What's the deal with DAC's?
01-24-2004, 06:27 PM
#1
500 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 679
I've been in the market for a new deck, I've been researching and found this baby:
http://www.stereoconnection.ca/shopp...roducts_id/765
It has all the features I want but one thing struck my eye, Dual 24 bit DAC's? Is this a noticeable improvement over single 1 bit DAC's?
I'm just wondering what are DAC's and are they an important factor in buying a deck?
Few other questions if you happen to know, what's the difference between the DXZ925 and the 935? Is that a good price? Thanks alot...
[ January 24, 2004, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: Thunderous Contender ]
http://www.stereoconnection.ca/shopp...roducts_id/765
It has all the features I want but one thing struck my eye, Dual 24 bit DAC's? Is this a noticeable improvement over single 1 bit DAC's?
I'm just wondering what are DAC's and are they an important factor in buying a deck?
Few other questions if you happen to know, what's the difference between the DXZ925 and the 935? Is that a good price? Thanks alot...
[ January 24, 2004, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: Thunderous Contender ]
01-24-2004, 07:08 PM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
DAC stands for digital audio converter, it's what takes the 1's and 0's and coverts it to an analogue waveform that can be amplified and output to speakers. It is important, but it's one of those things that can be argued endlessly whether the difference is audible or not. For sure if you don't have a top notch install and very high quality equipment downstream I doubt the differences would be obvious.
01-24-2004, 08:00 PM
#3
Basically, there's more to a DAC than just a bit rate. I've heard units with 24 bit DAC(s) and they sounded like trash compared to single or twin 1-bit DACS in other manufacturers.
It pretty much comes down to the quality build of DAC and the components used. Yes, it may take a trained ear to hear the difference between a known quality unit with a 1-bit, and a known quality unit with a 16-bit or higher.
If you're looking at a deck that states in its specs that it contains "Burr Brown" or "Sign Magnitude" DACs of any bit rate associated with a price tag above $800, you can pretty much be guaranteed you're going to get a frickin' awesome deck.
It pretty much comes down to the quality build of DAC and the components used. Yes, it may take a trained ear to hear the difference between a known quality unit with a 1-bit, and a known quality unit with a 16-bit or higher.
If you're looking at a deck that states in its specs that it contains "Burr Brown" or "Sign Magnitude" DACs of any bit rate associated with a price tag above $800, you can pretty much be guaranteed you're going to get a frickin' awesome deck.
01-24-2004, 09:24 PM
#5
Yankee
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
D/A filter has been a consistently upgraded item since the birth of the CD. In theory the more bits a D/A has the more computations take place in the digital domain and the better the resulting analog waveform. Basically you’re buying a faster read rate of the digital domain.
01-24-2004, 09:39 PM
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally posted by islandphile:
D to A Converter 'aka' digital-to-analogue converter, right Derek?
D to A Converter 'aka' digital-to-analogue converter, right Derek?
01-25-2004, 09:18 AM
#7
Yankee
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 385
Originally posted by Chadxton:
Basically, there's more to a DAC than just a bit rate. I've heard units with 24 bit DAC(s) and they sounded like trash compared to single or twin 1-bit DACS in other manufacturers.
It pretty much comes down to the quality build of DAC and the components used. Yes, it may take a trained ear to hear the difference between a known quality unit with a 1-bit, and a known quality unit with a 16-bit or higher.
If you're looking at a deck that states in its specs that it contains "Burr Brown" or "Sign Magnitude" DACs of any bit rate associated with a price tag above $800, you can pretty much be guaranteed you're going to get a frickin' awesome deck.
Basically, there's more to a DAC than just a bit rate. I've heard units with 24 bit DAC(s) and they sounded like trash compared to single or twin 1-bit DACS in other manufacturers.
It pretty much comes down to the quality build of DAC and the components used. Yes, it may take a trained ear to hear the difference between a known quality unit with a 1-bit, and a known quality unit with a 16-bit or higher.
If you're looking at a deck that states in its specs that it contains "Burr Brown" or "Sign Magnitude" DACs of any bit rate associated with a price tag above $800, you can pretty much be guaranteed you're going to get a frickin' awesome deck.
I think, if you are spending $800 or more, you should get better sound as the price increases. Ofcourse, I have seen some manufacturers use, as far as I can tell, the same internals on in an $800 deck as they do on their $400 decks...just add features(which most likely will not affect the sound quality of the deck).
Now, to the question on those particular clarion decks. The local shop has sold ONE of the 925s, and it came back defective. I hate them. The 2nd drop down face didn't move smoothly at all, and I really wonder how it would work in cold weather. If you wanted a 24 bit clarion, I would strongly suggest checking out the clarion 835mp. I am not sure if thezeb ships to Canada, but they have that deck for US$219 right now which is a steal.
I ran the 835 for a few months, and overall, it was a nice deck.
01-25-2004, 02:56 PM
#8
500 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 679
Thanks for your input, I was attracted to that deck because of it's options. I am really open to any high quality unit. I can't find Eclipses anywhere around my parts. I'm looking for a deck with internal crossovers, HP and LP, and some strong sound processing like EQ's and such. I'm looking for this stuff because I don't want to use an external EQ or anything right now. Thanks again.
01-26-2004, 10:00 AM
#9
Originally posted by JohnVroom:
D/A filter has been a consistently upgraded item since the birth of the CD. In theory the more bits a D/A has the more computations take place in the digital domain and the better the resulting analog waveform. Basically you’re buying a faster read rate of the digital domain.
D/A filter has been a consistently upgraded item since the birth of the CD. In theory the more bits a D/A has the more computations take place in the digital domain and the better the resulting analog waveform. Basically you’re buying a faster read rate of the digital domain.
What I have learned about 1 bit vs. 24 bit or whatever is the more bits you have, the more resistors you have in the unit as each bit requires a resistor. More resistance = more heat = bad for an electronic component. And essentially, the build quality of the components used will override the perceptible difference between bits.
01-26-2004, 01:32 PM
#10
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 756
As mentioned above ^^ unless the DAC is comprised of quality components, it may provide no real improvement over 1bit DACs.
When I originally installed my nakamichi cd-400 to replace my alpine 7894, I did notice an improvement in the sound. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but the sound seemed more detailed. I don't know if this was due to the DACs, but to be honest, I really didn't expect to hear any difference at all.
When I originally installed my nakamichi cd-400 to replace my alpine 7894, I did notice an improvement in the sound. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but the sound seemed more detailed. I don't know if this was due to the DACs, but to be honest, I really didn't expect to hear any difference at all.
