keeping it all together

Backbone

The internal and external chassis of the Pink Faun 2.16 ultra are integral to its groundbreaking design, providing a robust foundation for exceptional performance. The CNC-machined, internal chassis features shielded compartments, advanced heat management, and sophisticated resonance control. This internal- external chassis approach enables optimal placement of the power supply, passive cooling system, and hardware components, all while maintaining the elegant external design. As the backbone of the 2.16 ultra, the high-performance chassis allows us to implement radical innovations that elevate its capabilities.

A standout feature of this design is the honeycomb motherboard platter. Engineered for extreme stiffness, this unique platter mitigates vibrations and eliminates resonance frequencies without over-damping, preserving the energy vital to musical accuracy. During development, we identified vibrations/resonance on the motherboard as a significant detractor from musical performance. Instead of simply damping these vibrations, we opted to eliminate them entirely with a specially designed platter, mounting critical components to ensure absolute stability and clarity.

Additionally, the internal chassis includes a dedicated shielded compartment for the Pink Faun ultra OCXO clock module. This critical component and its output circuitry are fully shielded and decoupled from the rest of the chassis, ensuring unmatched precision and performance in the 2.16 ultra.

creating the firmament

Star-Light

The power supply of the Pink Faun 2.16 ultra is engineered using our “Star-Light” principle, a refined approach to star-power and star-grounding. This innovative design, rooted in 30 years of power supply expertise, reaches new heights of performance in the 2.16 Ultra. At its core is a fully linear, passively cooled ULN-FT (Ultra-Low Noise, Fast Transient) ATX power supply. By utilizing smaller, isolated, and individually regulated supplies, current loops are minimized and localized, significantly reducing the spread of electromagnetic interference (EMC) within the system. Extreme precision in combining these supplies into a unified star-ground configuration ensures a pristine electrical environment. Additionally, outgoing voltage is delivered from star outputs within the power supply, minimizing interference, high-frequency noise, and harmonics.

The 2.16 ultra addresses the challenges of low voltages and high current peaks with uncompromising precision. To maintain stability, ripple-free operation, and ultra-low noise, the system incorporates three custom-wound transformers. These are paired with fast Schottky diodes, a robust capacitor bank exceeding 800,000 µF of low ESR capacitors, and nanocrystalline chokes. Together, these components provide a stable, clean, battery-like power source for the low-noise regulator circuits. provide a stable, clean, battery-like power source for the low-noise regulator circuits.

To further elevate performance, the power supply includes a 5,000,000 µF supercapacitor, ensuring exceptional stability and noise isolation for the Pink Faun ultra OCXO clock module. This meticulously crafted power architecture is fundamental to the 2.16 ultra’s ability to deliver unparalleled sonic purity.

right on time

Clocks

At the heart of the Pink Faun 2.16 ultra is our proprietary ultra OCXO clock, a critical component in achieving unparalleled audio performance. With an exceptionally low phase-noise specification (close to -135 dB @ 10 Hz offset for our 25 MHz clock), the ultra OCXO delivers remarkably low jitter. While digital systems transmit data perfectly, jitter—the delay between signal transmission and reception—can significantly impact real-time audio playback. Traditional solutions, such as buffering data to smooth playback, often compensate for jitter at the cost of musicality and dynamics. In contrast, the Pink Faun Ultra OCXO clock minimizes jitter at its source, eliminating the need for buffering. The result is a playback system with extremely low latency and lightning-fast, dynamic performance, delivering an authentic and immersive musical experience.

However, the clock alone isn’t the full solution. The implementation of the ultra OCXO is equally critical. To maximize its performance, we developed the ultra OCXO module. This advanced module features multi-ultra-low-noise regulation and high-bandwidth output circuitry, powered by a 5,000,000 µF supercapacitor supply. Fully decoupled from the chassis and shielded within its own compartment, the ultra OCXO module integrates seamlessly into the Backbone Chassis, ensuring optimal performance and precision in the 2.16 ultra.

building a family into a nation

Hardware

The hardware in the Pink Faun 2.16 ultra is selected to ensure flawless playback of all audio formats, with ultra-low latency and zero buffering. The system features a 24-threaded CPU, with each thread strategically assigned to specific functions within the operating system and music playback software. Paired with 32GB of RAM, this setup allows to load Pink Faun Operating System, including Roon to into RAM entirely before playback begins. Unlike traditional buffering, this process enables real-time playback directly from RAM, ensuring minimal latency, uncompromised data integrity, and effortless, stress-free musical reproduction.

The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) plays a pivotal role in the musical performance of the 2.16 ultra. Acting as the communication bridge between the operating system and hardware, the BIOS has a significant impact on the system’s transparency and musicality. While factory-default BIOS settings suffice for general tasks, they do not meet the specific requirements to suit high-fidelity audio playback. Improper configurations can increase latency, introduce instability, and degrade performance.

To achieve the highest level of audio reproduction, Pink Faun fully optimized the BIOS settings through countless hours of listening and fine-tuning. This guarantees a perfectly balanced system, delivering unparalleled transparency, rich dynamics, and a lush, full-bodied midrange. The optimized BIOS also enhances the accuracy of the low-end presentation, bringing a lifelike presence to every note played on the 2.16 ultra music server.

into the driver seat

Let's Go!

At Pink Faun, we believe the synergy between hardware and software is essential to creating an extraordinary audio experience. Pink Faun OS (Operatring System), our dedicated in-house written operating system, is designed to optimize the flow of music data. Combined with our custom-developed network- and audio drivers, this seamless integration elevates the 2.16 ultra to the next generation of digital audio sources. Pink Faun OS provides a robust foundation for developing advanced software and driver solutions, allowing us to continuously pushing the boundaries of digital playback performance.

Pink Faun OS is built around Roon to serve as the centerpiece of the music playback experience, offering an intuitive and immersive interface for music enthusiasts. As one of the original Roon Core Server Partners, we’ve continued to integrate Roon as the heart of the 2.16 ultra’s playback system. Our Roon server implementation in Pink faun OS ensures a full Roon experience while maintaining the organic, liquid musicality that Pink Faun is renowned for.

The CPU in the 2.16 ultra operates at an optimized clock speed, with individual cores specifically assigned to distinct tasks. This strategic core allocation enhances system efficiency, as each CPU core utilizes its own dedicated cache, inaccessible to other cores. Extensive listening sessions guided the assignment of operating system functions to dedicated CPU cores, keeping background tasks to an absolute minimum.

This approach ensures the 2.16 ultra operates with a responsive, low-noise, and low-load operating system, consuming minimal resources while delivering its musical performance.

The custom operating system, purpose-built for musicality, is lightweight and efficient, with CPU load rarely exceeding 1%. This precision engineering allows the 2.16 ultra to provide a pure, highly dynamic, and emotionally engaging musical experience.

hello operator?

Bridges

The Pink Faun 2.16 ultra is crafted as an uncompromising digital music playback system, with equal emphasis placed on the quality of its connection to your DAC. Recognizing the critical role of this link in preserving musical integrity, the slots at the rear of the 2.16 ultra allow seamless integration of a variety of digital output cards (or bridges), offering unparalleled flexibility and performance. Pink Faun provides multiple output options, including USB (DSD & PCM), S/PDIF (COAX and AES/EBU), and I2S connections, all of which can be individually clocked using our state-of-the-art ultra OCXO for ultimate precision.

This modular design of the Bridges ensures the 2.16 ultra remains future-proof and capable of adapting to advancements in your audio system. For example, the 2024 introduction of the ultra USB Bridge - a hi-fidelity USB output tailored specifically for the 2.16 ultra - demonstrated how this approach can elevate musical performance to new heights. This adaptability guarantees a solid investment, keeping the 2.16 ultra relevant and versatile in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

The modular platform also supports multiple output Bridges, enabling the use of multiple DACs or optimized outputs for specific playback needs. For instance, you can configure an optimized USB connection for DSD playback alongside an optimized S/PDIF connection for PCM playback, all running simultaneously.

Designed with the same musical engaging philosophy as the 2.16 ultra itself, the Bridges incorporate low-noise linear regulation with pre- and post-choke/PI filtering, ultra-low-noise OCXO clocks, and fast, streamlined circuits built from high-quality components. This ensures a seamless, precise, and musically engaging connection, empowering the 2.16 ultra to deliver on its promise of:

no sound, just music