well balanced = pushpull only odd harmonic distortion not taste for all
plus some classD with is filter in the output have bad THD at hight frequency
I decided to try this thingie out, so I orded one today. Looking forward to hear it! The plan is to try to upgrade my Fusion plate amps using this DAC and PC based DSP. 64 bit float IIR, perhaps also upsampling. Will try to reuse Fusion' internal NC252 for mid/high and my NC400 mono amps for woofers...
I have used the DM7 now for some weeks. It replaced my old RME multiface. I use it on a 3-way active setup with roon, convolver, ropieee and DM7. I had to modify two of the amps with That TRS to SE adapters. There are no hiss from the tweeters even with my ears close to the dome.
The biggest advantage in my opinion is the IR remote that controls the volume outside the OS. No surprises anymore ;-)
The biggest advantage in my opinion is the IR remote that controls the volume outside the OS. No surprises anymore ;-)
In the meantime I received the DM7. I only briefly listened to it yesterday, two channel only. Did a shootout against Ayre QB-9 twenty. Maybe not a fully fair comparison given price difference, but the DM7 appeared to have quite a bit less color and refinement. Not sure why yet. Hopefully at least it will outperform the Fusion DACs... TBC...
....wait......so a very well measuring device has less color and refinement. Isn't this simply by design so a result of that good numbers?
After many decades of improving stuff, building and comparing stuff I started to notice a pattern of returning items:
A. very expensive devices don't always sound best
B. best measuring devices sometimes are boring sounding.
C. devices with higher THD are often liked.
D. simplicity is king with regards to reliability/longevity.
E. even cheap ChiFi devices can be competitive but one should take into account that longevity can be an issue and you may need to do some work.
F. user interfaces/GUI/software/app are very decisive in making or breaking a device.
G. looks and perceived reputation count to many. Apparently HiFi is listened to with eyes.
H. many build and buy equipment but effectively hardly really use it. This line seems to be linear with retail price of equipment.
Mmmm..... I decided to select well built and relatively good sounding stuff with good price/quality ratio or build it myself when applicable, just use it for the intended purpose on a daily basis (shocking!) and be done with it.
After many decades of improving stuff, building and comparing stuff I started to notice a pattern of returning items:
A. very expensive devices don't always sound best
B. best measuring devices sometimes are boring sounding.
C. devices with higher THD are often liked.
D. simplicity is king with regards to reliability/longevity.
E. even cheap ChiFi devices can be competitive but one should take into account that longevity can be an issue and you may need to do some work.
F. user interfaces/GUI/software/app are very decisive in making or breaking a device.
G. looks and perceived reputation count to many. Apparently HiFi is listened to with eyes.
H. many build and buy equipment but effectively hardly really use it. This line seems to be linear with retail price of equipment.
Mmmm..... I decided to select well built and relatively good sounding stuff with good price/quality ratio or build it myself when applicable, just use it for the intended purpose on a daily basis (shocking!) and be done with it.
Last edited:
2022. I took a novel approach by not connecting it to a spectrum analyzer, but to an amplifier and listen to actual music.... You should also try this once!
It is always a bit dangerous to use terms to describe sound. With color I definitely do not a mean a lush "tube" like sound. I simply mean the original character and texture of instruments. The DM7 appeared to have less control in bass, less loose sound scape wise and more flat. Not sure why, I also expected more given measurements. Still, it is all relative. I understood that the Ayre is in the top segment of DACs. The interesting question for me is what is overlooked in the available measurements...
For QB-9, the "Listen" filter was used which is a combination of minimal phase and linear phase FIR. It is implemented in FPGA. On the DM7 I used the brick wall filter. From the 7 Ess DAC internal filters, I found that one best, in the short listening time available. I wonder where the biggest SQ difference between the DACs is: analog design, supply, jitter and/or digital filter. Or all. For now, I do not think that the preference for Ayre comes from its (perhaps) slightly worse measurement specs. Which would "beautify" the sound. Little measurement data can be found on QB9 by the way. Hopefully soon I can compare the DM7 with the OktoDAC 8 from a friend...
No! The ears are a TERRIBLE measurement tool, because your brain and all of its various psychological complexities is processing their signals! This is the whole reason we measure things, to remove perception bias and to be able to share information based on known metrics.
Often I have heard people report that component X sounded really good to them! My retort is that some people think cell phone speakers sound "really good". How should the reader know which basis you are using, and bring it into their own realm of understanding???
According to Stereophile test (https://www.stereophile.com/content/ayre-acoustics-qb-9-usb-dac-measurements) Ayre's filters try to minimize pre-ringing of impulse response. So of ESS filters slow roll-off minimum phase filter would be similar. However in Ayre the roll-off starts well below 20k so it does not have similar frequency response as ESS dac.
Good idea. Just looking at a spectrum analyzer first amounts to trying to listen with your eyes.
If you enter a really clean DAC into a rig which have been tailored to a "musical" DAC - no surprise it sounds "quite a bit less color and refinement"... because that it was your "musical (read higher THD....) DAC .... wait for it.... added to the "mix".
It seems most don't like the reality....
//
It seems most don't like the reality....
//
- Status
- Not open for further replies.