Baffled and Frustrated: Streaming/DAC Sound Issues

clearthinker

Wikepedia:    A Fourier transform (FT) is a mathematical transform ...

Oh, I understand what a Fourier Transform is, and that it's a theorem, not a theory. I understand both how it works with digital (conceptually) and I understand why the same principle applies to the squiggles in a vinyl LP. You appear to understand neither.

I am given to believe that it is impossible to remove clock error entirely.  Hence my comment that the pieces cannot be put together again correctly.

I understand that you hold certain beliefs. Digital audio is not intuitive - at least not for most of us - so it can take some understanding to reveal that belief and fact can be two different things.

Did you watch the video? it kinda blows apart your theory, doesn't it?

The reason this stuff is important is because digital audio is not perfect and if we want to improve it, we won't be successful by trying to remedy imaginary faults.

I’ve just been reading about "intersample overs" and how they can cause some dacs to "spaz out" on certain tracks. I vaguely understand that if there is a sample that corresponds to minus zero dB in the digital signal, or close to it, the resulting analog waveform can actually exceed minus zero dB, which can cause the output stage to go into clipping or compression. Some dacs have headroom to handle it, some don’t. This matches my experiences, where I’ve had to digitally attenuate some tracks by as much as 6dB to avoid clipping lights coming on.

The dacs that spaz on these overly compressed or too loudly recorded tracks can be called "revealing." One argument is that this is all the fault of the recording because anybody who actually knows what they are doing would never include samples approaching so closely to minus zero dB. We have lots of headroom in digital so there’s no need for it.

@audphile1  mentioned making sure sample rate in Roon settings match what your DAC is capable of, and this was a problem I had.  Better matching of those levels fixed it for me.  Worth a try.

@brewerslaw so…any updates?

Thank you all for the responses.  Hopefully I’m getting back to all your questions.  I’ve been traveling this past week so I’m a little behind on testing all suggestions/providing updates.

@tony1954 My original issue with the Aries G2.1 was twofold: crappy initial USB cable and settings on the Aries that caused a dirty vinyl-like popping noise.  Eventually found the secret-sauce to get good sound.  The Aavik was added just after (intended to bring it all to another level but that has not yet worked out). Also, yes, I would be concerned that my DAC was simply boycotting crappy music if the issue only came up playing 80s hair-metal. Unfortunately, there are problems with numerous genres so I will need to address it. 

@phastm3 I’ve tried running with and without ARC (room correction) and the issue is identical

@audioman58 Issue has been identical with two USB cables, only difference is one cable is much higher quality than the other. I’d be pretty surprised if this is a cable issue.

@audphile1 same problem w/ w/o Roon and ARC room correct. I’ve been traveling so I haven’t been able to test out your suggestions regarding upsampling etc.. on the Aries.  I’ll be testing that one I get back home this weekend.

@wlutke I suspect you’re on the right track checking V rms (a term I needed to google).  There might be a compatibility issue Aavik DAC to Anthem STR.  The noise sounds like it’s “overloaded” creating significant distortion on some, but not all, tracks.

@erik_squires thanks for the suggestion, I’ll try that out and report back