“While the SPL Mercury is considered a full-blooded tool for the pro audio studio, it could also claim a spot in the home and hi-fi domain for a variety of reasons.”
For the edition 4/22 of German HiFi Sound & Musik magazine, Joachim Pfeiffer wrote a great review about our Mastering D/A Converter. Even though the Mercury is originally designed for professional studio use, Joachim used the D/A converter to transfer digital signals to tape for hi-fi use. With great success. You can find the complete review (in German) in the magazine – here we provide a short summary in English.
“The converter, which was designed and produced in Germany, comes with an essential feature for transferring to tapes: an USB interface to the Apple computer. It’s great that SPL and Mac perfectly match without any further software issues. The program ‘Audio Midi’, which is already installed in every Mac, recognizes the Mercury as if by magic and offers a very special way of playing.”
“Besides the mentioned USB interface and the mandatory ‘AES-EBU’ inputs, the German developers also provide a coaxial input.”
“Thanks to these inputs, Mercury can also be connected to almost any digital source without requiring any additional adapters.”
Conclusion:
“What a dream device for ambitious audiophiles.”
“The editorial team will no longer live without the quality of the SPL Mercury. Such a component will definitely not be sent back to the manufacturer, it will be bought with pleasure and without a guilty conscience.”
“The SPL Mercury was an outstanding companion, an awesome sound for what can still be described as a reasonable price. So it will come as no surprise that the inevitable hour of farewell was cancelled this time: the editorial staff bought two Mercury at once, in order to have a benchmark-setting reference in different configurations.”
