DAC significantly better than a w4s DAC2-DSDse?

I heard lots of DSD at the Newport Beach show last week. We compared the same track, 44.1 PCM versus DSD. Namely track 1 from Kind of Blue. Sorry, but my PCM beat it.

There are so many PCM and DSD DACs, all sounding quite different. I've been doing PCM for the last 20 + years, including DSD converted to PCM. But recent vinyl developments clearly showed that such pure analog sound is quite impossible to beat with PCM, so this is the reason for DSD processing. :-)

My comment was specifically about my volume control technology. Beats 99% of preamps out there.

Beating 99% of the preamps is tricky, especially when you use the Vref of the DAC to adjust the volume. Namely, anything 0.5V below Vcc results in rather compromised DAC chip specifications. Been there done that. :-)

Best wishes,
Alex Peychev

Other than from a manufacturer promoting his own product you've not actually bitten an answer. W4S gear is top notch- if you like what you hear go for another one

Other than from a manufacturer promoting his own product you've not actually bitten an answer. W4S gear is top notch- if you like what you hear go for another one

Agreed, and W4S is indeed a great value for its price range! However, I do believe that Dddrrreee can find a better performer with his $8K budget.

There are some great DAC contenders in this Audiogon thread, so this might be a useful information.

Best wishes,
Alex Peychev
APL Hi-Fi

"Re: no pre-amp. Steve N: How do you handle volume control? Do you throw away bits to lower volume or do you attenuate the analog signal? "

Neither. I adjust the D/A reference voltage. This is what is multiplied times the data words to achieve the voltage output. IT scales the volume naturally, without bit decimation or analog noise/distortion. As the volume is decreased, the S/N actually improves and the distortion drops. The opposite of what happens with analog controls and attenuators. This is the optimum way to volume.

See:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/overdrive-dac

and:

http://www.audiostream.com/content/empirical-audio-overdrive-se-usb-dacpre

"Has anyone done an A/B of your DAC against a good pre at low listening levels?"

Absolutely. I just demoed this effect at Newport show. They were amazed:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=125781.0

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

"anything 0.5V below Vcc results in rather compromised DAC chip specifications."

Alex - That depends entirely on the D/A and the supporting circuitry. You are correct that most D/A chips will not do this. I don't have this problem. The A/Bs have been done with several $20K+ preamps.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio