Maybe so and maybe not. As an aside, it strikes me as the flipside of the “you can’t hear a difference because your system isn’t revealing enough” b!tchslap I’ve been known to wield.
But seriously, my newfound preference for “musical” over “accurate” may actually be the absence of digital “glare” to which I’ve read countless references.
Whatever it is - be it distortion or fewer nasties - it’s good. How do I know? My feet tap and my body moves to almost everything I play. I hear details I’ve never heard before. I say “damn, this sounds fcking awesome” to myself at least once a week. Maybe this 20+ year journey is finally bearing some fruit.
We do know there are some people who do like distortion for its own sake. Especially people who were teenagers and exposed to popular music during the era where it was common to clip the chorus in mixing or mastering. Recording engineers found out that hard clipping sometimes sounded better than heavy use of a lookahead limiter such as Waves L2. One or the other was needed because the client wanted it loud on the radio. It wasn't that clipping sounded good exactly, it was more like heavy use of L2 could sound bad. Anyway kids listening to that music came associate clipping distortion with extreme emotional feelings expressed in the music. Thus they learned to like distortion.
My daughter (a musician and fine artist) grew up during that period and was influenced like kids are by popular music when they are at that age. However, now when she comes to visit and hears my system, she says it sounds REALLY GOOD undistorted. People in that age group can't believe how good CDs can sound. The problem is when they ask how much it costs. Then they forget about wanting it.
My daughter (a musician and fine artist) grew up during that period and was influenced like kids are by popular music when they are at that age. However, now when she comes to visit and hears my system, she says it sounds REALLY GOOD undistorted. People in that age group can't believe how good CDs can sound. The problem is when they ask how much it costs. Then they forget about wanting it.
Last edited:
Not to mention the awful Aural Exciter and pitch shifters used in many pop recordings. And a generation of MP3 lovers. 🙂
My Dumb *** Cousin had more money than he knew what to do with (may he rest in peace) back in the day & we did multiple blind tests on quite a few DAC’s using all other components static….after a while it became hard to tell any difference. But I do remember bass being the largest influence. I think it helped he had 8 15” altec’s in 7cf boxes.
Today after decades removed from that time/space I’m just happy being able to hear the music!!
Going this direction for a while….well see
Today after decades removed from that time/space I’m just happy being able to hear the music!!
Going this direction for a while….well see
Attachments
It means the stuff you didn't change was masking real differences. Designing a really good dac is quite difficult due to parasitic coupling you can't see, ground loops you don't realize are there, etc.
Amen brother.I don't have issues with people having issues
I think people should try out different dacs, even try NOS ones like Abbas Audio, i love and recommend my SE units. Try to audition them in your setup with your music.
It's the pre-amp that's glowing here right now, but it may be displaced quite soon when the WD KT88 is functioning properly.
But the DAC is staying put. Definitely.
The DAC I have been using is the Naim NDX. It works best when paired with a Naim preamp (mine is the NAC 82), and decodes a wide variety of high resolution digital formats, including Apple Lossless. I typically play CDs with an Audiolab 6000CDT connected with an optical link. The NDX is also a versatile streaming component and has a front panel USB input that can play hi-res files from a USB stick as well as direct digital files from an iPod.
I was a digital skeptic for a long time (also a Naim skeptic). I had an Iomega mydac and it was pretty good for what it was. I got a taste of the real potential of digital through the generosity of friends. My DIY friend made a Twisted Pear dac for me from spare parts - double shunting power supplies and the whole shooting match. It's fantastic. One thing was odd though: my other friend had a Naim DAC (NDX?) and, when we compared them side by side they were the most similar sounding components I'd ever heard, despite their totally different designs. Through tragedy, I inherited his next Naim DAC - the last generation flagship NDS with an aftermarket power supply. It's really something (I mean really) and I often think of my dear friend when I listen to it. It definitely makes you wonder about soldiering on with vinyl.
The top tier Naim DACs cost stupid money when they're current generation. However, the NDS can be picked up (in relative terms) cheaply these days. The streamer part of these components is getting obsolete - UPNP, not supported by Roon etc. There is some open source software you can run on your PC that masquerades as a Squeezebox and translates to UPNP, and you get Roon compatibility for the NDS that way. Sounds dicey, but it's been rock solid so far. Every time a new track plays, text scrolls by in a terminal on my Mac - very weird.
The top tier Naim DACs cost stupid money when they're current generation. However, the NDS can be picked up (in relative terms) cheaply these days. The streamer part of these components is getting obsolete - UPNP, not supported by Roon etc. There is some open source software you can run on your PC that masquerades as a Squeezebox and translates to UPNP, and you get Roon compatibility for the NDS that way. Sounds dicey, but it's been rock solid so far. Every time a new track plays, text scrolls by in a terminal on my Mac - very weird.
The NDX compares so well with vinyl that I only spin up my VPI on rare occasions. It also has the ability to use an external PSU, which is the same used by the CDX 2.
The NDS compares really well with vinyl. I believe MSRP was something like 10000 USD without power supply back when they were new, so they better sound good. Still like my Sota, and sometimes the best version of an album is the LP. Also, the Sota has escaped obselescence for about 30 years. Great deal that. In this day and age, if I was starting from scratch, it would be hard to justify doing analog. It hurts me to say that.
There are good modern dacs, and there a good modern vinyl playback systems. Comparing old stuff to old stuff is not necessarily all there is to compare
I have been using a standard Topping D90 with the AKM chip for a few years. Are there any little tweaks or upgrades that people have done to these DACs? I did a search and couldn't really find anything.
I plan to hunt down a nice R2R DAC in the future. There is a lot of great info in this thread.
I plan to hunt down a nice R2R DAC in the future. There is a lot of great info in this thread.