jh901 wrote:
> I'd still like to know if DACs were perfected prior to the Transporter.
> This notion that there is a singular perfected sound ("transparent") is
> interesting. I do appreciate the logic that either universally accepted
> "transparency" has either been achieved or else there is design flaw.
> Who can argue against that!?
"Perfection" is relative. As much as 'perfectionist' audiophiles hate to
admit it, there is a point of "good enough". Nothing is perfect in this
world once we get beyond the digital information domain (ie. we can copy
a file's data perfectly, or transmit the data through the digital cable
perfectly with error correction in cases like with ethernet). All DACs
will of course reproduce the analogue waveforms slightly differently,
but the thing is, the level of accuracy is so good that it's unlikely
the human ear/brain would be able to distinguish a difference.
I would say that by the mid-2000's, we've seen DACs of adequate accuracy
to achieve full 16-bit resolution by the $1000 price point and certainly
since late-2000 until now in the 2010's, majority of reasonable DACs
probably by the $200 price point can do this and achieve >16-bit
resolution (for your 24-bit audio if you feel this is beneficial). We
can demonstrate this with objective measurements of course. And jitter
these days is generally a non-issue with asynchronous USB or ethernet
feeds unless the DAC itself has an issue.
Of course there could be difference from DACs depending on things like
the antialiasing filter used (hence my recent Digital Filters Test)
which may change the sound. A good example is Ayr'se filter in the
PonoPlayer which can affect high frequency response and phase shift with
its minimum phase processing and early roll-off. That is done on purpose
and depending on who you ask, it can be considered a "flaw".
The bottom line I think is that the majority of decent DACs these days
with reasonable power supplies and analogue output stages can achieve
resolutions beyond the capabilities of human hearing. Such that when a
person is subjected to -unsighted tests with different DACs controlled
for volume-, they would be indistinguishable. This again depending on
whether the designer purposely create a change to the sound like the
PonoPlayer and its Ayre filter at 44kHz. I think this is "perfect
enough". IMO the Transporter belongs in this category of easily being
"perfect enough".
As noted by the discussion in the other thread on the video from Floyd
Toole, it's clear that the effect of speakers and room are -orders of
magnitude- more important than interdevice variation between good DACs.
Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
audiophile blog.
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