The second R1 unit to be launched, the DAS-R1 d/a converter was magnificently designed and luxurious in every way : Sony put all its know how about surface, color, finish, and feel to make one of the best D/A unit ever, one of the most beautiful, too, and probably the better remembered as well.
Introduced when CD was only four years old the CDP-R1 and DAS-R1 immediately became real bestsellers. This was the reference combo in Japan for many years and Sony sold many of them : not only because of said looks and feel of use but because of the sound of the R1 combo.
Here implemented as lavishly as can be, sound-wise, in all fairness, the DAS-R1 still sounds unbelievably wide, deep, smooth, lush, sweet, dynamic and inviting, whatever the source it is hooked to. And the Twin Link system does give even more of the above qualities, even if limited to be used with the CDP-R1.
Digital inputs rely either on two 75 Ohm coaxial or the intelligent (but proprietary) Twin Link connection which carries signal and servo/synchro signals separately and in a bi-directional way. Professional background oblige, Sony was among the first (if not the first) to go that route - many others followed soon afterward.
Outputs are only single-ended RCAs : Sony didn't implement balanced XLRs until the 1988 CDP-X7ESD.
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Digital filter : 18Bit
Oversampling : x8
Bit conversion : 18/16 + Noise Shaping
D/A : 2x Philips Silver Crown TDA-1541 S1
Frequency response : 10Hz...20Khz (+0 / -0,5dB ; 44,1Khz)
Distortion : < 0,0025% (1Khz, Twin Link)
< 0,005% (20...20Khz, Twin Link)
S/N ratio : > 110dB
Dynamic : > 97dB
Separation : > 100dB
Inputs : 1x Twin Link optical (800nm wavelength ; 2x 0,2mm diameter)
2x 75 Ohm coaxial (0,5Vp-p ; +/-20%)
Outputs : 2,5Vrms max. (fixed volume single-ended RCAs)
PC : 25W
Dimensions : 47 x 12,5 x 41cm
Weight : 17kg.