T+a dac 8 dsd

[dmance]

For those who believe that cpu/cache/ssd/OS alter the bit perfect nature of usb transmitted audio ...I say: you are deluded, sorry.

Don't repeat the faulty "digital is just analog" misunderstanding of what is going on. Bits are bits all the way from the algorithm to the DAC input.  Period.

 

For those willing to become enlightened, put several ferrites on your USB cable to squash the high freq noise mucking up the analog portion of your DAC. Then you will hear no difference.

 

Over on HeadFi you will find plenty of posts....

[dmance]

4 hours ago, sdolezalek said:

 

"Period" is a pretty definitive attitude for someone with 7 total posts... If you spend more time on CA you'll find that most here agree with the "bits-is-bits perspective," but also acknowledge that the analog portions of audio equipment can be affected by more than just the arriving flow of digits.  We pretty much agree that if data errors were introduced into the digital bit stream that it would cause far bigger problems in the data realm than the music realm.  But we also tend to agree that in the music realm there are other things that can affect the sound of a piece of equipment and that some of those can travel from one piece of equipment to another. 

 

Are you suggesting that a PC, NAS, or DAC cannot possibly be affected by anything other than the stream of digits it processes? If so, it would imply that there cannot be qualitative sound differences between DACs; as even the cheapest DAC can correctly decode the bit stream without error.  

Even the cheapest DAC decodes the bitstream without error.  

...just like this CA post is coming from a distant server thru over half a continent of wires and switches. I don't see you touting using special laptops or phones to accurately decode the bits to English. That's stupid, right?

 

I don't want to flog a dead horse but 18 months ago I walked in your shoes and believed the same things.  

My education came from the frustration of a CD player over spdif sounding much better than the same ripped CD on a laptop thru USB.  Same DAC in both cases and its the same case you are making: system A sounds better than system B even tho the bits are the same.

 

I made ludicrous attempts at fixing this ...magic cables, audiophile tuning the laptop, changing OS, loading the song to Ram, etc.  Yes these improved/changed the laptop sound but I could never match the $100 CD player. 

 

So if you are going to believe in the invisible and intangible ...at least make it scientifically sound.

 

Understand that the electronics in the laptop are buzzing with radio frequency noise. MHz to near GHz and these find their way across metal in the USB cable and into the DAC. These don't manifest as digital clicks and pops, of course, rather the noise mucks up the DACs analog stage final conversion so I lose things that my ear/brain needs: depth, separation, etc.

 

So, I got the laptop to sound  exactly as good as the CD by adding an intona AND 15 clamp-on ferrites to the USB cable.  This squashes the noise on the sheath and the four wires in the cable. I consider this a 'solution' to the problem rather than the 'try-this/try-that' hacks that move the noise or alter its character without understanding how close to perfect you can get.

 

So please understand that a raspberry Pi delivers the bits as reliably as a $10,000 server ...to your USB DAC ...but sounds worse because it throws huge noise into the USB. You can make the raspberry sound the same by adding an intona and $50 worth of ferrites.

 

But nobody reading this post will believe or try this.