HORUS/HAPI Modules

Compatibility

Can the previous generation of modules are support in the Hapi MkIII

Rxxxx

Is the MIC Pre-Amp in the HORUS/HAPI able to handle the DPA 130V MIC systems?

No, HORUS/HAPI supports 48V MICs.

IOC-DA8 (P)

Does HORUS/HAPI have a DA circuit that differs from the Sphynx-2? Will I get different sound if I will put Sphynx II to HORUS/HAPI digital input and try to compare?

Yes, HORUS/HAPI has entirely re-designed Analog as well as DA conversion circuitry. In terms of "sound quality", Line Out specs will be vastly superior with the HORUS/HAPI. 

What is the possibility to playback through the HORUS/HAPI DA converters in single ended as well as in balanced modes?

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Are the new V3 generation of extensions card compatible with Hapi MkII or Hapi and Horus?

Compatibility Chart 

Is the PT64 extension card available for Hapi MkIII?

A V3 version of the PT64 DigiLink Card is on the 2025 roadmap. 

Soes the Hapi MkIII comes with a Dante license?

Hapi Mk III can be run with either the stock RAVENNA/AES67 firmware or with a Dante enabled firmware.
The Dante firmware comes at no additional cost. However, to use Dante, an 16 channel or 64 channel I/O license must be purchased from Audinate as well as a driver software, e.g. Dante virtual soundcard. 

Hapi MkIII comes with a redundant power version?

There are no Hapi MkIII power redundant or 12 V version at the moment..

Does the MADI128V3 cards comes with MADI Optical?

IOC-DA8 (P)

Does HORUS/HAPI have a DA circuit that differs from the Sphynx-2? Will I get different sound if I will put Sphynx II to HORUS/HAPI digital input and try to compare?

Yes, HORUS/HAPI has entirely re-designed Analog as well as DA conversion circuitry. In terms of "sound quality", Line Out specs will be vastly superior with the HORUS/HAPI. 

What is the possibility to playback through the HORUS/HAPI DA converters in single ended as well as in balanced modes?

The HORUS/HAPI Line Out circuitry are fully symmetrical, but non-floating. So driving asymmetrical (single-ended) loads is easy and possible and should be wired in such a way to just use one of the symmetric outputs (either Hot or Cold) and Ground. It is not recommended to short the other (unused) output to Ground . This will also reduce the output signal level by 6 dBus compared to the full differential swing of the symmetric output, which is usually too high for usual single-ended loads. Further reduction of the level might be further required to avoid clipping the single-ended receiving side.
(for details, refer to the HORUS/HAPI User Manuals)

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There will be a fan, capable of turning itself on gradually whenever the internally sensed temperature exceeds pre-set limits. We do not want our customers to have their HORUS audio characteristics degrade or even fail above certain temperature!

Fortunately, Merging has spent enormous time carefully engineering each and every component of HORUS/HAPI to be drawing as little power as technologically possible these days, without compromising the sound at any time.
We therefore expect our users to enjoy their HORUS as an essentially "fan-less" device since the fan will in many (if not most circumstances) never switch on. So the fact that we still planned a fan is to be more seen as an "emergency" fan that :

• will only turn on when absolutely required (for instance in situations of high ambient temperature, with many phantom-powered connected microphones drawing a lot of aggregate power)
• even when turned on, we are engineering it in such a way that the fan will be essentially inaudible.

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In a configuration where HORUS/HAPI is a stagebox connected to a PC running Pyramix, can I use Pyramix native or do I need a Mykerinos card?

Starting with Pyramix V8, there is no need for a Mykerinos card.
RAVENNA can be connected either :

• Via our own PCIe x1 Network RAVENNA/MassCore accelerator card NET-MSC-GBEX1 for Pyramix MassCore operation (available in Pyramix V8 Beta today). Allows a maximum of channels with lowest latency
• Standard computer GbE NIC in ASIO or Core Audio for Pyramix Native and/or other third-party applications (expected ot become available over the summer). Will probably allow up to 64 channels at 1 FS (32 channels at 2FS, 16 channels at 4FS) with moderate latencies, as usual with existing Native audio applications.

Does HORUS/HAPI have a DSP mixer or any other way of controlling/setting up low-latency monitoring?

No, HORUS/HAPI provides a low latency router, which may be used for direct monitoring in certain circumstances.

How does HORUS/HAPI process DSD to and from Pyramix over RAVENNA?

Internally, the HORUS/HAPI actually processes and moves the DSD signal in a 352.8kHz / 32bit stream. It is not converted to actual PCM, rather the raw DSD data is just transported in this manner.

• A DSD64 stream actually only uses 8 bits of the possible 32bits.
• A DSD128 stream uses 16bits
• A DSD256 stream uses all 32bits.
• The DXD (352.8kHz PCM stream) uses the 24bits

All of these DSD stream types are actually multiples of 352.8, itself being a multiple of 44.1 kHz.
Therefore, for the HORUS/HAPI mainboard there’s no real difference between all these 4 formats. That’s only the AD and DA that are configured automatically and transparently according to the streams they are receiving audio from or sending audio to.
In fact as far as only playback or DA is concerned, you can set your HORUS/HAPI unit to DSD or DXD, that’ll make no difference. It’s only the way the Pyramix projects are configured that will define if audio is sent directly as DSD (when using DSD projects) or converted to DXD (when using DXD projects)

Are Horus and Hapi DoP capable ?

DoP means DSD Over PCM; the goal of this "standard" is to carry DSD signal over regular PCM link; 
Horus/Hapi can carry DoP over all of its digital links (AES, MADI, …), as the device is transparent.
But, as Horus/Hapi doesn't know what DoP is, it cannot decode it before sending it to the DAC.
In summary, Horus/Hapi is not a DoP DAC (nor DoP ADC) but it can carry DoP over its digital interfaces.

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• VAD (macOS): CoreAudio doesn't support natively DSD, so our VAD driver has to decode the DoP to produce "pure" DSD which is send to Hapi/Horus over RAVENNA. 
  Hapi/Horus receives the DSD signal and send it to DAC.

• ASIO/ALSA(Linux): these two standards are natively supporting DSD format and so they send "pure" DSD to Horus/Hapi over RAVENNA. 
  Hapi/Horus receives the DSD signal and send it to DAC.
  If the customer application, send DoP to ASIO then the Hapi/Horus cannot decode it but it can send it to its digital interfaces.

Note: depending on the flavor of DSD (64, 128, 256, 512), DoP can use several combinations of sample rate and number of channels (https://dsd-guide.com/dop-open-standard#.W5Xh_ej7Tuo).

HORUS/HAPI AES Cables

The AES ports connect the AES-EBU I/O using DB25 D-SUB connections (Tascam Digital). This means that AES cables that came with your Mykerinos cables are not compatible with the HORUS/HAPI. You can order those cables directly from our sales partners.

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The DC Input of Hapi is designed for 12V batteries, can it also be used with batteries of 14.4 V?

As the Hapi DC input is supplying, among other things, two integrated circuits which are specified to tolerate a maximum voltage of 14V, we definitely cannot recommend batteries with such high nominal voltages.

If you plan to use battery packs delivering higher than 14V DC, we recommend contacting Merging’s service which may apply a suitable modification to your Hapi to tolerate a 14.4V DC Input.) never switch on. So the fact that we still planned a fan is to be more seen as an "emergency" fan that :

• will only turn on when absolutely required (for instance in situations of high ambient temperature, with many phantom-powered connected microphones drawing a lot of aggregate power)
• even when turned on, we are engineering it in such a way that the fan will be essentially inaudible.

Designing a 2 U unit which offers, in such a compact space, up to 4 MADI ports, 24 channels of AES I/O and 24 channels of MIC preamplifiers along with ultra high-quality A/D and up to 24 channel of D/A conversion, not even mentioning RAVENNA, a backlit TFT touchscreen and an optional Redundant Power supply with no decent "heat-control" would just have been ludicrous. As a matter of fact, we expect a fully loaded HORUS to still not consume more than 50-Watt to maximum of 60-Watt total.

In a configuration where HORUS/HAPI is a stagebox connected to a PC running Pyramix, can I use Pyramix native or do I need a Mykerinos card?

Starting with Pyramix V8, there is no need for a Mykerinos card.
RAVENNA can be connected either :

• Via our own PCIe x1 Network RAVENNA/MassCore accelerator card NET-MSC-GBEX1 for Pyramix MassCore operation (available in Pyramix V8 Beta today). Allows a maximum of channels with lowest latency
• Standard computer GbE NIC in ASIO or Core Audio for Pyramix Native and/or other third-party applications (expected ot become available over the summer). Will probably allow up to 64 channels at 1 FS (32 channels at 2FS, 16 channels at 4FS) with moderate latencies, as usual with existing Native audio applications.

Does HORUS/HAPI have a DSP mixer or any other way of controlling/setting up low-latency monitoring?

No, HORUS/HAPI provides a low latency router, which may be used for direct monitoring in certain circumstances.

How does HORUS/HAPI process DSD to and from Pyramix over RAVENNA?

Internally, the HORUS/HAPI actually processes and moves the DSD signal in a 352.8kHz / 32bit stream. It is not converted to actual PCM, rather the raw DSD data is just transported in this manner.

• A DSD64 stream actually only uses 8 bits of the possible 32bits.
• A DSD128 stream uses 16bits
• A DSD256 stream uses all 32bits.
• The DXD (352.8kHz PCM stream) uses the 24bits

All of these DSD stream types are actually multiples of 352.8, itself being a multiple of 44.1 kHz.
Therefore, for the HORUS/HAPI mainboard there’s no real difference between all these 4 formats. That’s only the AD and DA that are configured automatically and transparently according to the streams they are receiving audio from or sending audio to.
In fact as far as only playback or DA is concerned, you can set your HORUS/HAPI unit to DSD or DXD, that’ll make no difference. It’s only the way the Pyramix projects are configured that will define if audio is sent directly as DSD (when using DSD projects) or converted to DXD (when using DXD projects)

Are Horus and Hapi DoP capable ?

DoP means DSD Over PCM; the goal of this "standard" is to carry DSD signal over regular PCM link; 
Horus/Hapi can carry DoP over all of its digital links (AES, MADI, …), as the device is transparent.
But, as Horus/Hapi doesn't know what DoP is, it cannot decode it before sending it to the DAC.
In summary, Horus/Hapi is not a DoP DAC (nor DoP ADC) but it can carry DoP over its digital interfaces.

The computer driver is also implied to answer such question:

• VAD (macOS): CoreAudio doesn't support natively DSD, so our VAD driver has to decode the DoP to produce "pure" DSD which is send to Hapi/Horus over RAVENNA. 
  Hapi/Horus receives the DSD signal and send it to DAC.

• ASIO/ALSA(Linux): these two standards are natively supporting DSD format and so they send "pure" DSD to Horus/Hapi over RAVENNA. 
  Hapi/Horus receives the DSD signal and send it to DAC.
  If the customer application, send DoP to ASIO then the Hapi/Horus cannot decode it but it can send it to its digital interfaces.

Note: depending on the flavor of DSD (64, 128, 256, 512), DoP can use several combinations of sample rate and number of channels (https://dsd-guide.com/dop-open-standard#.W5Xh_ej7Tuo).

HORUS/HAPI AES Cables

The AES ports connect the AES-EBU I/O using DB25 D-SUB connections (Tascam Digital). This means that AES cables that came with your Mykerinos cables are not compatible with the HORUS/HAPI. You can order those cables directly from our sales partners.