The Merlot is a new design from ground up and borrows elements from the existing 5- and 3-series product lines and combines them with new technologies in a novel and cost effective package. Like all Playback Designs products, the Merlot was designed from the inside out to maximize sonic performance which is competitive with many much higher priced converters and often even outperforms them.

With its many unique features it is the centre piece of the entire Sonoma series. It ties all the various products together, the Syrah Music server, the OpBox disc player and the Pinot ADC. There is no audio format, no sample rate that cannot be played on the Sonoma series, even analog audio can be played. And then there is recording...a feature that is not commonly associated with playback. This system gives the Swiss Army Knife a new meaning.

http://playbackdesigns.com/#inline_content_MerlotDac

Key Features:
-Up to 384kHz PCM and up to 11.2MHz DSD
-USB, AES, Coax, PLink inputs
-Headphone output with separate volume control
-Balanced and unbalanced line level outputs
-Differential discrete DAC (standard “Playback Designs” architecture)
-Software upgradeable by end user
-Recording software for file creation on computer