What is A DAS?

A DAS (Digital Audio Source) is everything your system uses to turn stored or streamed music into the digital audio signal that reaches your DAC. For some listeners that “source” is simply the streaming service’s servers and the long path through the internet. Others add a local server, use a computer with an audio card, or choose a purpose-built music server–streamer.

Oladra products combine server and streamer functions in one platform, with every stage designed to deliver a digital signal of unusually high integrity to your DAC.

How does a DAS affect the sound?

Every audio source, whether analogue or digital, must establish the timing of the music. A turntable does this by keeping the platter rotation as steady as possible. In a digital system, the timing comes from how precisely the transitions between 1s and 0s are generated and delivered before the DAC turns them into analogue music.

The DAS and DAC work together to create that timing. Even though a digital signal seems simple on the surface, the precision of its timing has a profound influence on the realism and naturalness of the sound.

Doesn’t the DAS just send the 1s and 0s while the DAC handles the timing?

This is a very common misunderstanding. For everyday digital tasks it’s perfectly acceptable to assume that the bits are all that matter. But when the goal is natural, lifelike music reproduction, the details of how those bits arrive do matter.

DACs generally try to stabilise incoming data by using buffers and internal clocks (for USB and Ethernet), or by using circuits such as PLLs or ASRCs to track the incoming clock (for S/PDIF and AES3). These methods work, but their performance is influenced by two things coming from the DAS:

• the timing stability of the incoming signal
• the electrical noise arriving alongside it

Even when the DAC has its own clocking stages, a cleaner, more stable signal from the DAS gives those internal stages a better foundation to work from, resulting in more convincing sound.

Are there benefits to adding network switches to a DAS setup?

Often, yes. Your local network is part of the audio chain, and it affects what reaches your DAS. A high-quality switch placed close to the DAS can reduce the amount of unwanted electrical noise that travels through the Ethernet connection.

But a switch is only part of the picture. Using a high quality router (not the free one supplied with your connection), high-quality cabling and careful network design is the first place to start - otherwise the high-quality switch is just an expensive band-aid only. The first priority is the DAS, which should be designed to handle network traffic in a way that protects the delicate clocking and noise conditions needed for high-level sound quality.

A good switch can definitely help, but it cannot compensate for a weak DAS, and can only partially improve a poor network. It’s similar to putting an expensive power cord on an entry-level amplifier: it may help, but it won’t unlock the full potential of your system.

Should I add a reclocker or other device between my DAS and my DAC?

Usually, no — unless the DAS is letting the system down.

A reclocker can reduce timing errors, but it also introduces its own electronic noise, its own grounding paths, and its own processing stages. If the DAS and DAC are already well-engineered, adding a standalone reclocker can easily create more harm than good. The same applies to using a fibre transmission step - while it breaks one electrical pathway for noise, all others remain, disturbance in the signal is increased and the media convertors required at each end are a source of additional interference.

The reclockers designed as part of the complete solution (built into the DAS and DAC) play a purposeful role. As a general rule, a high-performing DAS and DAC will not be improved by adding a bolt-on device in the signal path, including a reclocker.

Note also that power-conditioning for a DAS is a two-edged sword. Reducing AC noise is beneficial but if it slows transient requirements in any way the impact will be negative. Treat a DAS more like a power amplifier than a DAC or Preamp. While it does not draw high power, rise-times are crucial for the DAS.

The most productive bolt-ons for improving performance are improving the network and cabling (power, network and signal cables).

What makes the Oladra Platform different?

When a digital file arrives from the internet or from storage, it carries no meaningful timing of its own. The DAS must create that timing and then refine it through successive stages before delivering the final signal to the DAC. The quality of each stage shapes what the DAC is able to reveal.

The earliest stages matter most. They require substantial processing power to organise and prepare the data, yet they must operate with extremely low electrical noise — a difficult combination, because higher computing power typically creates more noise. The noise generated interferes with all downstream stages and is not removed by reclocking. There is, in fact, a reverse impact where the noise interference undermines reclocking, destabilising oscillators (the clock reference) and impacting the clock circuit that delivers the clock signal to the DAC.

Traditional audio servers begin with a general-purpose computer and then attempt to control its noise and timing behaviour using software, power supplies, and output cards. This can help, but the limitations of the underlying computing architecture remain: noise couples through power rails, ground planes, and radiated fields, and those conditions constrain what later stages — in the DAS and in the DAC — can recover.

The Oladra Platform takes a different approach. We designed the software stack and the high-power computing hardware together as a single, purpose-built high-end audio system - even creating our own custom motherboards to replace and control every generic piece of the whole. Every stage — from the first handling of the data to the final audio output — is engineered to maximise timing precision and minimise noise. That integrated, total-system design is what allows an Oladra DAS to deliver a signal of exceptional integrity to your DAC.

What are the differences between the Flow, Sentia and Presence?

All three models share the same Oladra Platform design approach, but they are optimised for different needs.

Presence is the absolute expression of the Oladra Platform — every part, circuit and circuit trace is optimised for sound quality.

Sentia and Flow embody the same platform design but reach a lower price by selecting parts that reduce cost with minimal impact on sound quality.

Flow is identical to Sentia except that its computing resources are reduced for streaming-only use. Flow cannot play stored music files and is only available with the Optimal motherboard.

What is the difference between the Optimal and Extended motherboards?

Most owners have music libraries that fit comfortably within 4TB of storage, and the Optimal motherboard is designed for this — with the best sound quality as its priority. If you need more space, you can add a NAS for additional storage while still using the better-sounding Optimal configuration.

Adding more connected data disks carries a sonic penalty, increasing electrical noise from the interfaces on the motherboard and on the disks (whether they are in use of not!).

The Extended motherboard supports two additional internal disks — for example, adding two 8TB drives increases total internal capacity to 20TB.

Offering two configurations lets us deliver the very best sound for moderate libraries, while still supporting very large internally stored libraries when required. The motherboard can be changed between Optimal and Extended for owners at a reasonable charge.