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DACs that better compensate for noise

M00ndancer

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Is there no one on this site that believes music via the network or from a separate specialized computer can sound better than from your daily use windows pc given the same dac?
Not me, not unless you have problems with ground loops. Like I had to compensate for. Old wiring in my house. Using the bulit in Toslink from the computer and the problem is gone. There is no difference if I use my ChromeCast Audio as source or the computer as source.
 

BDWoody

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I have never been part of a "we" or "them" crowd, and never will...

So, if 'we' believe the earth is more round than flat, are you determined to not be part of that 'group?'

'We' are based on the physics of the world as we know it.. Seems an odd point to be stuck on.
 

BDWoody

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Of course he explains it using a bunch of mumbo jumbo and charts and verbiage that is beyond my understanding, but I tend to believe everything he says.

That's what they count on...
 

BDWoody

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solderdude

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It's black... at least when I dig in my garden it appears black to me... Vinyl I reckon.
I have been told vinyl is high res so perhaps yes.
 

M00ndancer

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:facepalm: I see. You're just wasting everybodies time, your's included. Should be EOT now.
Have to give it to @wineandmusic really good trolling. Even got me going for a while. I'm still to gullible and wanted to help out.
 

pkane

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Have to give it to @wineandmusic really good trolling. Even got me going for a while. I'm still to gullible and wanted to help out.

I believe @wineandmusic, or @beerandmusic as he's known on AS forum, is trying to learn. His learning process is very chaotic, in my experience. After a number of run-ins, I do believe he's just looking for information. Just not in a way anyone else does ;) If he's a troll, then he's a very clever one.
 

BDWoody

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Have to give it to @wineandmusic really good trolling. Even got me going for a while. I'm still to gullible and wanted to help out.

I believe @wineandmusic, or @beerandmusic as he's known on AS forum, is trying to learn. His learning process is very chaotic, in my experience. After a number of run-ins, I do believe he's just looking for information. Just not in a way anyone else does ;) If he's a troll, then he's a very clever one.

I'm with you @pkane on this one...his other posts on the forum aren't disruptive or obnoxious, and while he does want to hold onto a few points for the sake of...something...I feel more like he's actually open to the ideas, if not the idea of being part of what is viewed as a cult in some parts of the audio world.

No accusations of bad ears, bad systems, better knowledge, or unknowable unmeasurables...he seems to be starting from a place that doesn't give him room to just embrace all this crazy talk quite yet without a little bit of resistance. I don't see the need to pick a fight with the guy, but I do wish he'd stop with some of the 'don't care, won't bother, your problem to prove it' stuff and just get on with proving to his own satisfaction that 'we' aren't a bunch of crazy cooks...which is likely all he's ever heard anywhere else.

Could be wrong, and he could just be an incredibly skillful troll, but I'm not getting that.
 
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Jimbob54

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I'm with you @pkane on this one...his other posts on the forum aren't disruptive or obnoxious, and while he does want to hold onto a few points for the sake of...something...I feel more like he's actually open to the ideas, if not the idea of being part of what is viewed as a cult in some parts of the audio world.

No accusations of bad ears, bad systems, better knowledge, or unknowable unmeasurables...he just seems to be starting from a place that doesn't give him room to just embrace all this crazy talk quite yet without a little bit of resistance. I don't see the need to pick a fight with the guy, but I do wish he'd stop with some of the 'don't care, won't bother, your problem to prove it' stuff and just get on with proving to his own satisfaction that 'we' aren't a bunch of crazy cooks...which is likely all he's ever heard anywhere else.

Could be wrong, and he could just be an incredibly skillful troll, but I'm not getting that.

I agree- though the apparent willingness to make or forego significant purchase decisions on the say so of some random folk on the internet coupled with a desire to have a certain form of words repeated back to him was a little odd.
 

Jimbob54

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Can't reason his way out of a wet paper bag?

Im simply STAGGERED that some members on other audio sites have a negative view of ASR :eek:(I'm not really)

Abrasive know-it-alls isnt my experience . Anyone willing to adopt the right mindset is treated well from what I have seen. Persisting with illogical or unsubstantiated claims might get a few snarky comments though.

I wised up after the first couple of "Uh-huhs". Maybe.
 

M00ndancer

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The knowledgebase here is wast. The willingness to feed trolls, not so much. But what really matters is that you don't take your self to seriously and accept that you know alot but nothing in the grand scheme of things. Same goes for my profession, IT-educator. Some people cant grasp that although I know much it's just a drop in the sea. But I do know how to navigate a wet paper bag. ;)
 

gvl

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I think it was Pavel of Okto Research who said that high incoming sampling rates lead to higher THD on most DAC chips, if true, and I don't know why would he make it up, then upsampling in software before the DAC can lead to better performance in the inaudible region at the cost of performance in the audible range.
 
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100rounddrum

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The thing with measurments is that yes, the fr response will be captured perfectly, but they lack timing domain responses... Which in turn affect sound quality
 

Jimbob54

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The thing with measurments is that yes, the fr response will be captured perfectly, but they lack timing domain responses... Which in turn affect sound quality

Let's go with that one. So how does one go about determining which DACs have good timing domain response? And how does one tell if you are listening to one such case?
 

SIY

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The thing with measurments is that yes, the fr response will be captured perfectly, but they lack timing domain responses... Which in turn affect sound quality
This is wrong from front to back.
 

RayDunzl

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The thing with measurments is that yes, the fr response will be captured perfectly, but they lack timing domain responses... Which in turn affect sound quality

My simple measurements seem to be able to distinguish timing (distance) between the left and right speaker to less than one sample time.

Would that not be something included in or indicative of some level of measurment performance in the time domain?

---

Also, step and impulse response measurement calculated from a swept sine are virtually identical to a recording of an actual single byte impulse or step as created with a square wave, so I don't see a problem there. I admit I was surprised by that. Data available if you care.
 

Jimbob54

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I was using a HRT Microstreamer a while back, while I had the way cheaper Hifimediy Sabre DAC at the same time.

I thought the Microstreamer would be superior in every way, since it had more power and better specs. So I listened to it for a while with my Audio Technica AD1000x headphones I had at the time, never bothering to connect the cheaper DAC to it.

One day I decided to just plug the headphone in the cheaper DAC, and listen to how it sounds, expecting harsher treble etc.

Turned out, it's treble was smoother than the Microstreamer.

How would this be possible, if I was expecting the sound to be worse, yet it sounded more pleasing to me?

Point 1. These are both DAC/amp combos- not purely DACs
Point 2- you can post this same anecdote as many times as you like (2 so far) , I dont think you will get a response that you like.
Point 3- (You will really hate this one)- did you do double blind level matched testing to remove the chance your ears/ brain might be leading you up the garden path?
 
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