JezA;376080 Wrote: > Well, I can't find out much about the O/Ps Tact 2.1. But the Tact 2.2 > claims to have "immeasurable" distortion and noise when used with > digital inputs and outputs. They also claim that their sample rate > converters give "extreme jitter attenuation" and the input signal is > resampled (and therefore presumably reclocked) to 192khz. So, my > original point stands. If the Tact (for example) can't treat two > digitally identical inputs the same, then it is either useless or > broken. > > I am not suggesting that in the O/Ps case, the Tact is causing the > differences he hears - I did in fact suggest he try listening to both > sources with out it - I am trying to raise the possibility that if you > buy Stereophiles claims that digits sourced from a hard disc drive > sounds better driving a given DAC than the same digits sourced from a > competent CD transport, it follows that the DAC isn't really very good > or it is defective. > > I would make the same argument about (say) speaker cables. If an > amplifier and speakers sound different when connected by two different > speaker cables, then either the amp is useless or broken, or the > speakers are. If your amp can't get a signal down a piece of wire what > chance has it got getting it through the vastly more complex load that > a speaker presents?! Instead of spending a fortune on different speaker > cables, and issues of Stereophile, buy a decent amp that is untroubled > by a few feet of wire.
Jez, I don't know which part of my explanation you are having trouble understanding, but here goes: 1) The signals are NOT repeat NOT the same. The SPDIF signal from the CD player and from the SB are DIFFERENT. They are both an attempt to represent the same logical "bitstream" but they are in fact an analogue signal containing different amounts of noise. This noise affects the DAC (or the ASRC in the case of the TACT). 2) I have used a TACT 2.2x for many years and can assure you that it is highly sensitive to input and power supply induced jitter...as are many DAC's... Why do you believe their marketing brochure?. These problems are not insurmountable and most TACT users have addressed them by now. 3) This has nothing to do with the TACT - it is all about the fact that the SPDIF signals from two different sources are not/can never be electrically identical... This is why transports can sound different - this is the bit you need to get your head around! 4) I don't care what Stereophile thinks in general - but they are correct to assert that hard disk replay CAN give better results than conventional mechanical transports. Certainly a handful of high-end CD spinner manufacturers are preparing to abandon mechanical transports entirely... 5) This is rather off-topic, but cables DO affect the sound of a system because they are part of the system. They have a finite amount of reactance, inductance and resistance just like any other component and therefore it is entirely logical that they can affect the sound (mostly the frequency response) - usually in very small , very subtle ways. Regards Phil -- Phil Leigh You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it ain't what you'd call minimal...SB3+Stontronics PSU - Altmann JISCO/UPCI - TACT 2.2X (Linear PSU) + Good Vibrations S/W - MF Triplethreat(Audiocom full mods)- Linn 5103 - Aktiv 5.1 system (6x LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Townsend Supertweeters, Kimber & Chord cables Outdoors: Boombox+Creative Sub (If I remember to turn it on...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=57173 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
