{"id":122840,"date":"2021-01-17T01:57:17","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T01:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techweekmag.com\/?p=122840"},"modified":"2023-10-18T07:27:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T06:27:41","slug":"focal-arche-review-the-first-of-its-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/hi-fi\/focal-arche-review-the-first-of-its-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"Focal Arche : The first of its kind"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Focal introduces the Arche Headphone Amplifier \/ DAC, the first of its kind in its catalog.\u00a0The device was developed by Micromega according to Focal specifications.<\/p>\n<p>The amplifier operates in Class A, but has two amplification options: Voltage and Hybrid.\u00a0In the first mode, the output impedance of the device is only 0.1 Ohm, which improves dynamics, and in the second, the impedance increases.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the company has not yet provided more specific information on the amplification modes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"focal arche 3rd.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/9943ec329153ab6bd885140f66b44e27.jpg\" alt=\"focal arche 3rd.jpg\" width=\"800\" height=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Focal Arche has built-in special sound profiles, tuned for all released Focal headphones &#8211; not only for the new Stellia, but also for the previously presented models.<\/p>\n<p>However, headphones from other companies are also not deprived &#8211; according to the developers, Arche can easily cope with any headphones with an impedance of 16 to 600 ohms.\u00a0For headphones with impedance up to 32 ohms, it outputs 1 W per channel.<br \/>\nA pair of AK4490 chips are responsible for signal processing: Arche is ready to work with PCM up to 32 bit \/ 384 kHz and DSD256.\u00a0In the &#8220;double mono&#8221; format, not only the DAC works, but the amplifier itself, and each channel has its own power supply.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"focal arche 2nd.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/01691e2d86a1b3e43b80cb9cc17e58e4.jpg\" alt=\"focal arche 2nd.jpg\" width=\"800\" height=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For convenience, the front panel has two headphone jacks (XLR and 6.3mm jack), a screen that displays menu items, and a multifunctional knob.\u00a0At the back there are three digital inputs (optics, coaxial, USB), one analog, as well as balanced and unbalanced outputs, which will allow the Focal Arche to be integrated into a full-size audio system as a DAC.\u00a0The amplifier comes with an aluminum headphone stand that attaches to the grille.<\/p>\n<p><b>Key features of Focal Arche:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>D \/ A converter supporting high definition DSD 256 &#8211; PCM 24 bit \/ 384 kHz formats<br \/>\nBuilt-in headphone amplifier with two modes of operation (current and hybrid) for the best match with your headphone model<br \/>\nIndividual tuning profiles optimized for each Focal headphone<br \/>\nAudiophile-grade dual mono circuitry from digital inputs to analog headphone output<br \/>\nCan be used as an external DAC for high-end home systems.<\/p>\n<p><b>Main technical characteristics of Focal Arche:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Type &#8211; DAC with headphone amplifier<br \/>\nAudio inputs &#8211; linear RCA stereo, digital coaxial RCA 24 bit \/ 192 kHz compatible with AES3 standard, digital optical TosLink 24 bit \/ 192 kHz compatible with AES3 standard, digital USB-B 2.0 \/ 3.0<br \/>\nAudio Outputs &#8211; Balanced XLR, Linear RCA Stereo<br \/>\nFirmware Upgrade &#8211; USB-A<br \/>\nMaximum Input Power &#8211; 2 x 1W @ 1kHz, 32\u03a9<br \/>\nFrequency response &#8211; 10 Hz &#8211; 100 kHz<br \/>\nHarmonic distortion (THD) &#8211; &lt;0.001%<br \/>\nS \/ N weighted -&gt; 116 dB into 32 Ohm<br \/>\nDimensions (H x W x D), mm &#8211; 60 x 200 x 297<br \/>\nWeight, kg &#8211; 4, 65<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Focal introduces the Arche Headphone Amplifier \/ DAC, the first of its kind in its catalog.\u00a0The device was developed by Micromega according to Focal specifications. The amplifier operates in Class A, but has two amplification options: Voltage and Hybrid.\u00a0In the first mode, the output impedance of the device is only 0.1 Ohm, which improves dynamics, [&hellip;] <a class=\"g1-link g1-link-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/hi-fi\/focal-arche-review-the-first-of-its-kind\/\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10404,"featured_media":122842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[642],"tags":[778],"class_list":{"0":"post-122840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hi-fi","8":"tag-reviews"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}