Article: Review | Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3

[Josh Mound]

On 3/19/2020 at 5:44 PM, phusis said:

@The Computer Audiophile --

 

Do you see DAC's on a broader scale ever (still) progressing sonically over the years, and if so what in general do you assess to be the reason(s) for this - DAC chip development, jitter suppression, the analogue output stage, PSU, other, a combination of all/overall implementation? 

I guess a follow-up question to this could be: would you rather acquire an older, used "reference" DAC, or a new mid-level priced DAC (that, just for the sake of simplicity and to support this thought experiment, we assume costs about the same as an older, used reference DAC)?

 

On 3/19/2020 at 5:59 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Neat questions @phusis

 

 

Yes and no. It's hard to say something for the group of DACs as a whole. 

 

 

In my view it's all down to implementation by talented designers. These guys can squeeze more from less than the average guy can from the newest chip or highest spec PSU available. Usually with enough time, a talented designer can dream up new ways of doing things and figure out how to make it work in a commercial product. Some times this means working with other companies to figure out how the heck to manufacture the product that works in the laboratory. 

 

It all comes down to people using the tools at their disposal and having the time to do it. 

 

 

To dovetail off my previous answer. I wouldn't select anything because it was new or had the newest version of a DAC chip etc... I always look at the company and designers creating the product. Some "designers of the month" are so far off into the weeds it's crazy. I wouldn't buy a new or old version of their products. Others are magicians with the given tools and I'd buy a used "anything" from them rather than something else just because it was new. Many concepts in audio aren't new, but many ideas and the means to implement these ideas are new. 

 

I always ask people, would they rather see photographs from Ansel Adams using a disposable camera or an amateur using a 150 megapixel digital camera. While this isn't a realistic scenario, it's illustrative of my point that some people want products that are new and where the model number is 2 versus 1. I'd go with the master of his craft using whatever tools he had because much of the end performance comes down to intellectual property and know-how. 

That’s a great set of questions @phusis and thoughtful answers @The Computer Audiophile.
 

I’ve actually been snatching up some good deals on older, usually professional, reference DACs recently (hence the use of the BDA-1 comparison in my Airist review). One motivation for my purchases is that it seems almost every DS DAC today uses either Sabre or AKM chips (the Berkeley obviously being an outlier), while a lot of not-too-vintage (5-10 years old) DACs (that can handle 24/192 or better!) used a wider variety of chips.
 

Maybe I’ll have to write up something on my semi-vintage DAC adventures. 

[Josh Mound]

On 4/1/2020 at 4:27 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Indeed. 
 

 

This is awesome. Thanks for sharing!