jjss49 - that makes sense. I'm just curious as to how an approach that is very different could do a **better** job of re-creating the analog output than a reversal of the process that put the analog into digital form in the first place. But I am ready to abandon this inquiry because it isn't a burning question - just a curiosity.
analog to digital to analog conversion
Potential stupid question alert.
There seems to be quite a movement of people favoring R-2R ladder DACs over chip based technology. A common impression is that the R-2R approach sounds less digital and more natural. When music is recorded, the analog to digital conversion is done using chip based converters, not some type of resistor ladder ... correct? So it would seem to me that a chip based solution that reverses exactly the digital encoding should be able to do a better job of restoring the audio back to its original analog state, retaining the least amount possible of "digitalness." What am I misunderstanding?
There seems to be quite a movement of people favoring R-2R ladder DACs over chip based technology. A common impression is that the R-2R approach sounds less digital and more natural. When music is recorded, the analog to digital conversion is done using chip based converters, not some type of resistor ladder ... correct? So it would seem to me that a chip based solution that reverses exactly the digital encoding should be able to do a better job of restoring the audio back to its original analog state, retaining the least amount possible of "digitalness." What am I misunderstanding?