The 432 EVO Aeon is our server directly below the top of the line Master model. The Aeon shares several features with our flagship model and is at a more affordable price point. Even so, it easily surpasses many  other similarly priced digital sources, sounding closer to high end analogue with no hint of digital harshness. The Aeon can be upgraded later to the Master.

 



The Aeon was developed from our 432 EVO High-End model, taking the design further. It shares the dual power supply setup from Sbooster, but with a high quality SOtM superclock board for optimised USB output. The Aeon also has additional core specific software tuning to minimize jitter, and all audio processing now runs on a dedicated core.

  

The Aeon runs full Roon or Logitech Media Server and our sublime 432 Hz enabled player, which can also play bit perfect to the highest possible quality. It also features a bit perfect Teac CD drive for ripping your CD collection.

• Uncompromised CD ripping using a bitperfect Teac rip facility.
• 2 TB full SSD storage on spring suspension system, with SATA noise filtering and SATA protocol tweaking for lower EMI.
• Dual linear power supplies, one 12V and one 9V, each with AC filtering, torodial transformer for faster transient performance compared to designs with a shared transformer, dual stage DC regulation and with buffering inside the DC cable attached to each power supply.
• Ultra high-end upsampling with 10 selectable and tweakable upsample filters.
• Bit perfect mode, upsample only mode or upsample with 432 Hz post-processing.
• Custom remote supported Linux with realtime kernel, and dedicated cpu core for audio, and separated cores for the library management (Roon or LMS).
• Critical area’s of the server have their own power supply.
• No reclocking: the high specification USB board is directly clocked (not reclocked) from a dedicated ultra low jitter clock board, and both are powered independently.

432 Hz tuning

432 Hz is one of the ways to tune musical instruments, and is also known as the Tuning Note “A” and A = 432. Music tuned to 432 Hz sounds better than contemporary music which is tuned at A = 440. The famous Stradivarius for example was tuned to 432 Hz according to the Verdi tuning

During historical periods when instrumental music rose in prominence (relative to the voice), there was a continuous tendency for pitch levels to rise, also known as the pitch inflation. A higher pitch such as our current A = 440 standard sounds sharper, louder and more “fresh”, but also more aggressive, which is not a quality audiophiles are looking for.

The 432 EVO offer you the possibility to convert your existing music on the fly into the better sounding 432 Hz, without any resolution loss. Several best of show awards we have won are the ultimate proof, and recent research by Maria Renold and a group of 2000 people showed that 90% preferred 432 Hz.

For purists we still offer bit perfect mode on par with the best CD transports, or upsample only mode for those who want to tune the sound. All these modes are live switchable.

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Dedicated Core

The 432 EVO Aeon incorporates a modern power efficient quad core CPU updated in Q4 2020 with 8 GB of RAM, and twice as fast as N4200 based competitors. We implement techniques from the supercomputing world inside the Aeon to gaurantee a stellar audio performance: the audio decoders and 432 Hz processing run on a dedicated core, and will never run out of CPU cycles or have to fight with other processes.The dedicated audio core runs a custom clock scheduler which doesn’t interrupt the critical audio processes 1000 times per second, greatly improving software jitter, as process switching is minimized.

The Aeon also eliminates typical “chaos” found inside the OS of many other servers by using advanced kernel & process tuning configurations not found in any competing product, further lowering software jitter by reducing entropy. This is a remarkable achievement and key to it’s stellar performance.

Using custom BIOS and kernel tuning, the EVO actually shuts down chip functionality on the motherboard, so it acts like a software defined custom motherboard. The big advantage of this approach is that the Aeon is future proof. If faster and/or better sounding main boards become available, the customer will be able to upgrade. We already offer this to existing customers.

We use a custom realtime Linux OS, refined and tuned by 432 EVO’s owner Frederic Vanden Poel, who is also a senior Linux consultant building with 20+ years of IT experience. The EVO can be on 24/7 and will never run hot, always running cool while sounding analog and very refined.

Linux

432 EVO uses a custom realtime Linux OS tuned for ultra low software jitter and reduced entropy.

Solidstate Drive

The 432 EVO comes with a 2TB noise filtered silent SSD and can optionally be ordered with 4 TB or 8 TB SSD storage capacity.

HD Storage

The 432 EVO Aeon comes has a 2TB low noise hybrid storage on a custom spring suspension system combining the best aspects of HDD’s and SSD’s in a single drive. Full SSD’s are also possible.

Bit Perfect Ripper

The bit perfect Teac rip drive is hand tested and compared against test CD’s for perfect operation.

Modern CPU

The 432 EVO uses a modern CPU introduced in Q4 2020, twice as fast as competitors still using N4200 chips from 2016.

USB DAC output

Our ultra low noise USB DAC output is a dedicated audiophile output board independent of the main board’s USB ports.

Super Clock

Our Aeon does not reclock the ultra low noise USB output, but clocks it directly with a dedicated super clock board.

USB Tuning

The audiophile USB output is controlled in Linux and custom tuned to get the highest realtime priority.

Dual SBooster External Power Supplies

The importance of a pure and clean power supply for digital audio cannot be stressed enough. Digital audio’s enemy is noise, and much of that comes from poorly designed power supplies or cheap SMPS (switched mode power supplies). In fact a dirty power supply can not only ruin the sonic performance of a server, it can also inject noise down the mains to infect the rest of your system!

We thus take the specifications of our power supplies extremely seriously. The Aeon has a true double independent power supply. Instead of offering several of dependent DC rails from one transformer, each of the bundled power supplies with the Aeon has a separate AC filter, torodial transformer and dual stage DC buffering.

The second part of the DC buffer is attached to each power supply, leading to a very short current paths towards the dedicated USB output board and superclock board of just a few centimeters. The “IT” parts inside the server also have their own dedicated power supply, with DC filtering between storage and main board, acting as a noise firewall for PWM converters in SSD’s.

Using a dual design with 2 external transformers leads to much faster transients compared to a single shared transformer. Both power supplies are also free of any transformer noise.

Roon

Comes pre-installed with a recent full Roon Core (not just endpoint). A separate Roon license is required.

Tidal streaming

Compatible with Tidal subscription-based music streaming service that combines lossless audio and high-definition music.

Qobuz streaming

Compatible with Qobuz streaming service with more than 40 million tracks available, and also offers true 24 bit streaming.

Internet Radio

Supports thousands of internet radio stations, and common formats including AAC, AACv2, MP3 and lossless FLAC stations.

Logitech Media Server

LMS is a very stable music server with two decades of software improvements, and is still supported.

Spotify

Compatible with Spotify, currently the biggest digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs.

iPeng controller

LMS users can use several control apps, including iPeng or the LMS web interface.

SqueezePad controller

Squeezepad is another controller, and like iPeng can control the LMS library manager.

The 432 EVO Aeon

Technical Specifications
AUDIO OUTPUTS
Digital output
Superclock based dedicated USB 3.0 output supporting USB Audio Class 2.0 to connect to your USB DAC
Network streaming with realtime scheduling to any Roon endpoint and Logitech / Squeezebox based players
CONNECTIVITY
Ethernet
1x RJ45 for realtime clocked gigabit supporting true gigabit ethernet ISP’s
USB
1x ultra high-end low jitter superclock based USB DAC output
2x USB 3.0 ports for backup or connecting additional USB dac’s
2x USB 2.0 ports for connecting additional USB dac’s
KVM
VGA, DVI, HDMI and keyboard/mouse service ports – normally never needed as the EVO is VPN supported
OPEN FILE FORMATS
Logitech Media Server
All common formats including DSD, WAV, flac, MP3, ogg vorbis, aac, … Passthrough of MQA
Roon
MP3, WAV, WAV64, AIFF, FLAC, Apple Lossless, OGG, and AAC at resolutions up to 32 bit 768kHz. Roon also supports DSD64, DSD128, DSD256, and DSD512 in the DSF and DFF formats.
DRM FILE FORMAT
Logitech Media Server
Ogg Vorbis as supported by Spotify Passthrough of MQA towards MQA DAC when using bitperfect mode
Roon
MQA first unfold supported & any MQA feature in Roon As MQA does not recover any new audio data in the second unfold, second unfold can be replaced by 432 EVO’s own upsample which also can support minimum phase rendering with one cycle of post-ringing, or the superior sounding Archimago minimum phase filter.
AUDIO TRANSFORMATIONS
Bitperfect mode No audio transformations occur, unless DAC does not support sample rate or bit depth of format, otherwise true bitperfect matching or even beating the most exclusive CD transports
Upsampling-only Output most DSD & PCM formats in any input samplerate as 24 bit or 32 bit output in one of the following output samplerate:
44.1K, 88.2K, 176.4K, 352.8K and DXD, 706.6K
48K, 96K, 192K, 384K, 768K
432 Hz mode Same as upsampling mode, but with 432 Hz processing without resolution loss. 432 Hz and upsampling are a combined one step algorithm, therefore no additional load is caused on the CPU when using 432 Hz mode compared to upsampling
SUPPORTED TUNING TRANSFORMATIONS USING 432 Hz MODE
Input pitch 440 Hz up to 445 Hz in one step increments
Other pitches can be added by special request
Output pitch 415 Hz
426 Hz
430.5 Hz (Equal Tone Temperament)
432 Hz (Verdi’s A, Pythagorean Temperament)
440 Hz (today’s Concert Pitch) → used for upsample-only mode
444 Hz
Supported input formats Any audio and file format from local files on the internal storage on the EVO or a NAS, internet radio, on demand streaming services such.
444 Hz mode not compatible with live internet radio
UPSAMPLING RECIPES
For Upsampling-only and 432 Hz modes
Linear phase User tunable linear phase filter, including tuning of processing buffer size and several precision options. All frequencies have the same delay through the filter.
Minimum phase User tunable minimum phase filter, including tuning of processing buffer size and several precision options. No pre-ringing.
Post-ringing can be regular long tail “minimum-phase” without aliasing, or reduced MQA / Ayre inspired one cycle of post-ringing with free bonus aliasing, create pseudo ultrasonics.
Intermediate phase The only server on the market supporting Archimago’s Intermedia Phase upsampling, the most ideal filter with mainly post-ringing and no phase issues within the audible range.
432 EVO implements his original recipe, and two improved variants of this filter
AUDIO SAMPLE RATES
Sample rates All common multiples of 44.1 and 48K
All common DSD formats
Bit depths 16, 24 and 32 bit
CONTROL APPS
Roon Official Roon remote running on Apple or Android tablets & phones
Desktop version of Roon for PC or MAC acting as a Roon remote control
Logitech Media Server Any web browser for web based version of GUI
SqueezePad (iPad)
iPeng (iPhone/iPad)
Orange Squeeze (Android)
Squeezer (Android)
Squeeze Remote (Windows)
CONFIGURATION INTERFACE
Web Gui Web interface usable on any phone, tablet, laptop or desktop:
1. Configure the 432 Hz enabled player
2. Check the riplogs
3. Switch between Roon & Logitech Media Server
4. Several other system configuration parameters not often changed
HARDWARE
Ripdrive Hand tested Teac slot-loading, tested with at least 5 retail CD’s which are known to cause rip issues on some drives. All CD’s must past our extreme test.
Default storage 2 TB full SDD on spring suspension system, with sata noise filtering and sata protocol tuning for lower EMI
Storage upgrades Optional 4 TB or 8 TB full SSD. Please ask your reseller for pricing.
CPU J5040 tuned to a more constant power draw for lower software jitter. More modern and twice as fast than some competitors who use the outdated N4200
Memory 8 GB, plenty for Roon even when importing larger collections.
SUPPORTED STREAMING SERVICES
Roon Internet radio, Qobuz and Tidal
Logitech Media Server Internet radio, Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify and any service for which an LMS plugin is available
REQUIREMENTS
Mains supply 100 Volt AC 50/60Hz / 110 Volt AC 50/60Hz
115 Volt AC 50/60Hz / 120 Volt AC 50/60Hz
220 Volt AC 50/60Hz / 230 Volt AC 50/60Hz
240 Volt AC 50/60Hz
True dual linear power supplies
Internet Internet connection required for updates, VPN support & metadata retrieval.
Can work standalone (e.g. hifi shows, shows on location) with just a Wi-Fi router attached via ethernet and no active internet connection
DAC USB To use the superclock based USB output, you’ll need a USB dac conforming to USB Class Audio 2.0 standard (most DAC’s follow this standard)
Network endpoint To stream to endpoints, you’ll need Roon RAAT or Squeezebox compatible endpoints
PHYSICAL
Colour Black or silver
Weight Server 5 KG
PSU 1.85 KG x 2
Dimensions PSU: 240 x 130 x 75mm (each)
Server 435 x 325 x 60mm (W x D x H, 69mm including feet)
What’s in the box Server
Dual PSU each with DC cable
Manuals & Quick Guide
Chassis Modular chassis which will support future hardware updates such as new main boards as they come to market
WARRANTY & REMOTE SUPPORT
2 years limited warranty
2 years VPN support included with the 432 EVO