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ARTPICAL launches portable DAC/amp “Mondrian” on the 27th, priced around ¥42,000, embodying its “Audible Art” concept blending sound engineering and abstract visual design.
Mondrian features a Mondrian-inspired primary-color grid design and uses an ESS ES9281AC PRO DAC with dual amp chips for high-performance portable audio.
Technical specs include PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit, DSD512 support, MQA full decoding, USB-C input, 4.4mm balanced output, and a three-stage gain BUFF button.
ARTPICAL’s Mondrian reads less like a novelty DAC and more like a statement about how modern portable audio is being architected. Beneath the gallery-grade exterior, the circuit philosophy clearly leans toward integration and efficiency rather than brute-force modularity. Using a highly integrated DAC/amp platform with a dedicated dual amplification stage suggests a focus on minimizing signal path length and clock-domain complexity—an approach often favored for lower jitter susceptibility in bus-powered designs. The inclusion of a multi-step gain architecture, rather than a simple high/low switch, points to careful voltage management across a wide range of IEM sensitivities, reducing the risk of dynamic compression with demanding loads while keeping residual noise in check for high-efficiency transducers.
What stands out in coverage from different outlets is how the Mondrian is framed either as an art object with sound, or as a serious audio tool that happens to look radical. From a technical perspective, the latter framing feels more convincing. The choice of a fully balanced output standard typically associated with higher current delivery hints that ARTPICAL expects users to pair it with more complex driver topologies, not just casual single-dynamics. The emphasis on loss-minimized digital transmission via the supplied cable also reflects an awareness of how fragile USB-powered audio chains can be, especially when high data-rate formats and real-time decoding are involved.
That expectation becomes clearer when Mondrian is positioned alongside the Blue Planet earphones. A planar magnetic in-ear with a relatively large diaphragm area places very different demands on an amplifier than typical BA-centric designs. The planar’s near-pistonic behavior and flatter impedance curve benefit from stable current delivery and precise gain control rather than sheer voltage swing. In that context, ARTPICAL’s ecosystem approach starts to make sense: one product emphasizes controlled, low-noise amplification, while the other prioritizes mechanical linearity and material science. Together, they sketch a coherent philosophy where industrial design, electrical engineering, and acoustic tuning are treated as parallel disciplines rather than marketing layers stacked on top of each other.
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