Recent content by antcollinet

Depends on the device. Those with class 1 insulation will have the housing connected to mains ground. More often than not, they'll also have the electronics grounded to that also.

Even so - you won't measure the ground noise at the output of the DAC, but at the other end of the interconnect (ie the input to the amp). And if you are only testing the DUT (without the rest of the system) then any external noise injection is a fault of your test setup.

I take it you didn't do a controlled/level matched/blind comparison. The pro plus DAC is transparent (inaudible noise & Distortion), so unless the Theta is adding significant noise or distortion itself, there should be no audible difference. If it is adding audible distortion, then it is not...

To clarify that a little. There are no differences unless there is a source of external noise injection into the system. The difference between balanced and unbalanced is in their ability to reject external noise, and nothing to do with their inherent (internal) performance. (ignoring typical...

How can it sound mediocre if it is an accurate reproduction of the recording. Unless that particular recording is mediocre. In which case the solution is not to use an amp that makes the reproduction less accurate, but to either; not listen to that recording (why would you want to listen to...

To build on this: First XLR will only help with noise picked up on the interconnect between sender and receiver (typically ground noise, but could also be radiated interference). Any noise generated within the electronics on either side of the interconnect is not impacted. Having said that -...

That's just a black heatsink, isn't it?

This. And there won't be any sound degradation - or if there is it will be obvious pops/clicks, and it can be sent back as faulty.

Seconded. Fourthed :p

OH NO!!! *runs of to buy expensive DACs* Wait...what? - we've heard that one before haven't we? :facepalm: PS - thanks for reading that, so I didn't have to.

I'm not convinced it will be entertaining enough for the length. Not going there.

Both DACS should be able to put out just over 2V. If they are doing, then the volume from each will be the same. There is a preamp mode on the E30? Have you enabled it and turned down the output?

In this case your SNR is only around 20dB even with the very best DACs. So yes - DACs of varying capability will handle it very differently (even Good Dacs may be down at 0dB SNR with this test)

You can replace a $200 DAC every year for 100 years, and still save $5000 :p

Balanced is not about having two signals, one inverted compared to the other, it is about: 1 - having a send / return pair where neither carry the earth signal. 2 - Balancing output and input impedances. This can mostly be achieved with the wiring shown in the upper version of the two pictures...