Linn Organik DAC – Klimax DS and DSM upgrades now available

12 April 2022

2021 saw the launch of Linn’s next generation Klimax DSM and it is the best music streamer we have heard. A large part of that is down to Linn’s Organik DAC architecture – the first time the Glasgow audio engineers have designed and incorporated their very own, home-grown DAC.

Now, existing Klimax DS and Klimax DSM owners can upgrade to the sublime audio performance that Organik DAC delivers.

Organik is available as a retrofit upgrade to ALL Klimax DS and DSM streamers, even the very first model manufactured in 2007, joining Klimax Exaktbox and Klimax 350 integrated loudspeakers in the eligible line-up for this spectacular upgrade.

The upgrade not only brings your Klimax DS or DSM streamer up to the current, next-generation Linn standard; it unlocks DSD256 and 24-bit/384kHz streaming capability.

Organik DAC upgrade for Klimax DS or Klimax DSM is £5,400 (£6085 with HDMI 2.0 upgrade for later models).

There is no need for your Klimax product to return to Linn; we can perform the board swap quickly and easily here at Adventures or in your home.

Get in touch to arrange a listen – hello@adventuresinhifi.com or 01244 345 576.

Organik forms the beating heart of next-generation Klimax DSM – the ultimate streamer – and is largely responsible for its rave reviews, magazine front covers across the globe, and five Product of the Year awards (so far).

With this novel DAC architecture, implementation, and realisation, Linn has finally completed the puzzle: complete control over the entire signal chain – an ambition fifty years in the making:

Linn Organik DAC Origins Video

Technical Detail
There are many different types of ‘discrete’ DAC. Although simply making something ‘discrete’ does not necessarily result in high performance. The performance advantage of Organik comes from its unique combination of:

• Modulation method – Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Delta-Sigma
• Conversion stage – Discrete Analog Finite Impulse Response (AFIR)
• Implementation – Ultra-stable power, precision clocking, and expert PCB design

When employed together, the PWM modulator and AFIR conversion stage are immune to many of the problems that affect other discrete designs — where small errors in switching times or resistor values can generate distortion.

However, in order to realise the full potential of this conversion method, great attention must also be paid to other factors such as power supply, clocking, and perhaps most importantly, the physical layout of the circuit board.

Organik uses an 8-layer circuit board, facilitating optimal delivery of power and clocks to the DAC. Power for the conversion stage is generated by a discrete regulator, and delivered using multiple internal power planes.

Clock traces are matched to within fractions of a millimetre, to ensure that every part of the DAC receives its clock at precisely the same time. All these elements work in harmony to create an analogue signal with incredibly low levels of noise and distortion — far lower than anything we’ve ever achieved before.