Wattson Audio Emerson Analog

Description

The Emerson Analog is a network streamer and DAC in one small box. It takes music from your network over Ethernet and sends it out as an analogue signal on a pair of RCA sockets, so it connects directly to the line input of an amplifier, a preamplifier or active loudspeakers. There is no separate DAC to buy and no digital cable to choose.

It runs Wattson’s own streaming software on a Texas Instruments Sitara processor, with a bit-perfect data path and two low-noise oscillators, one for the 44.1kHz family of sample rates and one for the 48kHz family. Conversion is handled by a WM8742 DAC chip. PCM plays up to 384kHz/24-bit and DSD up to DSD64, without transcoding. Wattson’s digital volume control lets you match the output to your amplifier’s input sensitivity, or use it as the volume control when you need one.

Compared with the Emerson Digital, the casework and size are identical. The difference is where the conversion happens. The Analog does it inside the box and hands over an analogue signal. The Digital leaves conversion to a DAC you already own. If you have no external DAC, or want the shortest path from network to amplifier, this is the one. Wattson Audio is a Swiss maker, and the Emerson range is machined from aluminium and updated through firmware over Ethernet.