up to 768kHz at 32bit data.
Apart from the standard inputs like Toslink, SPDIF, AES and Asynchronous USB now the Maximinus adds as standard also Bluethoot wireless audio with support of the new high resolution audio codec by Qualcomm AptX HD. (supported by Windows 10)
Maximinus also now features a built in streaming receiver module based on an embedded Linux engine supporting Hi Resolution audio streaming direct to the DAC. The module is updatable via new software and for now it supports Roon, DLNA and AirPlay streaming.
The occasion was used to fuse the DAC modules on one board by introducing new control FPGA feeding the 4 DACs and handling clocks. To take full advantage new shunt regulators raising the reference voltage of the R2R DAC and increasing the dynamic range further where added to the design. With the higher speeds and new components everything is now more compact leaving space for future add-ons.
Planned are buffered I2S input and HDMI audio extractor. (2020)
Deliveries start July 2019.