LOL, I guess I hit a little too close to home

I rarely buy anything new that I haven't auditioned. And I've never been a DAC of the month guy. Most DACs that use brick wall digital filters and op-amp output stages sound pretty much alike to me, and not that great. I think it would be silly to waste my time trying one cheap DAC after another, all using the same basic design, hoping one will be a giant slayer. I got on that merry-go-round during the heyday of hi-res disc players, and never found a giant slayer. I don't think they exist in audio except maybe cables.

I do have some preferences. I don't like NOS. I'm not a big fan of very slow roll-off filters either, like Ayre uses. I'm not a fan of the ESS Sabre or TI/Burr-Brown delta-sigma chips. I'm fine with Cirrus, AKM, and Wolfson. I have very fond memories of CD players that used the Burr-Brown PCM 1704 chip, which was the last integrated part on the market using a R-R ladder architecture, not delta-sigma. Unfortunately, they've been out of production for a long time now. I've never tried discrete R-R because I think it's nearly impossible to execute well for technical reasons. For one thing, you can't buy discrete resistors with tight enough tolerances.

I also have audio manufacturer preferences. The best digital component I've ever heard was probably the Berkeley Alpha DAC. And the Meitner stuff was awesome for SACD playback. Both were out of my price range though. Simaudio makes good digital in my price range. Marantz is really nice with lower quality recordings, or when you just want to let the music wash over you, but the top end is a little soft and I miss some transparency when listening to good recordings. Other than Marantz, I haven't heard any digital I liked from Japan, but I haven't tried everything.

If you check my system profile, you'll see that my current digital source is a Linn Akurate DSM. I like Linn sources, but not so much their amplification and speakers. My Akurate sounds very clean and direct, neither forward or laid back, with plenty of detail but no edge or etch to anything. It gives me all the audiophile wants but there isn't any aspect of its presentation that stands out. It's expensive, but reason I paid the high price was to eliminate the need for a preamp. For digital playback, the volume control is part of a 32-bit custom DSP before the DAC. The output stage is discrete, with three selectable output levels for system gain matching. The latter point seems to be critical to making a digital volume control that sounds good. The Akurate also has conventional analog preamp functionality with a separate volume control that I use only occasionally, but wouldn't want to be without.

IMHO, almost all preamps (and their associated cabling) affect the sound more than they should, and the ones that don't are too expensive. I had experimented with taking the preamp out of my system before and using digital volume control, with a couple of different sources, and the transparency and dynamics of my system went WAY up. But when using DVC alone, you're taking all of the amplifier gain out via digital attenuation, and that much digital attenuation seems to introduce etch/glare. I've also tried a minimalist passive pre-amp and that boosted transparency as well, but reduced dynamics.

But anyway, enough about how I choose components. Why would you take recommendations from some guru who doesn't listen to the stuff he tests, and bases his recommendations on a number that doesn't mean anything. I don't see any logic in that approach.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Dear fellow psychos... - soundchekk 00:31:55 02/17/21 (46)

RE: Dear fellow psychos... - Abstraction 16:07:08 02/21/21 (2)

+1 items that shows up on the used market. - AbeCollins 17:19:19 02/21/21 (1)

RE: +1 items that shows up on the used market. - Abstraction 17:43:40 02/21/21 (0)

It's a scam tweak.... - AbeCollins 06:02:55 02/18/21 (0)

Ground loop blocker - emailtim 10:58:42 02/17/21 (7)

RE: Ground loop blocker - Ugly 11:13:22 02/17/21 (6)

RE: Ground loop blocker - emailtim 11:23:25 02/17/21 (5)

And not just for ground loops - AbeCollins 05:54:49 02/18/21 (3)

RE: And not just for ground loops - emailtim 10:49:15 02/18/21 (2)

RE: And not just for ground loops - Ugly 15:23:38 02/18/21 (0)

RE: And not just for ground loops - AbeCollins 11:20:11 02/18/21 (0)

RE: Ground loop blocker - Ugly 12:23:57 02/17/21 (0)

RE: Dear fellow psychos... - E-Stat 09:12:09 02/17/21 (6)

RE: Dear fellow psychos... - Ugly 10:43:26 02/17/21 (4)

You confuse me with - E-Stat 11:24:30 02/17/21 (3)

RE: You confuse me with - Ugly 12:17:08 02/17/21 (2)

Go for it dude... - E-Stat 12:40:16 02/17/21 (1)

That means the price will have come down.... - Ugly 12:45:48 02/17/21 (0)

RE: Dear fellow psychos... - Mike B. 10:39:06 02/17/21 (0)

Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - Ivan303 05:40:23 02/17/21 (26)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - soundchekk 07:25:21 02/17/21 (3)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - fmak 05:33:25 02/18/21 (1)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - soundchekk 05:40:16 02/18/21 (0)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - Ugly 10:32:44 02/17/21 (0)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - Ryelands 06:32:29 02/17/21 (21)

Amir calls 'em like he measures them - Feanor 04:50:52 02/18/21 (0)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 15:23:34 02/17/21 (2)

It actually - fmak 23:25:37 02/17/21 (1)

Probably - that's why people like NOS DACs, vinyl & tubes :) (nt) - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 11:10:34 02/18/21 (0)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - fmak 08:31:55 02/17/21 (8)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - soundchekk 00:38:30 02/18/21 (7)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - fmak 04:30:26 02/18/21 (6)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - soundchekk 05:24:31 02/18/21 (5)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - fmak 05:39:02 02/18/21 (4)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - Ryelands 09:32:16 02/18/21 (0)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - soundchekk 05:53:34 02/18/21 (2)

RE: Should be "Do USB filters make DACs MEASURE bette?r"... - fmak 08:03:38 02/18/21 (0)

"I am pretty sure you can measure what we hear" In practice, no - Dave_K 07:26:58 02/18/21 (0)

Always considered him a 'one trick pony'... - Ivan303 06:57:19 02/17/21 (7)

Absolutely - Dave_K 08:27:24 02/18/21 (6)

RE: Absolutely - MRMB 22:17:43 03/02/21 (0)

"They want an audio reviewer who will slap a winner label on something " ................ - Cut-Throat 11:25:41 02/19/21 (4)

LOL, I guess I hit a little too close to home - Dave_K 07:39:19 02/20/21 (3)

Not really, I just use it as a 'Starting Point' ................... - Cut-Throat 07:53:17 02/20/21 (2)

RE: Not really, I just use it as a 'Starting Point' ................... - Dave_K 06:04:46 02/21/21 (1)

RE: Not really, I just use it as a 'Starting Point' ................... - Cut-Throat 06:29:12 02/21/21 (0)

Follow Ups

LOL, I guess I hit a little too close to home - Dave_K 07:39:19 02/20/21 (3)

Not really, I just use it as a 'Starting Point' ................... - Cut-Throat 07:53:17 02/20/21 (2)

RE: Not really, I just use it as a 'Starting Point' ................... - Dave_K 06:04:46 02/21/21 (1)

RE: Not really, I just use it as a 'Starting Point' ................... - Cut-Throat 06:29:12 02/21/21 (0)

LOL, I guess I hit a little too close to home

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