People assembling HiFi systems usually get a good DAC in some form - either an external DAC connected to source or a sound card in case of desktop system or the source itself has a decent DAC like a CD Player. While the benefits are many for a good DAC & mainly in that it gives a lot of sound charcteristics as discussed in a previous post here.
Now the thing is that while the task of every DAC is the same - that of converting digital music to analog music, they go about doing it in different fashions. On one hand there is the delta-sigma(DS) tech which gives us a "effective bits" of about 2-5 bits. The significance of this is that our digital music is encoded at 16 bits of resolution. If on reconverting it while listening we are only getting 2-5 bits then its a loss of dynamic range. This appears as a loss of appeal in singers voice. Where the singer or an instrument were to stretch his voice or sound, that stretching will not be that dramatic. I hope you understood that because that is the whole "dynamic range" thing.
Now I had the good fortune of stumbling upon an affordable DAC which does this decoding in multibit style instead of DS style. This is the Schiit Modi Multibit available for $250 / Rs 22,000. This gave me 16 bits of resolution. Listening to it for the first time was an experience. It was like hearing digital music in a new way - 18 yrs of listening to digital music and now I got 16 bits. While the dynamic range certainly increased I stumbled upon something else that I did not like. Apparently 16 bits is a lot of bits to contain information about "atmospheric energy" during performance of the band. What I mean is that when the band performs, some energy is generated - in amplification of instrument sounds and in venue. Somehow this too gets captured. This is not hearable in regular DS DACs but one can hear it in almost every song in a multibit DAC. This is what made me turn off listening to music after I had listened to just 4-5 songs. It was ridiculous and so I got rid of this DAC and went back to my trusty sound card - M-Audio 2496 Audiophile. I bet its AKM DAC sounds 95% as good as a Modi 2.
Apparently people have been complaining that digital does not sound that good. I am willing to bet that some of it is because of dynamic range thing as cassettes had about 6-7 bits of dynamic range. Vinyl apparently has 10 bits of it. The solution to it I think is in HD recordings that sound smooth as well. This is the road I am going to take in the future.
For someone who wants more than 2-5 bits, lookout for dual-DAC DS implementations. These apparently have 8 bits of resolution. Check with manufacturer on this before buying.
Have a good time listening to music :-)
Now the thing is that while the task of every DAC is the same - that of converting digital music to analog music, they go about doing it in different fashions. On one hand there is the delta-sigma(DS) tech which gives us a "effective bits" of about 2-5 bits. The significance of this is that our digital music is encoded at 16 bits of resolution. If on reconverting it while listening we are only getting 2-5 bits then its a loss of dynamic range. This appears as a loss of appeal in singers voice. Where the singer or an instrument were to stretch his voice or sound, that stretching will not be that dramatic. I hope you understood that because that is the whole "dynamic range" thing.
Now I had the good fortune of stumbling upon an affordable DAC which does this decoding in multibit style instead of DS style. This is the Schiit Modi Multibit available for $250 / Rs 22,000. This gave me 16 bits of resolution. Listening to it for the first time was an experience. It was like hearing digital music in a new way - 18 yrs of listening to digital music and now I got 16 bits. While the dynamic range certainly increased I stumbled upon something else that I did not like. Apparently 16 bits is a lot of bits to contain information about "atmospheric energy" during performance of the band. What I mean is that when the band performs, some energy is generated - in amplification of instrument sounds and in venue. Somehow this too gets captured. This is not hearable in regular DS DACs but one can hear it in almost every song in a multibit DAC. This is what made me turn off listening to music after I had listened to just 4-5 songs. It was ridiculous and so I got rid of this DAC and went back to my trusty sound card - M-Audio 2496 Audiophile. I bet its AKM DAC sounds 95% as good as a Modi 2.
Apparently people have been complaining that digital does not sound that good. I am willing to bet that some of it is because of dynamic range thing as cassettes had about 6-7 bits of dynamic range. Vinyl apparently has 10 bits of it. The solution to it I think is in HD recordings that sound smooth as well. This is the road I am going to take in the future.
For someone who wants more than 2-5 bits, lookout for dual-DAC DS implementations. These apparently have 8 bits of resolution. Check with manufacturer on this before buying.
Have a good time listening to music :-)
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