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Question about Burr Brown DACs

I am a bit confused about the different Burr Brown DACs and how they relate to the overall sound of a player. Currently the Burr Brown 1790 seems to be in use in many universal units like the Denon 2900 and 5900. In Stereophile's recent review of the Musical Fidelity DAC it mentioned that it used the latest Burr Brown DAC - the 1792. I took a quick look at the Burr Brown website and they make mention of a new generation chip - the 1796.

So my question is...

Is the newer DAC an indication of potentially "better sound"? In other words does a 1792 DAC make a 1790 sonically obsolete and likewise does the new 1796 make the 1792 yesterday's news? Would an upcoming stock unit with a 1796 make a modded unit based around a 1792 DAC sound ancient?

If the 1796 is going to be a sonic improvement over the 1790 I would assume it will start cropping up in new players. I am currently using a CEC transport and Audiomeca Enkiathus DAC but I am interested in migrating over to a universal player (perhaps a modified unit like the Exemplar Denon 2900 or the Goldmund Eidos 18) but I'm not in a rush...I'm getting great sounds but I always want better.

Are significantly better sounding units on the horizon?
lasercd

Showing 1 response by lasercd

lasercd OP
50 posts
 
Bombaywalla:

I did notice that Denon's less expensive unit, the 2200, uses the 1791 while their 2900 and 5900 universal players use the 1790. I assumed that the 1791 was a less expensive and perhaps "less good" DAC. I don't know what the benefits of the 1792 is but Mr. Michaelson mentioned in Stereophile that it was implemented in their new DAC so it's obviously his preference.

Why I care about any of this I don't really know. I have limited technical knowledge so I'm just making myself more neurotic! The bottom line is how the unit sounds to me. The Anagram Technologies DAC that is in the Audiomeca (and Audio Aero + Orpheus) sounds remarkable. I guess I am afraid that I will make the wrong move and trade off to an inferior sounding player.

But then again if I do make the wrong move it's nice to know there is always Audiogon!

Thanks to all for the feedback.

Ken Golden
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