Schiit Yggdrasil -- 21 bit?

@defiantboomerang  

What you propose is indeed 21 bit. 20 bits from the two DACs each and an additional one bit MSB logic chip which controls whether the two DACs are additive or only one is turned on. This is not the same as balanced where both chips are operating simultaneously and are always on. 

I would call this a hybrid DAC - in fact using this topology you could take eight 16 bit DACs and couple them together with an 8 bit logic chip to create a 24 bit DAC.

Curious what, if anything, is wrong with my suggestion to pose the question to Schiit.

Hi Shadorne,

I'm not sure that what I said in my previous post came across clearly.  It amounts to the same thing the OP said, which you've agreed provides 21 bits of resolution, but described and perhaps implemented in a different manner.

What I described is not "balanced where both chips are operating simultaneously and are always on."  And it does in fact double the "number of unique digital values available."

Please re-read my previous post and see if you don't agree.

Best regards,
-- Al
 

@shadorne 

Let me ask you a different question. Is there a publication for rational audio hobbyists? I am getting tired of subjectivist nonsense. 

@almarg 

Yes. I did understand your post.

Glad we both agree that you can't magically get 21 bits from a 20 bit DAC without ADDITIONAL digital control (the extra bit) which then makes the DAC a 21 bit DAC not a 20 bit DAC. If you had added the extra MSB digital logic control explicitly then I would have understood beter what you were driving at.