The Artful Complexity of Formula 1 Comes to AVPro
Most are familiar with the Netflix series Drive to Survive, which captures the intense pressure motorsport’s Formula 1 teams face as they push for technical superiority during research, development, and construction of a racing car, seeking to secure the FIA Formula One World Constructors' Championship. The series simultaneously spotlights the Drivers’ championship, highlighting the fearless individuals navigating split-second, 221 mph decisions under intense global scrutiny that ultimately defines their teams' fortunes and personal careers.
The series has significantly contributed to the surging popularity of Formula 1 in the United States. Its digital intermediate 4K mastering, presented in 4K Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision (depending on the Netflix tier), greatly elevates the viewing experience, appealing to both devoted fans and the growing domestic audience introduced to F1 through the series.
Starting this year, Apple TV+ holds the U.S. broadcast rights and will stream F1 TV Premium with live coverage in 4K HDR (HLG) at 50 frames per second. Combining on-circuit action with onboard and, for select teams, driver helmet cameras, this unmatched, immersive live real-time adventure is best experienced through home cinema’s newest front row qualifiers, the Hyperion AP-16 and RCV-11.
Introducing Hyperion
With its Hyperion Series, AVPro Global brand AudioControl re-enters the high-performance home cinema market. Applying the same systems engineering rigor as a Formula 1 constructor, the new Hyperion platform has been methodically sculpted from the chassis up with uncompromising precision and world-class innovation.
As in F1, “off-the-shelf” or standardized parts are few, with each component chosen (or custom-made where required) for its intended purpose. Performance-bred, Hyperion’s debut products, the APR-16 home cinema preamplifier-processor and the RCV-11, are clean-sheet designs, absent shared architecture or circuitry common to any preceding AudioControl or AVPro product.
Second-to-None Video
By drawing on AVPro Global’s vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities and complementary resources, such as Imaging Science Foundation video performance certification, the AVPro Edge video engineering team meticulously optimized Hyperion’s HDMI signal paths. With full design authority, they refined the HDMI topology to achieve the highest possible level of signal integrity.
A custom hybrid PTFE-based circuit board laminate was chosen for its exceptionally low dielectric constant, which accelerates signal propagation, and its low dissipation factor, which reduces attenuation, eye diagram closure, and bit-error rates. The boards implement uniform trace widths and lengths, balanced ground planes, and symmetrical routing to achieve intra-pair timing alignment to minimize skew. This design symmetry, combined with ground plane balance, effectively suppresses common-mode conversion noise. Since Fixed Rate Link in HDMI 2.1b lacks a dedicated clock lane, skew control is critical for link training and eye-diagram compliance.
Hyperion’s 48 Gbps ISF-Certified signal paths employ a pure passthrough architecture and do not apply any internal downscaling, upscaling, or pixel compensation processing in the output stage. To preserve native resolution integrity and eliminate risks of image degradation, AVPro Edge video engineers and the AudioControl design team opted to exclude onscreen status displays. Inline character generators, whether active, idle, or bypassed, can still introduce a nontrivial potential for visible artifacts that compromise image fidelity.
The Heart of the Machine Comes from The Heartland
AVPro Global’s Sioux Falls, SD, manufacturing facility is responsible for Hyperion’s advanced multilayer PCB fabrication, including solder paste circuit trace printing, surface mount device dispensing, hybrid component placement with flip chip bonding, and automated optical inspection with 4D image capture.
Many competing manufacturers outsource circuit design, board fabrication, and even product assembly to third-party contractors. Producing products as complex and sophisticated as home cinema preamplifier-processors and AVRs entirely in-house is a daunting endeavor for a manufacturer; however, there are no alternatives to provide complete control over product performance and long-term reliability.
As with the Hyperion APR-16 Preamplifier-Processor, all signal processing boards for the Hyperion RCV-11 AVR, along with the GaN-transistor amplified audio output channel cards, are 100% fabricated and produced in Sioux Falls.
The Industry’s First All-Channel GaN AVR
The RCV-11 represents the first AVR to employ wide-bandgap gallium nitride (GaN)-based transistors across all output channels. These GaN transistors operate at lower temperatures, enabling higher switching frequencies that deliver faster switching speeds, minimizing crossover distortion for cleaner waveforms and lower total harmonic distortion. They also shorten “dead time,” the brief interval when one transistor fully turns off before its complementary transistor (high-side or low-side) switches on, mitigating the risk of shoot-through, a destructive short-circuit condition.
F1 Chassis Stability
Hyperion circuit assemblies employ a direct-coupled bridgeboard architecture, wherein adjoining printed circuit boards (PCBs) are securely interlocked via soldered pin-to-pin interconnections. This configuration provides superior mechanical rigidity by eliminating wiring harnesses and intermediary connectors that can collect and radiate RFI within the chassis, become microphonic under high sound pressure levels, and are susceptible to connections dislodging during transport.
Between the two Hyperion models, only the RCV-11 features a solo wired tether. Not signal-related, it serves as the power lead to a Noctua fan that regulates the internal atmospheric pressure that convectionally cools the unit. AudioControl engineers are working with Noctua to power select fans using surface mount connections.
Comparable to F1 in obsessiveness, the holes in Hyperion’s outer casings are precisely engineered not only to maintain internal atmospheric pressure that enhances convective cooling, but also to ensure their specific diameters attenuate electromagnetic interference (EMI) ingress and egress to 1.2 GHz, ensuring full compliance with the EU Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive 2014/30/EU.
F1 Refers to the Steering Wheel as the Electronic Control Interface… So Do We!
Hyperion’s proprietary in-house engineered Linux-based operating system software optimizes performance for enhanced integrator applications while providing a fully intuitive, comprehensive tablet and smartphone GUI with full API control across every aspect of functionality.
Dynamic World-Class Sound
Hyperion designers selected the Hyperstream ESS ES9039Q2M for all DAC duties. This audiophile chipset delivers a +130dB dynamic range (DNR) and -120dB THD+N per channel, ensuring ultra-low distortion and noise, while supporting
32-bit processing up to 768kHz PCM and DSD1024.
Dirac-Live ready, Hyperion is designed to deliver benchmark performance for the industry’s finest home cinema systems. Formula 1, through Hyperion, transports you to the ultimate grandstand seat at the heart of the Eau Rouge-Raidillon curve at Spa-Francorchamps, as the cars rocket past upward through the 30-meter climb at breathtaking speed, before unleashing full-tilt onto the Kemmel Straight. In this moment, you aren’t just watching the race – you're living it.
In a crowded marketplace where a wide assortment of brand-name electronics has common roots, Hyperion stands uniquely alone, proudly craft-assembled in Sioux Falls, SD, and trusted around the world.
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