Almost identical to solid state? Whoa! Hey! What?! Yeah, right.
DACs and bass response?
I'm auditioning dacs in my system. One (COS) was way to analytical, overall, but had very tight bass. Another (Aqua La Voce) is what some would describe as "musical" and sounds terrific in all aspects except bass. My cdp alone does better in that regard. I have monitors and no subs. Can I expect that dacs that are hyper-detailed will also offer tighter bass as a rule?
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@audioengr Hi Steve. I took a cursory look at the overdrive info on your website http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/overdrive-dac and user manual. I couldn't find anything about the type/kind of D/A chip(s) or whether or not your technology is considered delta sigma, multibit r2r or something else. Please advise. Thank you. |
Steve wrote, “Because Tubes are usually lacking in dynamics, bass tightness or HF extension. You can get the liquid midrange of tubes and the dynamics, bass and HF extension of the very best SS without having that "tubey" distorted sound” I am sure you’re going to tell us if there is component out there that is capable of all of the above without the “tubey” distorted sound. |
Hi Steve. I took a cursory look at the overdrive info on your website http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/overdrive-dac and user manual. I couldn't find anything about the type/kind of D/A chip(s) or whether or not your technology is considered delta sigma, multibit r2r or something else. Please advise. I decided to use a Analog Devices delta-sigma, but only because I can select the digital filters for it rather than it selecting the filter for me. I cannot seem to get the HF transient response from older ladder chips that I can from newer delta-sigma chips. It also supports 24/192 PCM, as well as allowing for reference voltage-based volume control. I previously offered a tube DAC design using a ladder chip called the "Spoiler". It was very musical, but ultimately did not deliver on the accurate HF sonics that I'm after. It also required hard-to-get expensive NOS tubes to sound really good. The only other option is to design a ladder DAC from scratch or in an FPGA. I don't have the bandwidth for that unfortunately. BTW, audiostream will be reviewing my new SX DAC soon. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
I am sure you’re going to tell us if there is component out there that is capable of all of the above without the “tubey” distorted sound. There are a few. My own customized SET monoblocks fall into this category. Others are: Nagra VPA Any Wavac Prima Luna Arte Forma Due Volte - I have the customized version of this one I prefer SET amps, but the Prima Luna sounds really good at shows, and they use quality parts in them. I always enjoy their room. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
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