Interest in FPGA DAC...
- Thread starter DimitryZ
- Start date
Julf
Facts are our friends
What is special about FPGA? It is just one way of implementing circuitry.
The Qute EX is no longer current. The big feature of the Chord DACs is Rob Watts WTA filter which is all about taps, and I think the more recent Chord DACs exploit more recent FPGAs and thus can have fancier filtering. So you might find a new or second-hand Mojo or the current Qutest a better place to start for similar money. Actually Mojos have had a decent price drop in the UK at least so one of them could be a good way to go. My experience of Chord DACs is that listening to music through them can be really wonderful.
russel
./_dazed_and_confused
camverton
pfm Member
I have a Chord Qutest and whilst I don’t like its looks, or come to it it’s daft name, it does “sound” good. Let me explain, I also have a Benchmark DAC, and listened to one after the other they both sound much the same; no point blind testing I couldn’t tell their sound apart sighted! But over a period of time the Benchmark was irritating me and I was forever looking to change something in the system. With Chord it was job done and over a period of time no irritation and I could just get on with enjoying the music. No need to change, although one can’t help wondering if one might find a Dave or m-scaler even more satisfying, but perhaps we are down to marketing and desire. Either way the Qutest is entirely satisfactory.
So, for me there is a difference but at a very subliminal level. No idea why; perhaps there is something in this timing business, who knows. That is purely my experience and is very much fwiw and not, therefore, an invite to objectivist trolls!!! For others, I think they are worth a try but best to try for an extended period perhaps.
So, for me there is a difference but at a very subliminal level. No idea why; perhaps there is something in this timing business, who knows. That is purely my experience and is very much fwiw and not, therefore, an invite to objectivist trolls!!! For others, I think they are worth a try but best to try for an extended period perhaps.
The Bish
pfm Member
+1 for a mojo, I had one in my main system and only recently replaced with Qutest which although great wasn’t radically better. Mojos are great value at the moment at £299 and you can get an affordable clearway phono to 3.5mm cable to connect to your amp.
Tim Jones
pfm Member
It also got a productive conversation going about implementation. The Chord DACs (Hugo, 2Qute, etc) set a standard for S/N ratios, and in objective hi-fi terms are pretty much the target to beat for all other digital designers now.
mikechadwick
pfm Member
Matrix Element X measures even better and is a stunning piece of kit.
Will be interesting to see if the Okto Research stereo DAC measures up upon its release.
adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
And now the SMSL M500, which is the most aesthetically pleasing of the high performance inexpensive DACs IMO:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-m500-dac-and-hp-amp-review.9606/
adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
At $399. Mind boggling.
Well I guess the thread went a little OT since most of the DACs mentioned are not FPGA implementations but a mojo at the new price of £299 would seem a possible starting point to see if you like it, or pick up one even cheaper second hand? But since the thread already went OT ... yikes that SMSL M500 seems a lot for not a lot, Sabre based but only £272 delivered? Right up there in the top bracket measurements that are usually an order of magnitude more? Even a record spinning fool like me can see that needs investigation. Anybody actually got one yet? Impressions? Guess I should start a new thread ... sorry @DimitryZ for the noise.
Strictly Stereo
Trade: Strictly Stereo
FPGA provides manufacturers with a low cost alternative to fabricating custom silicon. It allows designers to implement their own circuits inside the FPGA chip. This also means that FPGA designs can sound somewhat different from one another. Chord DACs are superb. Exogal's Comet is another exceptional FPGA-based design.
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
It intrigues me that an analoguephile would choose a digital front-end based on its measured performance. Is this how you selected your TT/arm/cart/phonostage?
As to the OP, I only have experience with Chord's newest upper-end offerings, Hugo TT 2 and M Scaler, both of which I was very impressed by.
Ah my analogue front end is easily explained, no not chosen by measured performance, it was purchased for me by Naim Audio as a part of building my own system as an employee. In order to build a higher level system of a 72/Hicap/250/SBLs I had to commit to an approved front end. A bargain struck by a Naim sales colleague on my behalf, I got an LP12. Never felt the need to look for a replacement. Tonearm is, of course, an ARO. Phonostage a 72. Neither selected by measurement, both because I could get them as a bargain employee made. Cartridges are harder, sure you can see a frequency response of a cartridge but that is not the whole story, it is the cartridge tonearm combination you really need to see a measurement of, such things are not easy to find. Then there is the fact that some cartirdges, no matter how well they measure, will not fit the ARO or suit it. So I also take into consideration what other LP12 and particularly AROed LP12 users like and talk to a local dealer to get advice and a demo of whatever I can afford and might suit. Today that is a DV-20X2L. So to answer your question in a roundabout way, not really much measurements to compare out there for analgue in the same way as there is for digital that is relevant to my particular assemblage of an analogue front end, but if there were I would look at it. I am also an Electronics Engineer for my sins so of course love a good measurement set. If you look at my thread on the SMSL M500 I am asking for feedback from pfm too. I will not buy solely on measurements, nor on hearsay, if I could get a home trial that would be cool but that is hardly likely in this particular situation. Does that answer your question? I tried
EDIT: and a link to my lonely thread I started to try and not derail this one too much https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/smsl-m500.233582/