Denafrips Terminator R2R Multibit, ultimate pcm redbook converter??

Are these R-2R design DACs optimized for 16/44.1 Redbook PCM or they will perform equally well for other types of content in PCM format, like FLAC content streamed from Tidal, etc., at higher rates, e.g., MQA, say via something like a Bluesound Node2 or other popular streaming gear?

http://www.denafrips.com

Read all about it above.

Good Listening

Peter

is there something inherently special about R2R?

is there something inherently special about R2R?

Yes there is, it does 16/44  24/96 Redbook pcm bit perfect,, when implemented right, better than any dsd/sacd delta sigma can hope to, which can only give a facsimile of it.

MoJo Music:
" When a PCM file is played on a DSD or Bit Stream Delta Sigma converter, the DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit Delta Sigma DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM."

Cheers George

@kclone  

R2R requires a ladder of very highly matched resistors as each 16 or 24 bit data point (at whatever the sample rate) is decoded to a discrete voltage from the ladder.

The advantage is no conversion of the digital data.

The disadvantage is that digital converters are mathematically extremely accurate and can achieve better performance if done properly with proper dithering to eliminate quantization error.

It is like DSP done with analog filters versus doing the filtering in the digital domain. Cheaper and greater accuracy can be achieved in the digital domain.

The problem of R2R is maintaining accuracy of a super accurate R2R ladder as resistors will drift with temperature and the tolerances required are extremely tight to achieve desired performance. Generally you get more THD and noise with R2R vs modern Delta Digma.

That said - a lot of Delta Sigma chips were used incorrectly by many manufacturers that did not understand how to implement conversion accurately - so many Delta Sigma chips - especially the early Sony ones did not sound good and had what people called "digital glare".