Recent content by MRC01

  1. MRC01

    Minimum Phase vs Linear Phase

    So if one plays an old CD having pre-emphasis with this DAC, it will sound excessively shrill/bright unless he has a way to apply the de-emphasis curve? I suppose one would do this upstream from the DAC in DSP. First extend the 16-bit to 24-bit so you don't lose resolution when applying...
  2. MRC01

    Critical (Best) Music Tracks for Speaker and Room EQ Testing

    Along those lines, here's a great album to test bass response: two guys (Meyer & McBride) playing bass violins together. On a system having clean bass response, you can hear that each instrument has a different timbre and differentiate them. One is tighter and edgier, the other is fatter and...
  3. MRC01

    Why/how do old recordings sound so good?

    That's common. Many people find that light dynamic compression and just a bit of EQ such as mid-treble or bass emphasis enhances the musical experience if done tastefully, much like in photography some kinds of saturation and contrast adjustments can make them visually more appealing even as it...
  4. MRC01

    Why/how do old recordings sound so good?

    OK so I gave it a listen from Qobuz, which is uncompressed straight FLAC. And to compare with a modern recording, I used the LSO Live from 2023 with Roth. The 1954 Reiner version is excellent for its time but you can hear its vintage limitations. In summary, the quiet parts are a bit louder...
  5. MRC01

    Why/how do old recordings sound so good?

    Same as this? https://play.qobuz.com/album/m5pflf5bk38ea
  6. MRC01

    Why/how do old recordings sound so good?

    Every rule has its exceptions. Tell me exactly what recording it is. I'll listen to it and get back to you.
  7. MRC01

    Fosi DS1 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

    I'd like to apply the above lesson and correct my comparison of the Fossi's distortion single tone vs. multi-tone. Multi-tone, the tips of the "grass" are just reaching about -110 dBr. If you sum that up it's going to add about 30 dB making -80 dBr overall, and since the tones are at about -24...
  8. MRC01

    Why/how do old recordings sound so good?

    I find that most recordings from that era aren't very good. Well that's a subjective term and sounds like a judgement, so I'll say they don't sound realistic or natural. The bottom & top octaves are attenuated or non-existent, the voicing is midrange-focused with accentuated upper mids & lower...
  9. MRC01

    Fosi DS1 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

    Thanks for the link. However, that formula applies only if the waves are orthogonal. Are they? Assuming they are, I got a different conclusion from the same formula -- then later figured it out and got the same thing. Here's my thought process, because the way in which I resolved this confusion...
  10. MRC01

    Fosi DS1 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

    When I do the same in REW, (1/3 octave from 20 to 20 k), I can set the level as high as about -8.7 dBV before it clips. Here, -8.79 dBFS does not clip and shows peak levels at 0 dBFS: Going to -8.78 dBFS clips:
  11. MRC01

    Fosi DS1 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

    PS: this also suggests that a pink noise multi-tone may show higher distortion than white noise, because it has more low frequency energy - or relatively speaking, less high frequency energy. Or, if we don't have expectations, we could say that pink noise may show a different level of...
  12. MRC01

    Fosi DS1 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

    Yes, this is what I was asking. So compared to a single tone, the multitone test can go either way: the device can produce higher distortion or lower distortion (or the same). Interesting. So this Fossi looks like it's "the same" or close to that. Single tone shows about -100 dB and multitone...
  13. MRC01

    Fosi DS1 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

    If it's the area under the curve, then it depends on frequency and amplitude. Big low frequency waves eat it up the most? If so, then that it makes sense that a 1 kHz wave eats less at -6 dB than it does at 0 dB. But if that 1 kHz wave at -6 dB rides with a 100 Hz wave also at -6 dB, then when...
  14. MRC01

    Fosi DS1 Portable DAC & Headphone Amp Review

    I'd like to understand this better. I would expect total distortion with multitone to be higher than with a single tone, since each of the tones comprising the multitone has its own distortion harmonics, which all add up, and also create intermodulation tones between them, which further add up...
  15. MRC01

    Ultrasonic Stylus Cleaning

    This reminds me that years ago, the Cardas Test LP instructions claimed that the frequency sweep degausses and cleans the stylus. It didn't explain further, but the implication seemed to be that jiggling back and forth that fast shakes crud loose...
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