|
Hi-Rez Highway New high resolution SACD releases, players and technology. |
|
|
|
Hi-Rez Highway New high resolution SACD releases, players and technology. |
|
In Reply to: isn't your comment a bit strong - i said i wasn't sure ... posted by Christine Tham on August 10, 2005 at 15:32:03:
... just in case anyone is wondering why i care so much about the DSP, they do make a difference in the quality of the digital processing.as a rule of thumb, the more horsepower is available for DSP, the better the overall quality of the digital section. more horsepower translates to more precision used for DD/DTS decoding, which leads to smaller quantization errors caused by truncation/roundoff (this is not just a theoretical benefit, i can hear differences between DD done in 24 bit fixed point vs 32-bit floating point). 64-bit floating point is the ideal and will result in nearly "transparent" digital processing with no degradation of sound quality.
more horsepower also leads to more taps used for digital filtering, and the ability to run more digital filters, which improve the quality of bass management and room eq.
Basically, at this point in time, given that the latest gen DSPs are starting to offer 64-bit floating point, it would be silly to spend a lot of money on pre-pros based on out of date 24-bit DSPs.
Halo, Sunfire, Halcro, Meridian are using the Freescale platform, which is fundamentally 24-bit. Meridian, of course, has done their own proprietary code development and run their DSPs in 48-bit mode, but i'm not so sure about the others.
Lexicon is still using a 24-bit processor for DD/DTS decoding, but at least is using 32-bit floating point for bass management and Logic 7.
Compare that to the Denon AVR5805 and Harman Kardon AVR635, both of which are using the latest generation TI DA610.
What really lets the receivers down is the generally poorer quality of the analog preamp section, plus higher noise levels. But if you look at the specs of supposedly high end pre pros, they don't measure any better in terms of noise levels, and that concerns me.
What would be a better approach is to buy a relatively cheap receiver with good noise level specs, rip out the power amps, upgrade the power supply, and mod the analog pre amp section to improve the audio quality. I suspect that would give a better result than a typical "high end" pre pro.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- by the way, to preempt a possible question ... - Christine Tham 17:51:12 08/10/05 (8)
- Christine, buy a wall shelf for your turntable... - Jim Pearce 09:11:24 08/11/05 (5)
- if you check out the following link ... - Christine Tham 13:49:56 08/11/05 (4)
- The wall shelf will make your vinyl sound as good as DVDs! - Jim Pearce 07:49:50 08/12/05 (3)
- Not necessarily - Christine Tham 15:50:02 08/12/05 (2)
- You are right Christine, I meant a 24 bit mantissa... - Jim Pearce 08:13:31 08/15/05 (1)
- No. they are 24-bit fixed point, but have a 48-bit accumulator - Christine Tham 14:32:55 08/15/05 (0)
- Re: by the way, what is a pre pro? - Robert C. Lang 21:03:06 08/10/05 (1)
- pre pro = preamp/processor, or AV receiver-power amps (nt) - Christine Tham 02:47:08 08/11/05 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
