Playback Designs Firmware Update

Would someone explain exactly what is firmware, and why does it change the sound? Thanks.

Rtn1, firmware is software which is embedded in hardware. :^) Firmware are the effectively the Operating Systems of electronic devices. In some cases, but obviously not most cases, electronics are equipped with a way of updating that software. The most obvious example is the BIOS of your PC. Some firmware can be hacked, like the button combinations on the remote which will allow a DVD player to become a region-free DVD player, or at least I've heard about those things... :^)

Speaking of jtinn, he is such a great dealer because among other things he is incredibly accessible and helpful with any questions or concerns!

My former lamm dealer was almost impossible to reach (on the lam from his customers so so speak?)

02-28-09: Rtn1 asked:
"Would someone explain exactly what is firmware, and why does it change the sound? Thanks."

T_bone explained what firmware is. In this it changes the sound because the Playback Designs upaamples redbook CDs to DSDs and applies alogrythms before doing a digital to analog conversion. All that's done in the software that controls the DAC and is actually part of the DAC's functioning.

The PD designer, Andreas Koch has been involved with pro-level digital audio equipment design since its inception and has been recently applying his knowledge to consumer units, first at Emm and now at his own company.

Dave

I always wondered why high-end DACs did not actually put everything into FPGAs when the software was there. With the right 'gatekeeper' (pun only partially :^), the IP can be protected, and it could be updated on a regular basis. With even a simple OS and some RAM, users could keep all the older algos and directly compare. Eventually, I suppose this goes down the road of loading the data into RAM and processing it realtime, which I would have imagined FPGAs do quite well.