Zapco - The Driving Force Since 1974
Zapco is a company dedicated to the pursuit of audio fidelity. It's prime objectives being to design and manufacture audio products of unsurpassed quality, to provide unparalleled support and service for these products and to conduct business in a manner that will enhance the quality of life for all its users.

Experience Equates To Knowledge From Doing.
There is absolutely no substitute for experience; that is a simple fact of life. Another simple fact is that Zapco has been the leader for almost fifty years now, still constantly redefining quality standards for the car audio industry. These years of experience have led to a thorough understanding of the challenges that are unique to the world of car audio. Zapco's relentless quest for sonic purity consistently yields imaginative designs that utilize the most innovative technologies. The resulting products set the criteria by which all others in the industry are judged.

HDSP-V Series - The Next Generation Of Processing
It's not the components, it's the environment. Fundamental car audio components are often unfairly blamed for poor aural performance, despite the blame laying elsewhere. See whether you have OEM or enormously expensive speakers your windscreen still reflects, your right leg still absorbs the midrange and you’re still sitting to one side with a whole instrument cluster before you. It's for this reason that all vehicles require a sound processor. These devices can rectify all negative cabin phenomenon and make even the most rudimentary components sound amazing.

However a questionable quality processor is conducive to headaches aplenty, that's why you need a Zapco device. Zapco processors are renown around the globe for being amongst the best processors in history. Trickling technology down through its various processors means even its entry level processor far outperforms all other comers. Whether you’re planning a budget system or one only the Royal Family could afford; Zapco has you well covered when it comes to processing said system to perfection.

Design Ideologies
The latest HDSP-V series from Zapco represents the fifth generation of processors from this tenacious American company, with many agreeing without doubt that the HDSP-V range are the best digital manipulation hardware Zapco has ever built. The specifications, numerous awards and endless competition wins only further attesting to this. The stable spans numerous configurations and options, hence we spend a paragraph right at the bottom explaining what each particular unit entails.

Where Science And Passion Unite
It’s challenging to tell sometimes where science ends and passion begins, especially when they’re both headed for the same goal. The passion behind the HDSP-V project and the driving force behind the required research; culminated to create a digital system that has the sound of the best digital and analog systems available today. After all, listening to live music is absolutely an analog experience.

The Project Goal
The goal of the HDSP-V project is not just the purest sound reproduction, but rather the purest sound reproduction in the listening environment. This is regardless of whether it is in a car, a home room or a concert hall. Zapco brought together engineers and scientists from electronics, acoustics and digital processing fields; uniting them in the effort to bring this desire to fruition.

Evolution Of Precision And Flexibility
Designed for the modern generation of cars; the HDSP-V range offers features and sound quality never before offered in a car processing suite. With either eight or sixteen channel variants available, the HDSP-V units allow you build full active configurations that cover every corner of a multichannel sound system.

That little HD within the part number isn’t a marketing gimmick either; for these units are available with HD audio players as well. Matter of fact; Zapco’s HD processors go beyond today’s normal 24-bit, 96 kHz / 192 kHz high resolution standard. Meaning that you can reproduce music vastly superior to MP3 and even superior to CD quality, and when the next evolution in HD reproduction arrives, the HDSP-V units will be ready to handle it.

Bar And Hair Raising Numbers
The HDSP-V is composed of eighteen individual pieces assembled in a modular arrays, making them easy to adapt or update according to your needs. The design took almost three years to devise, but the end result surpassed even the expectations of the designers and engineers who built them. So impressive is the topology of this design, it’s set new standards for what is possible in audio reproduction. The numbers are the proof of said design, for example -140 dB of background noise and -115 dB of crosstalk. For a multichannel device, crosstalk at -115 dB at an average around 1 kHz is proof positive of the accuracy which these units boast. Nonetheless background noise and crosstalk are not the only numbers that matter in audio devices. The digital inputs have 114 dB of A weighted signal to noise ration, and the analogue ones 109 dB at rated output. Zapco keeps the output voltage at 4 Volts to avoid added distortion of analogue pre-amplification. Distortion of the analogue and digital inputs are lower than 0.001 % at 4 Volt output and lower than 0.00175 % at 1 Volt output. The power supply continues to work down to 6 Volts which solves any challenges relating to cars that have stop-start ignition systems.

The Silicone Heart
The main processor is a dual core 456 mHz + 456 mHz, easily able to handle between 96 kHz and 192 kHz sampling rates. The converters are new 32-bit / 784 kHz devices from AKM. On very important aspect worth mentioning is that the HD Player that works at 24-bit / 192 kHz is integrated with the DSP, meaning there are no connections between the player and the DSP, no PCB, no plugs and no cables. Both the player and DSP are integrated in one dual core chip-set that has a total power of 912 mHz. Then there is a microprocessor that controls only the player without having to perform other heavy computational work like that within a home computer. The player has a dedicated browser that starts to work immediately when you insert the USB memory stick. It can read all formats up to 24-bit / 192 kHz, compressed or uncompressed and from the 3″ touch screen display you can control all the functions using three levels of folder trees. The graphic interface that controls the player also controls minor DSP functions and can manage up to ten tuning presets with instantaneous switching of one to another for A/B comparison.

Design Features
Whilst there are a few different models within the HDSP-V stable, the entire range also shares some extraordinary design features and functionality. Listed below are but a small selection.

All-In-One Dual Core Processor
Players, whether they’re portable or not; often have a DSP inside. They’re sometimes simple, sometimes sophisticated; nonetheless it is a DSP. Zapco has been inspired by this to offer its customers a professional DSP with the player inside. What are the advantages of this integrated solution compared to that of connecting a player to the DSP?

Remember not all portable players have a digital output. If analogue, even if it’s excellent quality; it always results in a degradation of quality due to the presence of two more converters on the signal path. Therefore a coupling of an external player to an analogue input is strongly inadvisable. On the other hand, if the external player has a digital output then this situation is much better. But still there is the limit of an SPDIF connection. The SPDIF protocol has a maximum resolution of 24 bits and a maximum sampling rate of 192 kHz. Another limitation of the SPDIF connection is that the receiver does not control the speed of data, so it is possible to have connection problems. By integrating the DSP and player inside the same chip-set, Zapco protects from any connection issues, whatever the nature of the problem may be.

Why Modular
The modular design of the HDSP-V topology offers considerable advantages. The first advantage is that the customer can request the product with the cards that he needs whilst omitting the ones he doesn’t. Subsequently it is possible to easily up-grade a part of the product keeping all the rest unaltered. This allows the product to retain its usefulness value over time. The 16 channel HDSP-V units are composed of eighteen boards and the eight channel HDSP-V units are composed of fifteen boards.

The Significance Of Sampling Rate
The sampling rate represents the capacity of the digital signal to reproduce the analogue signal more faithfully. The higher it is the better it is, but the difficulty in processing the signal increazzses proportionally as well as the power of the processors used. 44.1 kHz is the sampling rate of a CD, whereas most DSP’s normally run at 48 kHz. The HDSP-V units run far higher, up to 192 kHz in some models.

Stop-Start Ignition System Ready
The HDSP-V have no problem working flawlessly with the new generation automobiles that use the stop and start injection system. This is because it has a power supply that can work from 5.5 Volts. And it can handle this uninterrupted, that is not just for a few seconds as is usually the case for other devices that have this function.

Extremely Accurate Phase Filter
The HDSP-V have very accurate all-pass filter for phase adjustment. It is possible to fix the working frequency of the filter as accurately as 1 Hz and the phase shift as fine as a single degree.

VSEQ Filter
The VSEQ system is also included on the HDSP-V units. Zapco first introduced this function some time ago in the analogue ASP-OE8 and ASP-OE2 processors. The VSEQ system allows you to restore the response on the low frequencies of the OEM systems as it is altered by the original manufacturers in order to protect their weak components when the volume of the radio is increased above a certain level.

Advanced Control Display
The HD player is controlled by an 3″ colour touch screen display. It is housed in an elegant CNC machined aluminium case and can also be used to control volume, fader, balance, tone, some set-up of the system and to switch instantaneously from up to ten different tuning presets.

Ideal For Home And Professional Settings
The HDSP-V units have such high performance and boast so many functions that many think they’d also be the perfect choice for controlling and processing in home and professional audio spheres. Zapco believes this to be the first mobile DSP that can be introduced in home and professional sound rooms without reducing the signal quality of an audio system. It is possible to dramatically improve the sound performance in the listening environment using crossover functions for the speakers, equalisation, time delay and phase for environmental compensation. Thenceforth, with amplifiers dedicated to each specific speaker and controlled actively from the same DSP processor; you can have the best sound performance in literally any environment.

Upgradeable Internal Modules And Components
The topological layout of the HDSP-V units reflect Zapco’s thinking that providing a perfect line of signal path to the speakers and through the listening area is optimal. For that reason hardware and software is easily upgradeable with different modules that can be changed out as the situation requires.

What’s the best sounding capacitor for audio that money can buy? What’s the best sounding analogue digital converter money can buy? If there was only one answer to questions like these, we’d not need so many choices. The differences between the run-of-the-mill electronic components and the top-end specialty audio components is night and day. But the differences between the top audiophile components is much more subtle and open to debate and personal preferences. The same is true of digital components. In building the HDSP-V range Zapco used the very best components it could find for a production product. But knowing that there would be high-end users out there with their personal favourite ADCs or DACs, Zapco engineers programmed the DSP chips to accept any number of different top-end components to provide the more fanatic audiophiles the ability to easily customize the units to their personal tastes.

The HDSP-V Digital Control Program
The graphic user interface (GUI) of the HDSP-V range has been designed to be simple and intuitive for everyone. But that does not mean it’s less sophisticated. It is divided into three main sections which are the front, the rear and the effects. The tuning of the sound of the front seats and the sound of the rear seats provides two different and independent tuning sets in addition to overall effects. The main screen provides simultaneous viewing of all channels with all adjustments. It is a summary screen for fine adjustments made channel by channel, while dedicated pages for each major function allow you to focus on one function and conveniently set all the channels together. Auto-tuning guides the different phases starting from the correct connection of all the components, the adjustment of the levels of the amplifiers and of the DSP; all to obtain the best performance in terms of sound quality. For experienced tuners there is also manual adjustment of all functions with maximum adjustment resolution.

Input / Output Matrix
The input / output (I/O) matrix allows the manual tuner to determine which input will be used for each output. A default matrix will be entered based on entries when you first open the program. Access to this matrix though, allows you to map out your own system by simply clicking into the box where the desired input meets the desired output. It also allows you to use multiple inputs for the same channel and to create special effects by using the sums and differences of multiple inputs for a single channel. Clicking in multiple inputs will automatically adjust the total input to remain at 100 % but you can change that by typing in the desired percentage of each input to be used.

In-Depth Crossovers
The crossover page of the HDSP-V makes crossover setting easy and clear. You can choose the filter style you want and the slope, from 6 dB to 48 dB; by simply clicking into their boxes. You can choose the frequencies by typing into the boxes or by using the up and down arrows. The graphs at the right will always show all the crossovers for each section, and the large graph below will always show the active channel’s crossover. You can use the curves setup buttons to bring down the curves of other channels to see how they interact more clearly. Right and left channels are paired by default but can be separated as needed.

Delay And Polarity Control
The page allows you to set the signal delay for each channel. You can also set the polarity of each speaker to make sure they are all in phase with each other. Phase must be correct before setting delay as they are two aspects of the same function. After the polarity of each speaker is confirmed, the distance from the listening position to each speaker is measured in either centimetres or inches and entered. The DSP will then calculate the delay for that speaker in milliseconds. Each channel can be assigned to one of three delay groups so a group of speakers can be moved together during fine tuning.

All-Pass Filters And Phase
The HDSP-V interface uses all-pass filters to give you complete control of phase. There is one all-pass filter for each channel that allows you to choose the target frequency for a phase shift and to choose the amount of phase shift from 1° to 359°. While the most common use of the phase control is to compensate for the phase changes caused by a crossover, it can also be used the eliminate an acoustic null in the in-car response caused by a 180° phase difference between the right and left channels at a given frequency.

The VSEQ Function
In recent decades car manufacturers have made it more difficult to change out the factory stereo. Unfortunately the factory stereos leave much to be desired and drivers want to improve the sound systems with new amps and speakers. But even after adding new amps and speakers problems exist because many OEM car systems often equalise the stereos. The most common issue is that car makers roll off the bass frequencies at high volume to protect their equipment. The VSEQ allows you the correct for that factory bass roll-off seamlessly with a graduated change. The VSEQ puts the frequencies back at the same volume the factory has removed them by digitally reading when the change starts and when it stops.

Extensive Equaliser
The main page holds the equaliser graph. Depending on the number of channels present in your unit; the primary channels all feature 30 parametric filters, whilst secondary channels have 6 parametric filters each as they’re usually for subwoofers. The filters can be put at any frequency and the Q of each is variable from 0.5 to 15. The filters also allow for a gain of + 6 dB or attenuation of -15 dB to be applied. When a channel is chosen the graph of that channel is always displayed. You can also pick any other channels to be displayed along with the active channel. If during the process you need to undo any changes you can reset the channel to default or you can reset it to the last saved preset. Adjustments can be made quickly using the keyboard arrows or in steps of only one frequency or 0.1 dB of gain can be made by tapping the arrow keys.

Further Connectivity
Included Wi-Fi and optional HD-BT II-D Bluetooth module allow the processor to connect to a plethora of auxiliary smart devices. The new HD-BT II-D Bluetooth module is a Qualcomm premium solution with 120 mHz DSP, 32 mHz dual-core processor, high-performance 24-bit stereo audio interface. It has aptX, aptX HD adaptive, SBC and AAC audio codec support, delivering high quality wireless audio performance over Bluetooth and aptX HD making it an ideal choice for premium audio products.

The Specification List Of Lists
If you’re time poor or plain couldn’t be bothered reading all that information above, here is the short and sweet version of what the HDSP-V units are all about:
– 16 channel digital signal processor with high definition player.
– 8 low-level / RCA analog inputs (1 to 5 Volts).
– 8 high-level / speaker line inputs (4 to 20 Volts).
– 5 digital inputs. 1 x Toslink, 1 x coaxial, 3 x Inter-IC sound (I²S) serial communication ports. All 24-Bit / 192 kHz.
– 16 analog outputs (4 Volts / 5 kOhms / 100 Ohms impedance).
– Modular device: high-end solution with 18 independent PC boards.
– Player and DSP: all-in-one dual core processor.
– Digital signal processor: OMAP L-138 – 2 x 456 mHz, 32-bit (till 64-bit / IEEE double precision).
– DSP points: fixed and floating.
– DSP sampling rate: 192 kHz on 8 channel units, 96 kHz on 16 channel units.
– Player power: 456 mhz – Arm 9 32-bit. Read till 192 KHz / 24-bit.
– File audio formats: WAV, AIF, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, MP3.
– USB memory stick support: formatted FAT32 up to 2TB of memory space.
– Frequency response: 5 Hz to 90 kHz on 8 channel units, 5 Hz – 45 kHz on 16 channel units.
– THD+N: 0.0008 % (digital input), 0.001 % (analog input) at 1 Volt
– S/N ratio device floor noise: -125 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, -135 dB from 150 Hz to 20 kHz, -140 dB from 80 Hz to 20 kHz.
– S/N ratio on digital inputs: from 115 dB to 120 dB.
– S/N ratio on analog inputs: from 109 dB to 115 dB.
– Crosstalk: 110 dB from 300 Hz to 0.9 kHz.
– Crosstalk: average 115 dB from 300 Hz to 0.9 kHz.
– Control unit: 3″ touch screen, 10 presets, volume, balance, fader, tone.
– Tuning modes: easy and expert.
– I/O setup: 2ch, 4ch, 6ch, 8ch, OEM SUM, AUX.
– EQ parametric 30 / 6 poles.
– Crossover filters: Linkwitz, Butterworth, Bessel, Chebychev.
– Phase filter: 1 Hz / 1 degree step.
– VSEQ filter: 50 Hz – 200 Hz / 1 Hz step.
– Power supply operating voltage: 6 – 16 Volts.
– Current draw: 750 mA / 14.4 V, fuse 1 A.
– Stop-Start ignition system support.

Options Aplenty And Model Numbers For The Ages
Given what’s been said above regarding options and upgradeability, you’ll not be shocked to discover that not only does the HDSP stable feature numerous models, they also feature part numbers exceeded in length only by Pi. However bare with us as we explain, for the model number actually bare some semblance of logic when broken down.

There are six versions in total; three 8 channel variants and three 16 channel variants. Each of the three variants are identified by an A, G or GA at the end of the part number.

The eight channel A, G and GA units are:
– HDSP-Z16 V AD-8A – 8 channel DSP with HD player. Standard AK4458 DAC and AK5558 ADC chip-set. Optional AK4490 DAC or ES9038PRO DAC and AK5578 ADC chip-set upgrade.
– HDSP-Z16 V AD-8G – 8 channel DSP with HD player. ESS9038PRO DAC and standard AK5558 ADC chip-set. Optional AK5578 ADC chip-set upgrade.
– HDSP-Z16 V AD-8GA – 8 channel DSP with HD player. ESS9038PRO DAC and AK5578 ADC chip-set.

The sixteen channel A, G and GA units are:
– HDSP-Z16 V AD-16A – 16 channel DSP with HD player. Standard AK4458 DAC and AK5558 ADC chip-set. Optional AK4490 DAC or ES9038PRO DAC and AK5578 ADC chip-set upgrade.
– HDSP-Z16 V AD-16G – 16 channel DSP with HD player. ESS9038PRO DAC and standard AK5558 ADC chip-set. Optional AK5578 ADC chip-set upgrade.
– HDSP-Z16 V AD-16GA – 16 channel DSP with HD player. ESS9038PRO DAC and AK5578 ADC chip-set.

Electrical Specifications
– Nominal configuration: sixteen channel digital sound processor with sixteen channel output
– Frequency response: 5 Hz – 45000 Hz
– Total harmonic distortion: 0.001 % (analog), 0.0008 % (digital)
– Signal-to-noise ratio: 109 dB (analog), 115 dB (digital)

Physical Specifications
– Length: 217 mm
– Width: 164 mm
– Height: 57 mm
– Weight: 2.1 kg

Documentation
– Software download

Important Disclaimers
Given the dynamic nature of electronics industries these days; below are listed some very important specifics you need to be aware of.

Brand Authorization And Stock Sourcing
We are a fully authorised Australian dealer of this brand and all stock is sourced through legitimate channels. It therefore enjoys full Australian warranty, backing and support.

Pricing Structure
Whilst we endeavor to offer the best price possible, we ask that if you do find a better price elsewhere from an authorised dealer; please contact us. Also be aware that we regularly conduct group buys and sales, therefore pricing can sometimes be subject to change without notice.

Stock Structure
Being a dynamic store is conducive to our inventory constantly changing. We list only a small portion of our stable online, usually products most popular. Aside from these we also stock numerous other variants and configurations of these products, hence if you don’t see what you’re after please contact us.

Shipping
All our products are shipped with registered and insured postage. Upon ordering you’ll be issued with a receipt, a consignment note via which you can track your order, and we’ll also SMS you photos of the package for identification purposes.

Technical support
This last one we cannot emphasise enough! Please contact us if you require any further information or assistance with the setup and use of this product, especially pertaining to aspects more technical. As we want you to get the very best from this product.