holbob
Active Member
Bet he can hear the difference between cables!
The JDS Labs Atom DAC+ is already at the limits of your hearing for USD $109.After learning a lot from this site about what's necessary, measurable, audible, it seems to my under-educated mind that after about $300 there's not much to gain in terms of sound quality from any box/dongle.
SMPS are good. Why don't you like them?I think power supply can be a big difference. I like to avoid Switching supplies.
They don't sell only to ASR members. Small differences in form and functionality may be attractive to different people. And in a sense we are attracted to newer products, if one needs a dac. But yes, dacs reviews are the least favorite reviews for me, everything else is more interesting.In a market saturated with DACs that are perfect (from an audibility perspective) what is the point of this product?
The way they sound?SMPS are good. Why don't you like them?
One of the major advantages of SMPS operation is that they use a very high frequency of operation. The range of operation is from about roughly 50kHz to 600kHz depending on the application and the age of it. Human hearing is generally stated to be ~20Hz to 20kHz. So any bleed-through of the power supply high frequency operation that bleeds through into the audio stream is way above what a human can hear. As a comparison a linear power supply operates in north America at 60Hz and in Europe at 50Hz. So any bleed-through can easily be heard as a annoying buzz/hum. Additionally a SMPS can be much smaller, lighter weight and use less expensive parts to make one. In brief a SMPS has many advantages but the sound quality is the one we are discussing.The way they sound?
Glad you agree.One of the major advantages of SMPS operation is that they use a very high frequency of operation. The range of operation is from about roughly 50kHz to 600kHz depending on the application and the age of it. Human hearing is generally stated to be ~20Hz to 20kHz. So any bleed-through of the power supply high frequency operation that bleeds through into the audio stream is way above what a human can hear. As a comparison a linear power supply operates in north America at 60Hz and in Europe at 50Hz. So any bleed-through can easily be heard as a annoying buzz/hum. Additionally a SMPS can be much smaller, lighter weight and use less expensive parts to make one. In brief a SMPS has many advantages but the sound quality is the one we are discussing.
I reckon we are well past the point at which DAC reviews could now be (shock horror) subjective. I don’t give a hoot whether a new DAC has even less inaudible distortion than the last one. So if we are going to insist on reviewing audibly perfect products let’s review form and functionality.They don't sell only to ASR members. Small differences in form and functionality may be attractive to different people. And in a sense we are attracted to newer products, if one needs a dac. But yes, dacs reviews are the least favorite reviews for me, everything else is more interesting.
Subjective audiophiliticsWho in 2023 buys a DAC with less than 121.4 SINAD?
There are some bad ones around, especially at higher prices. Every now and then Amir spots one.If all DACs sound the same, why keep testing them?
To be on the safe side, I look to the dac's measuring well, in the 200 euro range and I choose the one the 'sounds better' to me. So where is my sin, what sacred law would I break?!
6 pages and no mention of DSD performance. I don’t think many members of Audiosciencereview are using their DACs to their fullest potential if nobody is interested in the popping sound that plagues many DACs in between DSD tracks.
I think power supply can be a big difference. I like to avoid Switching supplies.
The way they sound?
I think I can tell a difference. I can give you an example:Why do you knock on them or hit them? That’s the only way they can “sound”?.
Isn't the Firstwatt Sony V-FET pt1 lottery amp a distortion making machine? Whether it uses the SMPS or a linear supply.I think I can tell a difference. I can give you an example:
Amplifiers like the Firstwatt Sony V-FET pt1 lottery amp, uses SMPS, and sound a bit… like the power supply is full of sand. Same type of sound from the much worse Firstwatt ACA. The best was sound I have had at home in the respect of clean electricity was the Firstwatt F5. The F5 has a power supply that is found in all of the Firstwatt amplifiers. At least up to F6, I think. It hums like crazy in my sensitive horn speakers, and I think I need to build a dual mono PSU to reduce it. But at least it did not have that horrid SMPS type of sound.
But it is an A/B test that I would love to do one day. It keeps me up at night what I am missing by using SMPS here and there.
I am sure PCM with much higher quality than CD, will sound about same as DSD. If this is what you mean, then I agree completely. In fact, I think the music should never be resampled. When I was recording lyrics and guitar i Cubase with a Lynx L22 PCI card, I could hear how the quality deteriorated quickly as soon as I resampled the music from the original file format 24bit/192kHz.We are past the era where DSD could provide better performance than PCM or even properly over sampled redbook. So, who cares? And if you do care, you are caring about the wrong thing ;-)