Burr-Brown DAC 192Khz/24-Bit

[manvill76]

Dear Sir,

What is the meaning of Burr-Brown DAC? Is it an important feature for an A/V Receiver? Does it make any difference in sound if an A/V Receiver has this feature?

Thank you.

 

[GranteedEV]

A DAC is a Digital-to-Analog Converter. It turns 0s and 1s on a digital file such as that on a DVD or CD, usually in the form of Pulse Code Modulation, into an analog electrical signal that our audio electronics can understand and amplify so that our speakers make sounds. As you might imagine, an ADC turns analog signals into digital signals, which is important for recording. Processors/receivers often have both ADCs and DACs in their circuitry in order to do many different audio related things.

Once controls of things like volume and cost are set into place, people fail to distinguish between DACs in listening tests. basically, most good modern DACs are so similar that you won't likely be able to tell the difference. Early in the days of digital I bet there were some poor DACs out there that messed up the signal during the conversion, but we're not in the 1980s now are we?

Burr-Brown is a brand name of Texas Instruments which makes good DACs.

So does Cirrus Logic, Analog Devices, Wolfson, etc.

All brands make different, quality DACs which, when well-implemented work well. They work so well that we can't tell the difference.

Therefore having a burr-brown DAC doesn't mean much. Some people believe they can hear the difference between DACs (even if they can't, they think they can) so they like to buy things based on the brand of DAC. So it's purely marketing.

FWIW If I was picking a DAC it would probably be the wolfson ones. lol.

 

[M Code]

DACs are a crucial component of the sonic chain..
The primary brands are Wolfson, Analog Devices, Cirrus Logic, AKM and Burr-Brown. TI bought Burr-Brown several years ago and intended to market them aggressively packaged with their audio DSPs as a design solution/kit..

However Cirrus Logic and AKM accelerated the silicon integration and packaged 8 channels of DACs, 2 channels of A/Ds, mux and S/PDIF tx/rx all in one chip for an incredibly low cost of <$2..

All of the above mentioned brands can supply high quality, high dynamic range, low distortion DACs but due to the rapid downward costing and price competition to support entry-level AVRs; Cirrus Logic and AKM dominate the market. In a high-end estoteric surround processor or Blu-ray player one may find some of the pricey 2-Channel DACs but this is a niche market segment..

Just my $0.02..

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Dear Sir,

What is the meaning of Burr-Brown DAC? Is it an important feature for an A/V Receiver? Does it make any difference in sound if an A/V Receiver has this feature?

Thank you.

I agree with Grant.

All these stated DACs are equal.

What receivers are you looking at?

 

[tjf120]

On the Onkyo lines, only the '5 series' have the burr brown DACs.

IE, 3008 or 3007 model, no BB DAC, 5007 or 5008 do have the BB DAC. Not too many other differences in the models, but a decent price jump.

 

[manvill76]

I am considering getting the Yamaha RX V467.

Any comments on this Yammy!!

 

[anamorphic96]

On the Onkyo lines, only the '5 series' have the burr brown DACs.

IE, 3008 or 3007 model, no BB DAC, 5007 or 5008 do have the BB DAC. Not too many other differences in the models, but a decent price jump.

Actually the 508 on up use Burr Brown DAC's. But it doesn't matter much since they all sound the same.

 

[ZeGhostbear]

Actually the 508 on up use Burr Brown DAC's. But it doesn't matter much since they all sound the same.

Burr-Brown offers a family of DAC's and they are not all created equally, though some might argue it does not matter much.

In the Onkyo line-up you have quite a few different chips. The more dedicated DAC's the better, or so the manufacturer would like you to believe. Too lazy to look up exact models, but the quoted specs tell the story:

5008/5508: 192kHz/32bit x6
3008: 192K/24bit x6
508 - 1008 (including xx9 models): 192K/24bit x1

As manufacturer websites often contradict reality (and their own manuals and devices), please take this with a grain of salt.

 

[tjf120]

You are right....they say 'finest burr brown' in the 5008...quote it as 192/32 x 6. I've read some reviews where they discuss the quality of the DACs as one of the reasons to justify the upgrade for higher price. The 5W/channel is really isn't worth it.

 

[SERIOUS7]

I am considering getting the Yamaha RX V467.

Any comments on this Yammy!!

I use to own the DSP-A1 integrated AMP which was very good at its time before it died on me ... I wanted to buy another Yamaha but i saw the short cuts they were taking and it turn me off .... You would think they would put the top of the line Dac's into their unit , forget that ...They refuse to put THX in their top of the line unit , that turn me off ... So i went with ONKYO and i won't look back , the things they put in their INTEGRA and ONKYO units are well worth the money ...!

 

[Grador]

I am considering getting the Yamaha RX V467.

Any comments on this Yammy!!

Can't comment on that specific one, but between my father, his coworker and myself we've owned 5 different yamaha's over the past 16 years and the only reason there are that many is HDMI. All of the old ones are still working great.