Are Yamaha products more musical than Sony products? (Quick Measurements)

[GXAlan]

Quick and simple comparison, where I'm just looking at two measurements from the pre-outs of two classic products in pure-direct modes

1) Sony STR-ZA5000ES
- Similar digital front end as the STR-Z1100ES tested here but with beefier amplifier section
- 90 dB ASR DAC SINAD on APx555

2) Yamaha CX-A5100
- Only Yamaha Dolby Atmos product without a major defect (compared to CX-A5200 and RX-A6A).
- 90 dB/95 dB Audioholics SINAD with XLR out on APx585


HDMI input of each respective processor/AVR
1 kHz test tone

1000 tone multitone

At least when comparing these two products, even though the 1 kHz SINAD is only 6 dB apart, once you do a 1000 tone multi-tone, the difference expands to 13 dB difference.

Conclusion:
It's very possible that the Yamaha CX-A5100 (2015) is "more musical" than the Sony STR-ZA5000es (2015). The Yamaha does not change much between a single tone and multi-tone whereas the Sony shows a much larger difference.

 

[GXAlan]

Of course. “Musical” is a subjective term but here we see that both do a reasonable job with a single tone but in multitone, the Sony is compromised.

Nice to see that there is better measured performance from a product that subjectively has better perceived performance.

The threshold is large and we are not dealing with -120 vs -130 dB SINAD.

 

[levimax]

Of course. “Musical” is a subjective term but here we see that both do a reasonable job with a single tone but in multitone, the Sony is compromised.

Nice to see that there is better measured performance from a product that subjectively has better perceived performance.

The threshold is large and we are not dealing with -120 vs -130 dB SINAD.

If you have the time and inclination I think it would be interesting for you to try a level matched double blind test and see if you can tell the difference between the amps.

 

[GXAlan]

One of the reasons I have gone with Sony (and now Yamaha) is that I really like the center lift feature which uses the front heights along with the center that I have below the TV to shift the phantom image higher. Short of running Trinnov, this is an under appreciated feature that enhances the movie experience for homes that you don’t have speakers in the truly optimized positions.

The Yamaha DSP is also much less gimmicky than I thought. It is particularly good for something like Top Gun Maverick which only streams in 5.1 as opposed to Atmos.

The Yamaha CX-A5100 is also is the magic device that has both Dolby Surround upmixing and Dolby Pro-Logic II Music upmixing. They had to pay 2x the licensing fees to Dolby! If you want Atmos, Dolby Surround Upmixing and Dolby Pro Logic II, there is only one option…

 

[Head_Unit]

HDMI input of each respective processor/AVR

Thanks for the really great test! My one quibble is the graphs are not on the same scale, and the scale lines themselves very hard to see. So it LOOKS like the Sony has less high frequency noise (unless you zoom way in and realize the left hand scales differ radically). Is it possible to rescale and repost the graphics?
- I'd also be really curious to see in NON-pure mode. Hmm, that would mean what, time alignment on?

 

[GXAlan]

Pure Mode enables the DSP, bass management, etc, Non-Pure mode

DSP enabled

Pure Direct

1 kHz with optimized input (- 10dB on the HDMI)

DSP enabled

Pure Direct

 

[GXAlan]

I redid some tests, taking lessons from Amir's Denon testing and Windows HDMI setup. (Don't send HDMI in 2 ch; send a test tone in a multichannel HDMI setup)

This bumps the CX-A5100 to 99 dB!

The REW sweep is also very impressive

 

[GXAlan]

 

[peng]

I thought lower SINAD, multitone or not, does not coorelate to musicality, not always anyway.

 

[GXAlan]

@peng
Agreed.

But if both are audibly transparent, there is unlikely to be any difference in sound.
Here, we saw that the original testing showed that the Multitone test dropped below 80 dB SINAD which could translate into audible distortion.

The distortion may be preferred by some even.

I just wanted to showcase differences between single tone and multitone tests. The X4800h test reminded me of the x4700H test and hdmi so I retested since the Yamaha is my current processor. I got a nice bump in performance and wanted to post it.

 

[peng]

@peng
Agreed.

But if both are audibly transparent, there is unlikely to be any difference in sound.
Here, we saw that the original testing showed that the Multitone test dropped below 80 dB SINAD which could translate into audible distortion.

The distortion may be preferred by some even.

I just wanted to showcase differences between single tone and multitone tests. The X4800h test reminded me of the x4700H test and hdmi so I retested since the Yamaha is my current processor. I got a nice bump in performance and wanted to post it.

In that multitone test, do you know if the much lower SINAD was dominated by noise?