Filburt

Why OTL?

HDCD works by sticking data in the LSB as a control signal to operate a set of digital filters. When you use volume control, that data drops out and hence you lose the HDCD decoding. Probably more than anything, though, the major advantage with HDCD was the hardware. The Pac Micro Model 2 mastering unit had excellent filters and ADCs in it and the PMD-series digital filters were some of the best available. So, even without HDCD itself, the end-user was probably getting a substantial boost in fidelity versus other systems. As far as my intermittent issues with foobar volume control goes, I've had some trouble with the EQ making very audible distortion/artifacts and it's bad enough that I don't use it even when, otherwise, it would ostensibly help on some recordings I have. This happens even with CDA or lossless, so it's not just me defeating the psy model on a lossy codec (which is a problem you can run into with even a perfectly good EQ). So, maybe something related to this problem is going on with the volume control *shrug*. I don't have the latest version of foobar, though, so I don't know if this is still an issue...nor am I sure that this isn't something specific to my setup As far as 16 vs 24 bits, there are more discrete levels between bit 24 and 23 than there are between 16 and 15. However, in both cases, the steps between MSB and MSB-1 are so numerous I doubt it really makes much of a difference. At lower bits, though, I guess its relevance is conceivable, though I'm not sure I'd really weigh it all that heavily. That is, for example, 8 bits down (48dB), there is a significant disparity in granularity between the two. Mainly where this would even mean anything is if you have a recording with a lot of dynamic range, where using 24 bits helps keep anything audible well away from the region near the LSB, and so you may benefit from better low-level linearity. Do I worry about it much? No, not really. I've honestly found using a good digital filter and, even more importantly, making sure the output stage is well designed makes more of a difference. It's something that probably matters more in digital imaging. Ears aren't nearly as sensitive or discriminating as eyes, and so I'm just not sure how much it would matter even if there is some sort of minor transient error present. Really, if anything, my biggest criticism with the Redbook standard is that 44.1KHz Fs made the task of filtering unnecessarily burdensome for then-existing hardware. However, there are some good filters that were made since then, and modern hardware should be powerful enough to make an adequate filter, provided one has the requisite knowledge.

For me, it's more than a theoretical dislike. From a practical standpoint, you can end up with undesireable component interaction and distortion as a result. I find them acceptable when it's the best option for a given task, but if I can avoid it by redesign, so long as I don't end up with worse performance, I'll probably go that route.

K701 A/250 K271 ATH-CK7 I hope to one day get K1000. HD800 were OK but I didn't really feel like it would be an upgrade over K701 *shrug*

QFT

If you like your K701, I wouldn't sell it. I've tried a lot of what's out there or, at least, what's worth using anyhow, and I still find it to be one of the best around. I haven't tried the JH13s so I don't know how great they are overall, but I guess I'm rather suspicious of the claim that they are roundly superior. Aside from that, why a tube amplifier? What is your source?

Belden. Lower capacitance, AES/EBU standard characteristic impedance (so can be used for more applications), and it's less expensive. The Canare cable just has better CMR, but that shouldn't be an issue in your system so the Belden is the better choice.

Like I said, given the design there, it really doesn't conform to what I'd expect to see if there were 4 dacs. It has, more or less, what I'd expect to see if there were 2 dacs and a phase invert in the output stage. Don't break your new toy

Well, the 5847 is a good digital filter. However, I don't care for the CS8420, personally. It has a bug (at least the revisions I'm aware of) that can make it spit out garbage data if you plug/unplug the digital connection (maybe a few times; depends) while it's on. There is a workaround where you can use a microcontroller to sense the lock detect and reset the chip, but I've heard even that doesn't always work. Besides that, I'd read a while back from John Westlake that its PLL design is poor. As an ASRC, it's OK; not state of the art, but not bad.

OK...so it's SM5847 filter w/ CS8420 Receiver/ASRC.

I don't see anything there that would indicate to me that there were 4 PCM1704s. There aren't enough components or traces to support what I'd expect to see there if that were the case. As such, I wouldn't recommend attempting to take it apart.

edit - Nevermind...looks like kevin covered it...

Won't be in California while it's happening

Wish I could make it

They probably need substantially more use then if you want the low end to fill out. Mine took a month or two to settle out. These sorts of things vary from headphone to headphone depending on driver design, and the 701 seems to need it more than most.

Solid combination for a beginning rig. You shouldn't be disappointed. How long have you had your K701?

There seem to be two variants of the K701 around, although mostly the rather lean one seems to be confined to the first couple months of production. I remember discovering this by accident when I first thought mine were broken due to sounding so dramatically different from three pairs owned by some folks I knew. They do take a while to settle out though (e.g. hysteresis). Mine are a fairly bassy headphone, overall. As far as "driving" them, they really don't take that much power. However, if the amp isn't rather linear under load, it's going to be pretty easily audible on the 701. Since a lot of the most audible distortion is going to be from around the midbass up, this can mask 'treble' and I guess this might be why people find a more linear amp 'opens up' the sound. The Gilmore Lite is a good pairing for the K701 IMO, so long as the source is good.

Sorry to hear this about your amp

Is this a joke thread or what?

I can't read your original source, so I don't know what their argument is there. AFAIK the D20400 is a 12 bit monolithic dac coupled to a discrete ladder for the upper 8 bits. I'm pretty sure it says that right in the datasheet. Also note, the PCM63 only came in DIP package, and its package is rather large. I can't remember the exact dimensions of the D20400 package, but I'm not sure a 2 PCM63P setup would actually fit in there.

Canon SD880. It's compact, relatively quick as far as compacts go, has a 28-112mm equivalent zoom range, and the overall image quality is very good as far as compact P/S go with a usable high ISO function. I prefer the DMC-LX3 if any compact P/S is considered, but it has a smaller zoom range and costs considerably more.

WM8741 is OK. It isn't what I would associate with high performance outside the scope of voltage-output dacs, but it is easier to use than something like a PCM1792 in terms of getting satisfactory performance. Aside from ease of implementation, I imagine they also used the 8741 because they could tout these filter modes which are part of the 8741 design (though they omit mention of this). You can see they used the same names for each as is in the datasheet. Most of this is just kind of bizarre marketing babble, such as how it's "stunning" that taking the data directly to the WM8741 is going to sound better than running it through the SRC4192 first even though they went through the trouble to emphasize the superiority of the filters the 8741 offers. Oh well. The touch screen and programmability is cool.

The quoted DNR/SNR just sounds like PCM1792/1794 (in mono mode BB claims 132 DNR, 132 SNR, though). BB specifies that with a basic NE5534 I/V and LT1028 for the diff amp. Where is the specification for distortion on this unit?

AK4399 is a voltage output chip using the usual SCF output, buffer, so forth and the standard schematic employing a capacitor to block DC prior to the analog LPF. In other words, nothing new in that respect. They specify -105dB @ 1KHz on 20KHz BW, but don't provide an FFT, a 20-20KHz sweep, or even THD20. So, not exactly a particularly informative figure, and this isn't a competitor, IMO, for the Sabre32. The NatSemi parts are alright; I know some people really dig them. I prefer ADI's AD797.

What is the deal with jamato? Is he some sort of marketing-for-hire member or something of that sort? It seems like he is used to develop hype for products and is a perennial favorite for leading head-fi's megathreads about product intros.