One more note Ar_t, I just checked
daltonlanny's digital source. He's
using the Sony SCD-XA777ES player.
Surprise! Surprise! The XA777ES uses
Burr-Brown PCM-1738 DAC's. Too fast.
Too cool. Have a nice day!! |
The bottom line is in the listening.
The Marantz, Arcam, and Integra pieces,
based on reviews over the past five years,
have drawn concluded opinions that they
produce the warmest, smoothest, most analog
sounding players available. Its not just the
Burr-Browns, its any converter device thats
out of control with transient speed will
produce the same result. The Cirrus Logic
dacs are more rolled off at the top end
and more relaxed in their presentation which
results in a much tamer, more relaxed
soundstage, which will be much more forgiving
to silver plated copper. |
Leave the wire alone. The problem from brighteness is not
your pre-amp, its from your digital source. The frequency
measurments from your P/LD 2000 are so flat it will reveal
all flaws from your D/A converter chips. Companies like
Wolfson from England, and Cirrus Logic of Crystal Semiconductor in Texas, are producing the warmest, richest,
most analog sounding DAC's on the market. Marantz, Arcam,
Integra, Integra Research are using their DAC's. Stay away
from brands using Burr-Brown chips. Their DAC's are as bright as a screaming witch. The best bang for the buck is
a killer pro model from Marantz, the PMD 325. It uses the
Cirrus Logic D/A chips. This player has single ended and
XLR outs and also has pitch control. It is very warm and
smooth. Go to www.fullcompass.com in Wisconsin and you can
pick one up at a good discount. If your on a budget, and want a warm player, this is it!!! |
The transient speed from Burr-Brown dac's is so
fast, that it throws the music so far out from
the speaker, that its like being slapped in the
face, and this can be a real problem in small
living quarters. I still have my old 38 lb Denon
player, which has four Burr-Brown dacs, but it
is no match against my Marantz PMD 325 player
which uses a Cirrus Logic 4396 dac. I always
test players with my older recordings, Mozart
pieces on the Deutsch Grammophon label of the
Berlin Philharmonic Symphony from the late 60's
thru the early seventies. Mozart loved to compose
in a high pitch. An audiophile friend brought
over last winter a Denon pro model which has Burr-
Brown dacs, and put it up against the Marantz.
Thru the Denon the upper frequencies were bright,
shrill and on the cold side. Thru the Marantz,
the highs were much sweeter and smoother. Crystal
Semiconducter and Wolfson take a different approach,
they slow down the transient time focusing on
more body and weight to each instrument, producing
a fuller, smoother, more analog sound. This is wht I
used the term screaming witch, and that daltonlanny
should consider using a player with slower transient
time, which will solve the problem of a bright preamp. |
I'm making accusations about stuff you
build? What do you build and how many High
End outlets around the country sell your
product. Do you work for Tom Burr and Paige
Brown? I have purchased many home systems
since 1975, and over the years I have listened
and evaulated the sonic characters of hundreds
of components on my own as well as with the
Washington Audio Society. Diehard vinylphiles
around the world for years have challenged the
digital world to equal the rich,lush,warm,smooth
and seductive character of vinyl. Analog is better.
And in recent years, a handful of companies have
achieved that goal. And Wolfson is currently
leading the pack. I am not trashing any company.
The point that I'm making is if a digital player
cannot capture the full richness of the very best
of vinyl, its not worth a hill of beans, anf I dare
you to name any player with Burr- Brown DAC's
that has achieved that goal. You can't. Because
it doesn't exist. |
Ar_t, its not my intention to get into
a street fight, and as you suggested, lets
keep it civil, which I respectfully will.
I assume from your last thread that you
were with Texas Instruments. Also, their
are questions I hope you would answer
regarding evaluations and test reports
from credible publications as to why
they make concluding statements like,
" this is the finest converter I have
heard in recent years " or similar
statements eluding to the perception
that different dacs have different sonic
characters too musical play back. Some of
these publications and their staff have
former backrounds as component designers,
degrees in electrical engineering, and
similar crudentials that are very credible
while others do not. What is their purpose
to convince audiophiles that different dacs
are better than others for musical quality.
Are they all liars? Just curious. Also,
when Matsushita years ago came out with their
1 bit mash dacs, the audio press stated that
the one bit dacs had a smoother, more laid back
quality. 1 bit dacs have a flat line sine wave
and the sine wave curve varies from one dac
design to another. Shouldn't these different
curves effect the sound quality? |
One bit is now called Delta-Sigma? Not true. Delta-Sigma
is a modulating technique, which is actually called a
Delta-Sigma modulator. For example, Texas Instruments
makes a DAC called the PCM-1803 24 bit 96 khz Delta-Sigma
converter. So your statement " that some marketing weenies
thought that it sounded better " is false. Delta-Sigma
modulation applies to any bit DAC, whether its a 1,16,20 or
24 bit converter. Get your facts straight Ar_t!! You better
start bailing the water out of the boat. |
Unsound...If you read the previous posts in this thread
dated from 9-5 thru 9-7 your question is answered. |
I invite the readers of this thread to go to the Texas
Instruments website, to the home page, upper right corner
and type in delta sigma. Other parts of their website
give technical data that they are currently using Delta
Sigma modulators, not Sigma Delta , in their multiple
bit DAC's. It is true that in the early nineties that Delta
Sigma modulation applied to one bit only. But that was
fifteen years ago. The bottom line is that Ar_t
gave the impression to the readers, several post's back,
that the term Delta Sigma had no scientific basis,
that it was a term made up by marketing weenies only.
When in fact, it was a term that originated from DAC
designers many years ago. I will be discussing this
issue with the DAC lab at Texas Instruments on monday
and will post the results thereafter. One last thing Ar_t,
I asked you in a previous post if you would provide your
crudentials, since you claim you build products relating
to this field. Your crudentials that would justify your
hatred of Texas Instruments. Where's the beef? Inquiring
mines would like to know, since this is an open forum for
discussion. |
