Hifi Forum TDA-1541A DAC Review

[voodooless]

Why I should convince anybody to sth. I know from experience? NO WAY.

Then why post in the first place?

 

[audio_tony]

The frequency response is linear +-0.5dB. Noise is at -96dB. THD at 0.0x%. This is all beyond the limits of perception since 1980.

A flat frequency response did not tell the full story with vintage players, many of which could have a hard sounding top end even with a flat response.

My first CD player was a Sony CDP-190, which sounded very clear, but always had a sharpness to the sound. My next CD player (Sony CD-790) was a dramatic improvement over the 190. The 790 and 227 were very closely matched, but the 227 still had a nicer (smoother) top end.

CDP-190 - 2Hz to 20kHz +1dB -1.5dB / THD 'less than' 0.05%
CDP-790 - 2Hz to 20kHz +/- 0.3dB / THD 'less than' 0.003%
CDP-227ESD - 2Hz to 20kHz +/- 0.5dB / THD 'less than' 0.0025%

All three of the above players have a different sound in the upper frequencies in particular. I know, I've owned all three (and still have the 227).

The specifications don't always tell everything, in particular with DACs and CD players (although less so with DACs these days).

I'm not claiming I can hear differences between 0.05% and 0.0025% THD because I can't. But each player clearly had it's own sound signature.

 

[CardiganB]

Less details and less DR it is bound to sound fuller. Brain tends to hate too many details as it requires extra efforts to make sense of it but that does not mean older tecnology is more faithful. Older tech has a type of sound while newer dac make music closer to as it is recorded. So try a modern recording with a lot of small level details like Ralph Alessi band and you would hate your old dac.

OMG, your auditory system needs no help in recognizing the more lavishing of two presentations. If it required thinking the hobby would be like prying on a toenail. I've no doubt whatsoever that NEC stopped building compact disc players by 1990 because there was simply nothing left to do.