Dac/processors?

[Jack Dotson]

I read all the time about a specific model of pre-processor having higher quality DACs or processors. As an example, the outlwas model-970 and 990 use the same processor and both list •192 kHz 24-bit DAC's for all channels.

However, many say the 990 sounds significanly better than the the 970. I asked why and was told it had better quality DAC's.

Are there specific DAC's that are considered to be the best sounding? If so, how do we determine which DAC's are utilized in a specific processor?

I once read about the clone processors and discovered that there were Atlantic Technology and Sherbourn units on the market selling for much more than my 950 which were actually the same unit with a different skin.

I could care less about the name and am looking for the best bang for the buck. I even read the new 990 has the same DAC's as some multi-thousand dollar processors?

Can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks.

 

[The13thGryphon]

Like many things in audio, I don't think you're going to find one single brand or model that everyone will agree is the best. Many manufacturers make high quality DACs that have received rave reviews: Wolfson, Burr-Brown, Analog Devices, and Crystal Semiconductor are just a few. Each make less expensive DACs for cost effective equipment, and high-end DACs for upper end to "cost no object" equipment.

All you can do is research the matter, and listen to equipment with different brands and models of DACs. If an advertisement or web site doesn't state specifically what brand and model DAC it uses, call them and ask.

In any case, the Outlaw 990 has recently bee favorably compared to the Anthem AVM-20... which sold for over three times the price of the 990 when available. It has been replace by the slightly less expensive AVM-30, which supposedly sounds even better than its predecessor... but it's still a $3,000 unit.

Unless you want to spend significantly more money, I don't think you can go too far wrong with the Outlaw 990. I think you'd have to go up to at least the $2,500 range, and something along the lines of the Parasound 7100, to do better.

 

[mtrycrafts]

However, many say the 990 sounds significanly better than the the 970. I asked why and was told it had better quality DAC's.

Can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks.

Audio as many other consumer markets is full of myths, urban legends, hype, bs, voodoo, etc.

Humans are the test instruments when you read reports about sound quality and sound differences. Humans are fallible and biased. Many in audio accept that they trust their ears, completely, that it will not lead them astray.

The sad truth is, any human senses, including hearing is prone to be fooled and is every day. Base doesn't help as it is innate and has no on/off switch, don't know when it is on or off.

There are ways to test though, to minimize the effects of bias. This involves careful comparisons of components, levels matched to a very tight level AND it must be conducted Double Blind conditions so you are not biased towards one component for any reason. Such DBT testing in audio has been conducted for a very long time now. While I am not aware of any published results of DACs, components with dacs in them have. Very few have been differentiated and for well know reasons beyond the DACs.

I would not worry about those two components as the reports are most unreliable.

 

[Nick250]

I wonder if current DACs and processors are in fact a mature technology, and with the economies scales factored in they will pretty much sound the same regardless of cost. I have no evidence of this and I have not participated in any tests, but I do wonder about it.

 

[jcPanny]

Yamaha DACs

I have heard that the new Yamaha RX-V1600 and 2600 include Burr-Brown DACs. Obviously, there is a lot more than one part in the signal chain of modern processors so don't infer too much. I think that scientific measurments of the frequency response and noise floor of the pre-amp stage are more telling then the manufacturer of a specific component.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I think that scientific measurments of the frequency response and noise floor of the pre-amp stage are more telling then the manufacturer of a specific component.

Yep, and many run from these The performance is reflected in those numbers