In Reply to: RE: Do you believe in giant killers? posted by ahendler on August 6, 2016 at 08:46:32:
Unless it's been equalized back to flat in the analog domain your NOS DAC almost certainly has an treble roll-off. The roll-off is due to the sample-and-hold operation (known in DSP science as a 'zero-order-hold') of nearly all audio D/A units. With CD sample rate content the roll-off profile produces about an response that's about -3dB at 20kHz.
An 3dB @ 20kHz droop might not be audible in itself. However, the problem is that the roll-off begins two whole octaves below 20kHz, at around 5kHz. My experience is that the roll-off subjectively manifests as a sin of omission rather than comission, and therefore tends to sound benign. It's when you hear the same NOS DAC with the roll-off EQ'd that you realize what you were missing.
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Ken Newton
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Follow Ups
- RE: Do you believe in giant killers? - knewton 09:43:34 08/07/16 (5)
- RE: Do you believe in giant killers? - ahendler 14:09:35 08/07/16 (4)
- RE: Do you believe in giant killers? - knewton 20:01:04 08/07/16 (3)
- RE: Do you believe in giant killers? - ahendler 20:34:16 08/07/16 (2)
- RE: Do you believe in giant killers? - knewton 08:31:03 08/08/16 (0)
- RE: Do you believe in giant killers? - ahendler 21:44:05 08/07/16 (0)