darrenyeats;695106 Wrote: > All that makes sense...but in that case could someone explain the > staircase output in the Stereophile measurements for many DACs? These > very often show distinct voltage level steps in an undithered 16 bit > tone at -90db. > > I'm not questioning what has been said, I am genuinely curious. > Darren > > Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk
Erm... At -90db a 16-bit DAC only has 1 bit to play with... This test might say something about DAC linearity but it won't say anything about what music sounds like, given the fact that at normal listening levels a -90db signal is going to be way way below the level of audibility If there is any other signal happening at the same time. The ONLY way to hear such a signal is to listen tothe very end of a reverb tail with your amp on full volume. Be careful! I can't find any of these Stereophile staircase plots... I can find plenty of rough looking sine waves... Do you have an example? -- Phil Leigh You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it ain't what you'd call minimal... Touch(wired/W7)+Teddy Pardo PSU - Audiolense 3.3/2.0+INGUZ DRC - MF M1 DAC - Linn 5103 - full Aktiv 5.1 system (6x LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Pekin Tuner, Townsend Supertweeters,VdH Toslink,Kimber 8TC Speaker & Chord Signature Plus Interconnect cables Stax4070+SRM7/II phones Kitchen Boom, Outdoors: SB Radio, Harmony One remote for everything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=94054 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
