Ok,
So for a laugh tonight I'm running steps THD sweeps with my various 'dacs'.
None of which are really dacs, but had a lot of crap laying about...
The 'DACs' are:
Realtek HD onboard output from PC
Dragonfly USB DAC
Creative Soundblaster Tactic 3D alpha (very cheap USB I/O)
FiiO D03k
Inputs:
Onboard Mic input, creative mic input (from tactic USB thing)
Just wanted to see a quick comparison and if there were any differences plugging output directly into input, finding level of distortion (i.e. max mic level) then dropping by 10% dB.
I know not the most scientific test but would have thought the 'ranking' would have been clear or none at all.
As it stands the THD on the dragonfly is highest by a clear margin... any ideas/suggestions?
Will post graphs if interested
So for a laugh tonight I'm running steps THD sweeps with my various 'dacs'.
None of which are really dacs, but had a lot of crap laying about...
The 'DACs' are:
Realtek HD onboard output from PC
Dragonfly USB DAC
Creative Soundblaster Tactic 3D alpha (very cheap USB I/O)
FiiO D03k
Inputs:
Onboard Mic input, creative mic input (from tactic USB thing)
Just wanted to see a quick comparison and if there were any differences plugging output directly into input, finding level of distortion (i.e. max mic level) then dropping by 10% dB.
I know not the most scientific test but would have thought the 'ranking' would have been clear or none at all.
As it stands the THD on the dragonfly is highest by a clear margin... any ideas/suggestions?
Will post graphs if interested
Are you sure you're plotting THD and not THD+N ? Also the FiiO looks to be the lowest THD, the Creative seems the worst.
Pretty sure it's THD, that's all that's selected in ARTA.
I know this is a basic test with many flaws, not least the fact I have to use the computer volume control to try to reach the cleanest input levels for the mic inputs. Tried using the line level input but arta didn't want to play ball.
Also, not sure if reducing the 'system' volume is making it unfair on some dacs and not others, but if anything I would expect this to skew in favour of the dragonfly DAC, which I'd also think should be better.
I was expecting the dragonfly to wins hand down, followed by the Fii0 then either the realtek or the creative, which are both "whatever" options.
Remember that the dragonfly is meant to be a £130+ dac whilst the Fii0 is £30-ish of amazon.
There's a few thoughts this prompts...
1. Is a DAC a DAC? It's a very simple circuit in reality, and maybe £30 is pretty much all you need to spend anyway, any thing more is psycho-acoustics?
2. It the dragonfly catering to the "subjective" audiophile market and in fact pretty pants? It seems very telling to me that I can't find any published data on Signal to noise etc, whilst this is proudly printed on the box of the D30k
3. Could it be that the external PSU of the Fii0 is giving it an unfair advantage and in fact I need an external PSU for the dragonfly? if this is the case... the dragonfly is a faulty design by nature.
It's getting very tempting to head into the lab with this gear, maybe try and borrow a few'high end' dacs... though I would still need advice from forum members RE correct set up for fait tests.
I know this is a basic test with many flaws, not least the fact I have to use the computer volume control to try to reach the cleanest input levels for the mic inputs. Tried using the line level input but arta didn't want to play ball.
Also, not sure if reducing the 'system' volume is making it unfair on some dacs and not others, but if anything I would expect this to skew in favour of the dragonfly DAC, which I'd also think should be better.
I was expecting the dragonfly to wins hand down, followed by the Fii0 then either the realtek or the creative, which are both "whatever" options.
Remember that the dragonfly is meant to be a £130+ dac whilst the Fii0 is £30-ish of amazon.
There's a few thoughts this prompts...
1. Is a DAC a DAC? It's a very simple circuit in reality, and maybe £30 is pretty much all you need to spend anyway, any thing more is psycho-acoustics?
2. It the dragonfly catering to the "subjective" audiophile market and in fact pretty pants? It seems very telling to me that I can't find any published data on Signal to noise etc, whilst this is proudly printed on the box of the D30k
3. Could it be that the external PSU of the Fii0 is giving it an unfair advantage and in fact I need an external PSU for the dragonfly? if this is the case... the dragonfly is a faulty design by nature.
It's getting very tempting to head into the lab with this gear, maybe try and borrow a few'high end' dacs... though I would still need advice from forum members RE correct set up for fait tests.
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