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Audio Note DAC 4 or 5. Just how good R they?

G T Audio said:
No! That is not what I am saying, and you are not wrecking the signal from the CD. Ask yourself why so many manufacturers make NOS DACs? If the sound was shit no one would buy them. Trouble is people focus on the wrong things in audio instead of focusing on the things that do actually matter to get great audio sound.
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Not many maufacturers make NOS DACs.
 
G T Audio said:
With a NOS DAC the signal is just decoded with nothing added or changed, unlike with up/oversampling. It is acknowledged by a number of companies (many high-end) that there is less harm done to the signal without an output filter and without up/oversampling, than with. The proof will be in listening of the two versions and some DACs will allow you to do this to see which version you prefer the sound of...
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No look at the measurements look at the added distortion the dac is changing the input signal.
Keith
 
G T Audio said:
With a NOS DAC the signal is just decoded with nothing added or changed, unlike with up/oversampling. It is acknowledged by a number of companies (many high-end) that there is less harm done to the signal without an output filter and without up/oversampling, than with. The proof will be in listening of the two versions and some DACs will allow you to do this to see which version you prefer the sound of...
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You reply shows that you don't understand how digital audio works.
If the DAC doesn't filter it cannot reconstruct the original analogue sound wave. Up-/over-sampling improves filtering, reduces jitter and increases the S/N.
Actually it is NOS that cannot accurately reconstruct the original analogue sound wave, and thus it's more harmful.
NOS may sound better to a few people but that does not make it universally better (and technically it's flawed).
 
tuga said:
You reply shows that you don't understand how digital audio works.
If the DAC doesn't filter it cannot reconstruct the original analogue sound wave. Up-/over-sampling improves filtering, reduces jitter and increases the S/N.
Actually it is NOS that cannot accurately reconstruct the original analogue sound wave, and thus it's more harmful.
NOS may sound better to a few people but that does not make it universally better (and technically it's flawed).
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I know exactly how digital works but I am not going to argue with you as you have clearly not read of understood what has been said here. If you don't agree with NOS then fine, but let other who prefer NOS enjoy its sound. It's not wrong, its just a slightly different way of decoding the data which some actually prefer the sound of.
 
G T Audio said:
I know exactly how digital works but I am not going to argue with you as you have clearly not read of understood what has been said here. If you don't agree with NOS then fine, but let other who prefer NOS enjoy its sound. It's not wrong, its just a slightly different way of decoding the data which some actually prefer the sound of.
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People like what they like, and if NOS sounds good to them then that's what they should use, there's nothing wrong with that. But it is a flawed technology for the reasons highlighted earlier.
 
G T Audio said:
Thank you. I am and this is my 25th year of manufacturing high end audio electronics...
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HI Graham, you produce fabulous UK Valve Kit, I doubt anyone would disagree with that. I got a tad uneasy with your last comment on how NOS DACs work, have you qualifications in the digital field or self taught?
 
Joco said:
HI Graham, you produce fabulous UK Valve Kit, I doubt anyone would disagree with that. I got a tad uneasy with your last comment on how NOS DACs work, have you qualifications in the digital field or self taught?
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His comments show that his understanding is mediocre. (I am referring to DACs, and horns)
 
tuga said:
His comments show that his understanding is mediocre. (I am referring to DACs, and horns)
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Tuga, TBH I’m not wanting to be stuck on either side of this particular argument. I noticed Graham had a DAC in his portfolio and wondered if he, or someone else had designed it.
 
If one wants to try NOS, newer products - like my Musician Pegasus R2R, for example - have a button to switch between OS and NOS.

I prefer OS setting. NOS sounds like an Audio Note kit DAC I owned - with an NOS chip and no filter. It was pleasant sounding, but everything played through it sounded like a Van Gelder jazz record from a bygone era. It overlayed both musical nuance and recording's house sound with it's own euphonic color.

I don't miss it at all.
 
My understanding is that DAC chips are bought in but what you do with them, power supply etc can make the overall product sound better or worse.

You probably don’t need to spend big bucks on a high performance DAC these days?
 
Woodface said:
My understanding is that DAC chips are bought in but what you do with them, power supply etc can make the overall product sound better or worse.

You probably don’t need to spend big bucks on a high performance DAC these days?
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Why buy a cheap high performance DAC when you can spend big bucks on a low performance DAC like the Audio Note?

£96,000 for the DAC5!!!
 
Woodface said:
My understanding is that DAC chips are bought in but what you do with them, power supply etc can make the overall product sound better or worse.

You probably don’t need to spend big bucks on a high performance DAC these days?
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SMSL M300 mkII and Gustard X16 are both excellent. Denafrips and Musician offer compelling R2R options starting at modest prices.
 
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