NADAC vs. MSB vs. Playback Designs blind listening test

[astrotoy]

Just a procedure comment:

 

Given the resolution of these DACs, I think you need volume differences well below +-0.1dB. I suggest you run everything through HQPlayer, whether or not you chose to use its up-or-over sampling. Miska touts the extreme precision and accuracy of his software volume control, and he certainly has proven the abilities of HQP in performance. OTOH, you could simply use JMRC's volume control and would probably do fine.

 

Just to be extra fair and paranoid , make sure you change the volume of *every* device under test (DUT): don't leave any reference piece unmolested by volume control processing. And certainly leave the bit and sample rates as high as possible and equal for all DUTs. You must make sure that *either none or all* of the DUTs use the chosen rate as native, a mixed set could skew the results.

 

And as someone mentioned before, definitely measure output using VOLTAGES across a fixed, very stable load. A very accurate (6-1/2 digit) true rms desktop DMM can be had for not too much money and is very handy. You can rent -this Agilent unit- for (I expect) around $100-200 a month from Test Equity.

 

 

 

Jud, at a stroke you became the most despised and adored man in Norway.

 

Sam, I've been using HQP with my NADAC after talking with Tom Caulfield. The problem I have been having is getting a computer powerful enough to do the upsampling from DSD64 to DSD256 (which HQP does better externally than most (all?) DACs do internally). However, my computer isn't powerful enough to handle the mch conversion 5.1 in real time.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks, Larry

[Sam Lord]

Larry, that takes a helluva lot of muscle. I stress my Mac Mini with just 2 ch redbook to dsd128. I think an nVidia CUDA gpu card is in order for you. Ask Miska, he might be the only one who knows what that load will require. I expect most Intel Xeon cpus would struggle with it.

 

BTW, I like ADK Audio for computer builds, they are very reliable and understand audio needs. No bloatware ever on their machines. Good luck.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Computer Audiophile mobile app

[dragon_vibe]

for what its worth, I miss My Playback Design, After going through another series of 3 days i am planing on buying the Merlot again for my second system and the Dream Dac for my main one.

[Mercman]

The Merlot is a wonderful DAC, but the MPD-8 is in a totally different league.