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Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

Isn't any of this discussion useless without talking about the DAC being used?

Different DACs using the same chips will have different jitter measurements, because board layout, power supply design, regulators, etc will effect the performance of the devices on the board.

If you are using a DAC that has bad, audible jitter measurements, then you will be more likely to hear differences upstream. If you are using a DAC that is fairly jitter immune, then you will hear little to no difference changing upstream components.

I think that a lot of people have poorly designed DACs that have board layouts that are suboptimal and lead to performance that is not close to the specs of the DAC chip, then try to "fix" the problem with the poorly designed DAC with changes upstream.

@ audioengr: What DAC do you recommend people use? I believe you stated earlier that you do not recommend asynchronous sample rate conversion in the DAC. Couldn't all the money that you recommend people spend on cables and interfaces be better spent on a DAC that has better jitter rejection?

@ Tony Lauck: I believe you also recommended a DAC that does not offer asynchronous upsampling (please correct me if I am not remembering correctly). What DAC would you recommend?

ESS chips, and Meitner DACs both upsample well into the Mhz range, and the ESS chips have excellent jitter rejection measurements. I haven't seen the Meitner measurements, but I would be surprised if they aren't excellent.

-Aaron.





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  • Isn't any of this discussion useless without talking about the DAC being used? - orpheus 10:07:43 04/29/12 (0)

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