Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

+1 Steve

In addition, it needs to be better understood that the ESS 9028 DAC is a massively parallel Delta-sigma DAC - in some implementations 512 delta-sigmas are summed in various ways to create a signal. Basically this ESS chip is a hybrid between R2R and a single 1 bit delta sigma. You can describe these chips as a massive R ladder DAC with all steps the same - instead of adding 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 (four discrete resistors on an R2R) to get a value of 15, the ESS DAC will sum up 15 discrete 1 bit delta sigmas to achieve a value of 15.

The benefit of massive single bit delta sigma DACs is that through a randomized selection process the DAC chooses randomly which delta-sigmas are summed to make the required valued. This leads to huge advantages in linearity and signal to noise over an R2R!!!

Hybrid DACs like ESS are simply better technology than an R2R by a significant margin as the specifications like THD+N show.

@jwn, @audioengr, @charles1dad, @ctsooner, @shadorne

As I stated, it was/is my understanding. By all means "school me" if you have something to teach.

The following excerpt from the Schiit website (as well as certain other posts on this forum and in the past) is one reason how/where I have come to my understanding. I grant you, this could be erroneous and if so I’m open to learning. The followimg is from: http://www.schiit.com/products/yggdrasil

--
Forget everything you know about DACs. Yggdrasil is the world’s only closed-form multibit DAC, delivering 21 bits of resolution with no guessing anywhere in the digital or analog path. We’ve thrown out delta-sigma D/As and traditional digital filters to preserve the original samples all the way through from input to output.

When doctors are trying to diagnose whether you have gas or cancer from MRI results, or when the military is trying to ensure a missile hits an ammo dump and not a nunnery next door, they don’t use “24 bit” or “32 bit” delta-sigma D/A converters. Instead, they rely on precision, multibit ladder DACs, like the Analog Devices AD5791. This allows them the bit-perfect precision they need for critical applications, rather than the guesswork of a delta-sigma.
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Note the operative word "guessing".

Secondly and in addition, I already have two different delta-sigma dacs within two of my other components (Oppo UDP-205 and Emotive ERC-3). Note the chips are entirely different (one being Sabre ESS-9038 the other Analog Devices AD1955). I’ll grant you, those components do not rise to the level of the components you envision, and I understand there is much more to the overall sound than the dac chip itself. Nevertheless, I find it more than curious and coincidental that despite the fact those chips are different, those two components sound virtually the same (to my ears) and not as "authentic" to my ears and the ears of a close musician friend I had listen to my system, specifically for the purpose of DAC evaluation.

Moreover, I have read numereous posts from folks on other forums (head-fi as one example) who are (purportedly) musicians and "swear" by R2R in comparison to delat-sigma. In fact, many of the "negative sound qualities" I’ve read about delta-sigma in general I can relate to with my own ears.

Bricasti delta sigma beat the pants off the total dac’s discrete d/a converter chips.

I don't think so, as we did just that for a day at Kramer's, a reviewer for 6 Moons, HIFI Australia, and Audio Esoteric as well as owning Soundstage Australia.
His system comprised of the newest Wilson Alexia MkII and the Gryphone Antillion Evo, and I can tell you the Bricasti (latest version) wasn't in the race when compared to the Total Dac with Redbook PCM, so much so Kramer bought a Total Dac.

Cheers George 

But I have heard good non R2R beat meh R2R dacs. It’s how you use it

That's why I stipulated, " you need to go to properly implemented R2R Multibit based dacs"

Cheers George

You can think of the Delta-Sigma as an engine that creates the R2R function repetitively

Delta Sigma creates a "facsimile" of Redbook PCM it can never be as bit perfect as properly implemented R2R Multibit.
And isn’t that what this thread is all about??? "Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD"

Cheers George