Merging Technologies Introduces Hapi MKII

Following a record quarter of sales of the original Hapi, Merging Technologies has introduced the Hapi MKII.

Merging Technologies reports that since the beginning of October 2020, it has sold more than 120 Hapi units, adding that the diversity of users and countries has been “remarkable”.

Four of these units were sold to the French theme park, Puy du Fou along with two Horus units which, when added to their already significant installation, makes them one of the largest individual purchasers worldwide.

Units were also supplied to film and post studios in Denmark and Germany, classical recording facilities in UK, Poland, Germany, Switzerland and USA, broadcasters in France, Switzerland, Canada, USA and Indonesia, and to Dolby Atmos studios in Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

Units were also shipped to Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Israel, Hungary, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden, China and the Czech Republic covering all the above applications, plus mastering houses and studios using Pro Tools and Nuendo.

This flourish of activity provides the ideal scenario for the launch of Hapi MKI, which will start shipping in March. Merging states that advance orders are already more than 50.

All the good bits of Hapi remain, meaning all the current and future AD/DA interface cards will slot straight in as will the PT64 HDX and MADI cards.

Key new features include channel-based routing (each channel can be routed individually to make the most efficient use of resources), and improved headphones specifications and features.

These headphone improvements include a mastering grade headphone amp, a headphone amp suitable for ultra-low to very high impedance headphones, headphones DSD volume support (DSD64, DSD128, DSD256), headphones DSD256 support, and per-channel headphones trims for level and polarity.

A new front panel with improved display features clear Plexiglas with dimming options, ST2022-7 support, and complementing Anubis SPS and MAD, Hapi MKII is now fully compliant with the seamless protection switching strategy.

Switch mode support removes the need for an external network switch when using one additional networked interface.

Additional key features include DA Roll Off filter, per channel DA Trims level and polarity support, and 0.1 dB level precision steps on DA and all trims.

Hapi MKII also retains the redundant power supply option and now has ST2022-7 seamless protection switching added to the NMOS and ST2110-30 compatibility it already had.

The dual Ethernet ports also allow ‘switch mode’ operation which permits the connection of one additional Ravenna/AES67 device without the need for an external switch.

This is particularly useful for compact location recording systems where additional switches add to the complexity and overall weight.

The manufacturer states that Anubis and Hapi provide “a surprisingly powerful package that delivers exceptional audio fidelity” with all the control needed to route your microphones, control your monitoring and even provide the talkback to the artists.

The core of Hapi MKII is the ZMAN ‘system-on-a-chip’ featured in Merging Anubis, and this allows for individual channel-based routing and the other important enhancements to the headphone performance and DA control.

The headphone amplifier now monitors full DSD256 material with volume control from the front panel and, as with Anubis, it is now capable of driving ultra-low to very high impedance headphones.

Additional roll-off filters on the DA have per-channel trims and polarity switching. Demands from many mastering houses have seen all trims including the DAs to be adjusted in 0.1 dB steps to provide the precision demanded by this speciality.

These adjustments are also applicable to the headphone monitoring, making sure that you get identical results whether you are listening on speakers or headphones. As an added bonus, the front-panel display is improved and has dimming options to cope with any lighting conditions.

“I have been blown away by the 2020 sales results that have defied all earlier predictions,” said Rune Jacobsen, Merging’s newly appointed international sales manager.

“Hapi has been one of the outstanding products recently and we are certain that Hapi MKII will achieve even greater success.”