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Would AKM DAC sound different than Khadas Tone Board?

Pdxwayne

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My node2i RCA out sounds a bit soft and not as clean and punchy as my Khadas Tone board (node2i coaxial out to KTB). However, KTB is a bit sharp sounding and my ears hurt after listening to music pretty loud for a short while.

Would a well measured AKM based DAC sound less sharp, but still clean and have good punch?

Thanks!
 

Shazb0t

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The Khadas Tone Board has been shown to measure flat in frequency response with low distortion. It is unlikely the cause of sharp sounds that hurt your ears.
 

andreasmaaan

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The short answer is no, they won't sound any different (unless something is wrong with whatever AKM-based DAC you buy).

If you want to verify that your Tone Board is not the source of your perceived sharpness, here you can compare the sound of recordings that have not been run through a Khadas Tone Board vs the same recordings that have been run through a Khadas Tone Board eight times.

If the recordings do not sound sharper after running through the board eight times, they are very unlikely to sound sharper after running through it once.
 
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Pdxwayne

Pdxwayne

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The Khadas Tone Board has been shown to measure flat in frequency response with low distortion. It is unlikely the cause of sharp sounds that hurt your ears.
I only tried node2i direct to amp, Oppo 203 direct to amp, and KTB direct to amp. Both Oppo and Node2i sounded a bit similar and KTB sounded the cleanest. Only Oppo 205 was measured in ASR. I know node2i didn't measure well. I now wonder about Oppo 203....The Oppo 203 does have AKM DAC, it is softer sounding, but doesn't sound as clean nor punchy as KTB.
 
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Pdxwayne

Pdxwayne

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The short answer is no, they won't sound any different (unless something is wrong with whatever AKM-based DAC you buy).

If you want to verify that your Tone Board is not the source of your perceived sharpness, here you can compare the sound of recordings that have not been run through a Khadas Tone Board vs the same recordings that have been run through a Khadas Tone Board eight times.

If the recordings do not sound sharper after running through the board eight times, they are very unlikely to sound sharper after running through it once.
Hmm, maybe now KTB is revealing ~8 to 9Khz peak of my speakers?

fr_listeningwindow.gif
 

andreasmaaan

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Hmm, maybe now KTB is revealing ~8 to 9Khz peak of my speakers?

View attachment 90560

It's very unlikely there's any difference in the DAC's frequency responses at 8-9kHz.

If there are audible differences, these will be in the frequency response close to 20kHz, or in levels of noise and/or distortion. But the chances there are audible differences are not significant.

How'd you go with the audio files I linked to earlier?
 
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Pdxwayne

Pdxwayne

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It's very unlikely there's any difference in the DAC's frequency responses at 8-9kHz.

If there are audible differences, these will be in the frequency response close to 20kHz, or in levels of noise and/or distortion. But the chances there are audible differences are not significant.

How'd you go with the audio files I linked to earlier?
Regarding the files, I just need to listen to all 3 files per zip through my KTB and observe for differences?
 

andreasmaaan

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Regarding the files, I just need to listen to all 3 files per zip through my KTB and observe for differences?

So of the three files in each folder, there is a "reference" file which has not been through the DAC eight times, and then a file labelled "A" and a file labelled "B".

You're not told which of "A" or "B" has been through the DAC eight times, and which of "A" or "B" is the reference file.

The first thing to do would be to listen to all three files and decide whether you think you can identify which of A or B is the reference.

If it seems you can do that, let us know, and I'll explain the next step - which is a bit more complicated, but I suspect you won't need to go through it ;)
 
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Pdxwayne

Pdxwayne

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So of the three files in each folder, there is a "reference" file which has not been through the DAC eight times, and then a file labelled "A" and a file labelled "B".

You're not told which of "A" or "B" has been through the DAC eight times, and which of "A" or "B" is the reference file.

The first thing to do would be to listen to all three files and decide whether you think you can identify which of A or B is the reference.

If it seems you can do that, let us know, and I'll explain the next step - which is a bit more complicated, but I suspect you won't need to go through it ;)
Rycooder: I think B has slightly more punch than A and reference.

My node2i now won't play anything....Will update later with the rest....
 

andreasmaaan

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Rycooder: I think B has slightly more punch than A and reference.

My node2i now won't play anything....Will update later with the rest....

EDIT: oops, B had been run through the Khadas TB eight times. Did it sound sharper to you?
 
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Pdxwayne

Pdxwayne

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EDIT: oops, B had been run through the Khadas TB eight times. Did it sound sharper to you?
The first one, can't really tell about sharpness, but can slightly tell bass punch.

Phil woods: A is sharper.
 

raif71

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EDIT: oops, B had been run through the Khadas TB eight times. Did it sound sharper to you?
So after all these tests and and "supposedly" we can eliminate that the Khadas did not cause perceived sharpness but one still hears the sharpness, what then? Should one ignore and accept that it is just illusion even though the sharpness is still there every time one play the Khadas?
 

andreasmaaan

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So after all these tests and and "supposedly" we can eliminate that the Khadas did not cause perceived sharpness but one still hears the sharpness, what then? Should one ignore and accept that it is just illusion even though the sharpness is still there every time one play the Khadas?

Question for me specifically? If the Khadas can be eliminated then I'd look at the most likely source of sharpness, the speakers.
 

andreasmaaan

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No, no Foobar.

Jennifer: A is slightly sharper.....How did I do so far about 2 and 3?

Cowboy junkies: A is slightly sharper

You're on 2 out of 4 so far :) But I don't think this process is quite statistically valid, you'd need to ABX test them to first verify that you can actually hear a difference. Although given your success rate is what would be predicted by chance, I'm not sure you actually need to.
 

andreasmaaan

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FYI @Pdxwayne, I would not expect you to be able to discern a difference (I couldn't myself either, and I don't think most could when people were doing it as an ABX test).
 
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Pdxwayne

Pdxwayne

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You're on 2 out of 4 so far :) But I don't think this process is quite statistically valid, you'd need to ABX test them to first verify that you can actually hear a difference. Although given your success rate is what would be predicted by chance, I'm not sure you actually need to.
Haha, last one Bob Marley hard to tell. My daughter need to sleep.... : )
 
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