Chords New M -Scaler

[asdf1000]

7 hours ago, mansr said:

I believe him to be sincere in his desire to build the best possible DAC.

 

He's also currently building what he considers to be the best ever A-to-D converter (his DAVINA Project). So in time, he may be able to show some measurements that show what can affect the analogue output.

[asdf1000]

35 minutes ago, jabbr said:

It does use a relatively low powered FPGA (Artix-7).

 

Off topic here but I think Ted Smith's DirectStream DAC uses the cheaper and lower powered LX16 - which can up-sample to 20 x DSD rates... something HQPlayer can't do at the moment... 

 

[asdf1000]

While the topic is M-Scaler and digital filters and I do find it really interesting... in the back of our minds (or the fore) we should always keep the late Charles Hansen's great post in mind:

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/35106-how-does-a-perfect-dac-analog-signal-look-different-than-a-cheap-dac/?page=7&tab=comments#comment-713189

 

The analogue and power supply sections of a DAC are the most important aspects - digital filters are down the list.

 

Rob Watt's DACs are quite state of the art in terms of analogue section too.

 

I've heard Dave with and without Blu2 M-Scaling driving closed back headphones directly (no room effects at play) and the difference to my ears wasn't as great as I'd hope for the added cost.

 

But Dave's transparency due to it's power supply and analogue sections is quite special. Even the Hugo2 (and Qutest for those that don't need a headphone amp) is quite amazing in this regard.

 

[asdf1000]

@mansr too many files. My brain hurts ?

 

I was hoping for 2, maybe 3 files max.

 

Can you do the reveal after this weekend, say Monday? To give us (me) time when not so stressed, to have a listen and make notes?

 

I'm playing bit perfectly via Roon to a Chord Hugo2 btw.. So I'll be comparing your files to the WTA 1 filter (his first stage filter that up-samples to PCM705/768kHz)

[asdf1000]

1 hour ago, chrille said:

It would be very interesting to hear from Jussi why he updates his HQplayer with more taps if they don't matter???

Or do they suddenly matter?

 

You guys are reading way too much into it. He personally doesn't care about the number of taps when discussed in isolation - he's been saying that all along in many threads.

 

He's just giving a new option to his customers... for the customers interested in hearing 1M+ taps and the customers can decide for themselves. And he's not charging anything extra.

 

From the man himself, on Thursday:

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/19715-hq-player/?do=findComment&comment=864891

 

He hasn't suddenly had a revelation that 1M+++ taps is really important. It's just an option for those people that do think it's important or just want to try.

[asdf1000]

Has both isolated USB input and isolated BNC outputs.

 

[asdf1000]

On 10/12/2018 at 5:19 PM, Miska said:

Based on my measurements, ESS chips perform the best when running at DSD512.

 

Do you think the ESS chips noise shaping operate at 256fs or 512fs? In this old 2013 article they said the ES9018 could be operating at 256fs but also possible at 512fs (guessing).

 

From your recent measurements and looking at ultrasonic noise patterns does it look more like newer ESS chips (like in the Pro-Ject S2 DAC for example) are running noise shaping at 512fs? Or likely 256fs from your measurements/guess?

 

Or still too hard to guesstimate?

 

"The requirement for feedback-based noise shaping is still there, though: the ESS Sabre 9018, which is probably the most advanced delta-sigma converter in current production, most likely operates at 11.2896MHz, or 256fs. (Published data on the internals of the 9018 is not readily available; the 256fs speed is a best-guess. It might go all the way up to 45.1584MHz.) "

 

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue65/dac.htm

 

This ES9023 spec sheet says:

 

"For best performance. 256fs or greater is recommended for 32kHz to 96kHz sampling."

 

But I don't know if this has anything to do with the noise shaping sample rate?

 

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=6757

 

 

[asdf1000]

3 hours ago, barrows said:

We know more than that about ESS.  My understanding for the 9018 is that it first makes an 8x pass, this is controllable and can be defeated (although this where the "jitter eliminator" works, as an asynchronous sample rate converter), then there is another step of up conversion, to very high MHz levels at 6-9 bits (bit rate is user selectable).

 

So we still don’t know to what MHz sample rate?

 

Do you have an idea/guess with your 9038 Pro? If so, how did you come to this number?