ralphpnj wrote: > This may be stating the obvious but both the TACT and the Panasonic that > you speak of contain internal DACs and preamps, it's just that both of > them do not require separate external DACs and preamps. So from a > minimalist perspective these units "better" than separate components but > make no mistake: the signal is still being processed with the same > number of stages whether or not one is using an all in one devices or > separate devices. > > For a streaming Squeezebox system the process goes like this: > > Digital audio files on hard drive -> sent via Wifi or Ethernet to > Squeezebox device -> SB device converts digital audio file to PCM data > -> PCM data sent to DAC -> DAC converts PCM data to analog audio signal > -> analog audio signal sent to preamp (for volume control) -> preamp > sends analog audio signal to power amp -> power amp converts analog > audio signal to electrical signal -> electrical signal is send to > speakers > > The only steps in this chain which may vary is "analog audio signal sent > to preamp (for volume control) -> preamp sends analog audio signal to > power amp" since these steps can be bypassed by using digital volume > control and sending the output of the DAC directly to the power amp > otherwise it make no difference whether or not these steps are performed > by one device (Squeezebox Boom) or many devices since the digital audio > file must be converted to an analog signal somewhere along the way in > order for we humans to hear it.
Ralph, I know the technology behind these (I am a EE/CS major). You are misinformed about the Panny and TACT. Jitter is not a silly thing. It is the main thing in digital playback. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SoftwireEngineer's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7000 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=96407 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
