DualAmp
All Hegel audio amplifiers are using a new kind of distributed amplifier technology called DualAmp Technology. This technology is used in all integrated amplifiers and power amplifiers from Hegel. In normal audio amplifiers the voltage gain stages and current gain stages are combined in the same amplifier module. DualAmp Technology from Hegel separates the voltage gain stage and the current gain stage into two completely different stages. First the music signal goes to the voltage gain stage, amplifying only the voltage level of the music signal. By doing only voltage gain in this first stage, we can use amplifier building blocks that are specially designed to do voltage amplification. After the separate voltage gain stage, we have the current gain stage, doing only current gain and nothing else.
This way we can use amplifier blocks that are specially designed to do current gain. The current gain stage is needed to deliver a lot of current to the loudspeakers connected to the audio amplifier. By separating these two stages, we can keep the sensitive parts of the voltage gain stages away from the large speaker currents in the current output stage. The output of the voltage gain stage is connected to the input of the current gain stage. There is no feedback from the current gain stage to the voltage gain stage. The Hegel DualAmp technology gives lower total distortion and a higher dynamic range than normal audio amplifiers. The Hegel DualAmp technology is developed in-house by Hegel, and is only found in Hegel products.
DualPower
Normal audio amplifiers are using the same power supply for the different amplifier blocks within the audio amplifier. The amplifier output stage driving the loudspeaker is using the same power supply as the crucial input stages and voltage gain stages of the audio amplifier. The large currents flowing in the connected loudspeakers will disturb the sensitive input and voltage gain stages of the audio amplifier. Hegel integrated amplifiers and power amplifiers are using completely separate DualPower power supplies for the input and voltage gain stages, and for the current output stages of the audio amplifier. The custom designed Hegel power transformers have got separate DualPower windings feeding independent high speed rectifiers and high capacity power supply capacitors.
By using the DualPower power supply technology Hegel amplifiers will prevent disturbances from the high currents flowing in the loudspeakers entering the sensitive input gain stages and voltage gain stages. The Hegel DualPower technology gives lower total distortion and a higher dynamic range than normal audio amplifiers. The Hegel DualPower technology is developed in-house by Hegel, and is only found in Hegel products.
MQA (Master Quality Authenticated)
MQA is an award-winning British technology that delivers the sound of the original master recording. The master MQA file is fully authenticated and is small enough to stream or download. Visit www.mqa.co.uk for more information.
Organic Sound
Good recordings are best enjoyed naked. The organic sound of Hegel means that all parts of a dynamic recording are reproduced exactly like the original. The quality of the sound coming out of your speakers are only limited by what happened in the recording studio. Nothing added, nothing taken out - no artificial ingredients. Music enjoyed on a Hegel system is the closest you can get to the live studio session. We are proud to present The Hegel Concept - the first music system in the world that utilizes the very latest technology from all related fields, like integrated circuitry, broadcasting technology and telecommunication. More than 10 years of research and development have made it possible to reproduce music in a more natural way than ever before.
Our goal is give music lovers the most natural and engaging listening experience possible. Real life sound from acoustic instruments and voices from known artists were our preferred reference point while developing Hegel, because nothing else would do.
SoundEngine
It's a common fact: As a story is told from person to person, details change. Things are added, others lost. At some point, the story has changed. When a music signal is passing through an audio amplifier a similar effect will take place. As the signal is passed from stage to stage within the audio amplifier, the music signal will be changed by every single amplifier stage. When the music signal finally reaches your loudspeakers, the signal is different from the original music signal from the signal source. The Hegel SoundEngine local error cancelling system prevents distortion in the audio amplifier circuit stages, preserving the original details and the dynamic range in the original music signal. The end result is a much cleaner music signal with a larger dynamic range and lower distortion.
The unique and patented Hegel SoundEngine audio technology is combining the advantage of class AB-amplifier and the advantage of class A-amplifiers, without having the draw backs of class A and class AB-amplifier technologies. The SoundEngine Technology will cancel crossover distortion found in all types of class-AB amplifiers. The human ear is very sensitive to high frequency distortion components in the music signal. The Hegel SoundEngine technology will cancel high frequency distortion components found in normal types of audio amplifiers. The Hegel SoundEngine technology is not using any kind of global negative feedback, it is using local and adaptive feed forward technology if there should ever be any need for cancellation of distortion within the audio amplifier stages.
SynchroDAC
Almost all HiFi CD Players today are using asynchronous upsampling to convert digital audio data to analogue audio. Hegel found that using this kind of asynchronous converter technology will convert jitter error into amplitude error, giving less than optimal sound quality. The Hegel CD Players are using a new digital to analog conversion technology called synchronised upsampling. This new technology gives higher resolution and less distortion, giving a high sound quality. The SynchroDAC technology is used together with the Direct MasterClock technology to keep jitter error and digital to analogue conversion errors to a minimum. This will give a cleaner sound and a higher resolution than normal CD Player DAC technology.
The syncroDAC converter technology is using true balanced signal processing to preserve highest possible dynamic range and to reduce distortion. Hegel has done a lot of research to be able to design the DAC converter boards in-house to convert the digital audio data into high resolution analogue audio from the CDs. To be able to design the CD DAC converter boards in the best possible way requires a lot of deep technical knowledge in the fields of low noise analogue electronics, high frequency electronics, signal processing electronics and advanced circuit board layout techniques.
USB
The USB connector found on Hegel amplifiers and digital to analogue converters opens a whole new world for music and movie lovers. This functionality allows you to easily connect your Hegel product to any computer with a reasonably new Windows or Mac Os operating system installed. The most common Linux systems will also work. The Hegel USB technology is actually a computer sound card, or audio controller if you like. With the Hegel product connected, all sounds usually played through your computer will now be played through the Hegel. This means that, unlike let's say a music streamer, a Hegel DAC will not only play your music files, but also any sounds that come out of the computer, including Youtube videos or Skype chats.
What can it play? The Hegel will, when connected take over all sounds. This means you can play music, video, computer games, internet radio or hear the occasional "ding" when you press and hold the Windows ANY-key for too long. Everything with superb Hegel sound. The major benefit is noise reduction. Inside a computer you have all kinds of noise generating equipment. And especially the very low-gain analogue signal is very exposed to noise inside a computer. So just moving the sound card out of the computer gives a real benefit. So what is so special about the Hegel sound card? Well, it is not like computer manufacturers have not tried to do their best for years. And many of our competitors have tried doing great separate sound cards too, these last couple of years. The special thing with Hegel is that we do real life experiments. For example we found that the DAC-chip it self only had limited importance. The implementation of it, however, had a major impact on the sound. Compared to any other external USB sound card you will find the Hegel more quiet, more dynamic and with less distortion.
