Explain the different types of DACs

[@kurtkettler9676]

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate these sessions where you explain audio questions that the average Joe can understand and learn from your Expertise. A big thank you!

[@bobbyy8711]

same here, thank you

[@dougbenjestorf280]

He is very good at explaining complicated subjects and making them easy for non technical people like myself to understand. Thank You Paul!

[@Itasca298]

Excellent description of DAC functionality. Thanks for enlightening us non-technical amateurs and giving us a look at your company's policies. You inspire confidence even if I can't, at this point, afford your products.

[@derekf5495]

This guy is so knowledgeable, and I haven't learned 1 thing after watching 20 videos.

[@mrchinaski4125]

I learned one thing buy maggies

[@TheZooman22]

I have a good CD player. I noticed a dramatic improvement in the quality of my CD audio when I use the coaxial digital out. Direct digital into my integrated DAC amplifier is much better than using the RCA out . I actually like CDs now... I used to think all CD players were equal, I was wrong. I think low quality DACs have given CDs a bad rap...

[@wadebanks3710]

Thank you for these intimate conversations.

[@user-od9iz9cv1w]

Great explanation of FPGA vs chip DAC. Power supply and output stage are critical to the sound. The third leg of the stool is the clock. Once PS and output are perfected, clock phase noise can make the difference between a great DAC and a state of the art DAC. An oscillator can cost pennies in your phone or in the case of the Direct Stream several 10s of dollars each to as much as thousands of dollars each in the SOTA DACs.

[@synthvault]

Ladder DACs are the way to go again, finally. IMHO at least. I love that they are resurging.

[@6643bear]

Hi Paul another great video, very informative. Regards mark

[@pauld7069]

Thanks Paul, you confirmed something I had always wondered about which is why different DAC's with the same chip set sound quite different. Based on your comments, Power Supply and output stage are the key.

[@rjlopez9358]

I love this series of videos. Thanks Paul.

[@octaverecordsanddsdstudios1285]

Thanks for watching!

[@rjlopez9358]

@@octaverecordsanddsdstudios1285 I have read 99% True and it is fantastic. I hope that Mr. Paul will follow it up with a sequel. Thank you once again

[@oscarmarfori613]

I enjoy most of your videos bcoz of your very easy but quick explanations of things about high end audio, also love noticing your rarities displayed on the background like your Gramaphone Dog, thanks for this video Paul 👍

[@milazzorob]

Thank you Mr. McGowan, I now finally understand the the difference between a 16, 24, ect. spec. ! A Votre Sante! !

[@rhymeswithteeth]

Now, you just need to learn that the abbreviated form of "etcetera" is etc., not ect.

[@pnachtwey]

The FPGA doesn't have an analog output. The sigma delta bit stream is integrated with a capacitor to generate the analog output. This is is done at high frequencies hopefully so you can't tell the difference between digital output and a real analog D TO A converter.

[@Doucettedon]

I still use a Sugden SDA1 with a TDA1541 dac. I've owned CD players and drives since the late 80's and as of yet haven't found anything that sounds as good in my system in my home as my Micromega with my Sugden, the combination somehow makes CD's sound a little less digital.

[@RadioHamGuy]

Very interesting Paul, great information. Thanks. I enjoy learning.

[@paulstubbs7678]

I recently 'upgraded' the DAC in my Raspberry Pi based music source from a USB based one to a I2C, 'asynchronous' converter, it should sound better but it dosen't, I think you just nailed the problem, the first DAC must have had a much better output stage (it could directly drive headphones) whereas the new one cannot. time for me to make another change. (get out the soldering iron - again)

[@m.morininvestor9920]

What kind of prices is that.

[@hifi2169]

That’s why I bought your DS Jr. upgrades are free, your not just releasing new DACs to sell. Great customer long term service & support!

[@threecats8219]

I didn't know PS Audio made FPGA DACs. I think that's very useful to know. I am a fan of Chord Electronics FPGA DACs, but it's always nice to have alternatives. .... I remember clearly a review where the Direct Stream and the Chord TT2 were in review toether. The Chord TT2 was the overall winner. However I got the impression that the Direct Stream was the second place.

[@cillyede]

Very, very interesting again. Thank you! Hubert-Germany

[@gordthor5351]

Good advice Paul. A DAC could be built with the best chips and if a cheap SMPS is powering it and a low quality analog output circuit is used, it's not going to sound very good. It's kinda like plumbing, shite runs downstream. The tiny analog signal from the DAC will go through several amplification circuits in the preamp and amplifier, so any noise or other shortcomings will only be more evident by the time the highly amplified signal reaches the speakers. Garbage in = garbage out. Especially from the source device.

[@TheWusster]

every time i hear Paul or Ted talk about FPGA, i hear them say "field programmable Gator-Ade". LOL

[@rich1051414]

It's got electrolytes!

[@jaggs7346]

Hate Gatorade, gives me the schiits.

[@One-Two_swift-kickbox]

​@@rich1051414It's all you need

[@HtS643KyS6555GxQ3edA]

Can you access the FPGA and convert it back to code? If that’s possible then how can you prevent that reversal/reverse engineering?

[@nosuchthing4789]

Great question, great answer! Thanks for this!

[@videoaccount5676]

R-2R Ladders only uses 2 values of resistors, no matter how many bits.

[@m.morininvestor9920]

Is it really better than Delta sigma?

[@NoEgg4u]

The clocking chips in a DAC are also critical. Some high-end manufacturers custom design their own clocking chips.

[@HiFiInsider]

Love these videos. Thank you!

[@andrewyoung8761]

Hi Paul Love the channel. Tannoy are a Scottish company. Regards from Scotland.

[@xaxx1st]

support for the quality of questions is nice, but the reason to read/listen is to get answers, particularly answers that aid purchases.

[@andrew-xr1de]

very, very good! The output or analog, section is the second important part of making a good dac.

[@ericnortan9012]

I think it is the first important thing

[@dtv266]

Loving these clips,and techansse I can understand

[@turbo5483]

Very interesting information on the DACs

[@danbalkey2580]

how should you if a dac cheap 200 or so would be better then your cd player or your receiver or i would have to way in price to hear a big difference. thanks for any help

[@corneliusantonius3108]

I want an audio/sound card for my Game PC built with a good Philips TDA1541 on it

[@187whitedog]

Being in the lower end of hi fi myself :D Not enough money to get brand new i buy second hand stuff, however i have just seen your Steller range and with a few months saving i could prob afford the dac/pre amp , which would solve 2 hi fi issue s instantly as i don't like many boxes, i was getting a passive pre amp to remove a power lead and the electronics in the path. Do your products work in the UK and are there any company's, here who would sell your products so could go and listen :D Boulder, Colorado is abit far at the mo :D Thanks for the great series i am learning a lot and i'm 44 :)

[@187whitedog]

I guess nobody sells ps audio gear in uk then :\

[@zogzog1063]

Philip, Paul did an informative clip on pre-amps. Check it out. With a limited budget I would go for an integrated amplifier. Most of the cost of separates is the additional casework. Integrated is better value for money out of all proportion to the improvement (if there is any) in sound quality.

[@iancanuckistan2244]

Signature Audio Systems. 2a The Paddock, Westerham. email: [e-mail] From the PSAudio. com website

[@UDASAN1]

@@iancanuckistan2244 ultimate-stream.co.uk/ a Uk Ps Audio Dealer and a nice person to deal with also with youtube channel Ultimate stream kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5rCaqWLeJmZn6s

[@kalijasin]

He's like the Bob Ross of Audio. :D

[@GB-qw7lg]

I have a delta sigma discrete DAC, which allows choosing a modulator sampling frequency (128 fs, 256 fs or 512 fs). Can anyone tell me if a higher modulator sampling frequency should provide better sound?

[@techsinc]

Isn't 16 bits enough to provide sufficiently noise free (i.e. quantization noise) performance? It seems to me if one can make a 16 bit DAC with a resistor network, it ought to work extremely well I think. Simple as it gets and probably inexpensive, too.

[@johnyang799]

James Kim You can try. And the result will be pretty bad. The thing is there are people still loving true r2r ladder dac that are 16 bit. They can sound good but the actual performance is way behind from many stand points. But as they are r2r linearity will be very good.

[@marknorton5951]

I’ve tried and they are a nightmare, with the resistor matching problem. If you think of the digital code switching from 16383 to 16384, one bit is switching on and 14 bits are switching off and you want the output level to increase by the same amount as when the digital code switches from 0 to 1. Not easy!!

[@m.morininvestor9920]

Love your channel !!!

[@salvadorrodenas3071]

Very well explained in so short time, very educational skills if it means something, or pedagogic attitude? Do you rehearsal before recording or it's natural of you?

[@nespressoman]

Great video, thanks.

[@antoniosalles3134]

Paul. I have a question for you. You often compare or discuss expensive versus affordable gear, and that gets me thinking about the law of diminishing returns. What price range or stereo setup would you consider as the sweet spot where beyond that the returns (such as with audio quality, better soundstage, etc) is not equivalent or as reciprocal to every extra dollar you invest?

[@johnyang799]

Antonio Salles There is no such thing. Because hifi is full of shit companies. There are just some good ones. Just buy the good ones that fit into your budget. Demo if possible, get message from actual friends instead of getting hype from the internet. I guess this will help.

[@reddenitup]

lol……

[@rehakmate]

Audio is the most subjective field I ever encountered, listen to everything that fits your budget and needs and decide. No other way. I am a maximalist so audio is a nightmare to me, too much variables and I cant guarantee for myself that I made the best decision. Not like with building a PC where you can just look up the tech parameters of a CPU and you will certainly know what to expect.

[@ThinkingBetter]

If two DACs sound completely different it must be measurable. One way could be to measure the delta between two DAC outputs. For the difference to be audible if needs to be of a certain amplitude with some sort of ringing or distortion. Is PS audio doing such delta measurements to better explain and solve any artifact?

[@ThinkingBetter]

Paul McGowan Well, by knowing the delta signal you should be able to make better informed corrections and re-measure. If the delta signal is >80dB below actual signal I wouldn’t think it’s audible also.

[@bedrosdaoudian8927]

Hi Paul, it's always and enjoyment to listen to your videos. This is certainly a very informative one. I'd like to ask you what do you make out of the new resurgence of R2R DACs ? Famous audiophile youtubers are rejoicing about their quality and analog 3D sound. For example, one company making R2R DACs that has received a lot of attention from the major audiophile youtubers is Denafrips who has many DACs such as the Ares II as well as many others made by the same company at higher price points. Have you had a chance to compare the performance of R2R DACs? Is PS Audio exploring the possibility of a new product based on R2R?

[@sambalsamurai9672]

100% with you there, I too have watched all reviews and praisals on recent R2R DACs like ARES II. Curious have you tried a R2R DAC or went with a chip DAC or MultiBit DAC?

[@BIGBASSSAMA_4]

do i need a dac added to my home theater? i watch dolby atmos/dts x movies and gaming and play youtube music i would love to know. my avr is a marantz x8500h 13.2 and my amp is a yamaha mx a5200 11.2 these come with their own dacs so should i pull the trigger and buy a directstream dac from ps audio? i have (2 floor standing speakers by goldenear, 2 surround speakers by klipsch, 1 center channel speaker by klipsch, 4 in ceiling speakers by goldenear.

[@JohnFHendry]

My gut feeling says in designing R2R DACs because of the naturally occurring octave level foundation of space associated with the observed acceleration of expanding space connected to time and Newlands exponential atomic level law of octaves responsible for creating the illusion of missing "dark matter" obtained by measuring the force of gravity looking back in time through the lower frequencies of space matter exists in to the point of Singularity (Mass location at the start of time creating a true or "initial" inertial frame of reference to measure time connected to mass oscillation from) you should accept the reality of constant time dilation in effect associated with reduced Mass density and "empty" space and go to 32 bit and deal with the fine measurements desired rather than trying to use 24 bits because 32 is a fundamental naturally occurring foundation connected to the octave level frequencies associated with the forward arrow of time. IE: it's easier to deal with the resulting harmonic commas using a straight line and the forward arrow of time without wait state gaps involved compared to "going back in time" required to create a lower 24 bit rate to symmetrically mirror a wave/sound that is not symmetrical without using time dilation. I'm not saying it can't be done as Nature does it all the time... but we don't understand the neutron count observed in atoms connected to time and space making up molecules yet let alone the electron hole associated with the 4th reverse oscillation phase of the atom that represents the missing graviton phase of Mass oscillation showing its minute force is caused by the subtrahend of the EM wave NOT canceled out, the difference in length of the two separate oscillation arrows caused by using increasing time to measure itself so to speak. If you fold a piece of paper in half and say it's a wave where E=Time and use time connected to space to measure it starting at the beginning point you see the second half measures longer because your ruler (time/space) increased in length and this is why time dilation is needed to maintain E a constant and prevent it increasing it's potential energy..

[@paulb.3227]

Can you translate this please ?

[@One-Two_swift-kickbox]

​@@paulb.3227It's satire

[@MohamedAli965]

I didn't know you were based in Boulder! I live there

[@Malangsufi]

With popularity of headphone, will you guys make an all in one dac/amp solution?

[@kalijasin]

Why do I need a seperate stand-alone DAC? The CD player, AVR, Sound card, etc.. all have a DAC built in.

[@haula251]

Wow... didn’t know that 😳

[@paulb.3227]

Paul just explaned that !

[@juliaset751]

Can an FPGA be used to create a ladder DAC? That is, can an FPGA provide the very precise increments of resistance to put into the ladder since they are only switches?

[@fresheFresse]

No, the resistors would have to be external to the FPGA, most likely some laser trimmed resistor banks. The FPGA would do the digital filtering though and switch the parallel output.

[@cybergod77]

I don't use a dedicated DAC currently and I'm really wondering how much one can heighten my listening pleasure...will it be a significant improvement if I were to get a mid range model in the $2-4k region?. Then all the research into the various DAC types (RSR, Sigma Delta, FPGA) adds to the confusion. Seems that RSRs are more natural sounding?

[@meuchbueno4135]

@Guido Santens how does sound come out then?

[@mrchinaski4125]

My modi3 made a big difference with my Peachtree nova

[@gainpain4762]

Thanks. ♥ I Love You ♥ .

[@JoeJ-8282]

This is definitely a topic that I really need and definitely *want* to learn more about, but I can tell that it's a HUGE subject, with WAY too many "intricacies" about it to fully cover in any of these short videos! I don't know much about DACs or how they work exactly, but I can tell that the info presented here was just "the very tip of the iceberg" in all there is to know and understand about them!... The main thing that I DO know about good separate DACs of any really great sound quality, (i.e. the kind which are actually *noticeably* and considerably better sounding than the ones that are already built into the majority of audio equipment), is that they are all way too expensive for me to ever be able to afford, and that's the main big reason that I've never really gotten into them in my own home stereo system... I would love to find a really good separate DAC for free or extremely cheap someday, (like at a thrift store for $20 or less or something like that), but you never see those kinds of higher-end devices in those kinds of stores! (which are the ONLY type of stores that I personally can actually afford to buy anything from! Lol!) I have definitely heard (AND I can definitely *appreciate* ) the difference(s) that a really good separate DAC can make in your audio system, however, I've only been able to hear that while listening to music at a high-end audio store, (where literally *everything* they sell is way out of my price range!), but I've never been able to experience any of that awesomeness at home with my own stereo system because I just don't have the budget for it... A guy can dream tho', right?! Lol!

[@jlf9999]

I get it. FPGAs are like the tofu of the audio electronics world. You can turn them into a dessert, a smoothie or a ham sandwich while dedicated DACs are an actual smoothie or ham sandwich and will never be anything else. See! I ain't your ordinary dummy.

[@milojenikolovski7522]

Thanks.

[@John-jo6wj]

The most "dad" way to explain purpose built and programmable computational systems.

[@umbertosandri3931]

Thank you!

[@freesaxon6835]

So it's a programmable chip

[@internietaccount6580]

Thank you

[@cormackeenan8175]

How can schiit make there product so cheap?

[@RoastBeefSandwich]

Five fast pennies versus one slow nickel. Different business model.

[@m.morininvestor9920]

Is a Schiit audio good quality? Like a new Modi 3 with the akm ak4490.

[@RoastBeefSandwich]

M Morin the modi 3 is not an amp, it’s a dac.

[@laurencehastings1159]

Chord Electronics, say no more

[@dannylee5588]

I'm told a new Demon at 100 watts is much better than my 1984 Kenwood at 150 watts. Wish I could get to the truth. If my Kenwood is still the stronger/ better unit then I would rather just buy a DAC. Of course which DAC and what are the limitations of bieng forced to use an optical Toslink for my TV connection??

[@paulb.3227]

Beware of demons :-))

[@m.morininvestor9920]

So Paul tell me Modi 3 vs Modi Multibit 😂 what should I get!

[@dozog]

Misleading title... again.. Did anyone notice that he basically says FPGA's are more convenient and that they do free upgrades? Then continues to say the DAC doesnt make much difference, its the power supply and the output stage that make it sound different. Guys, this is not a technical video, this is a marketing video.

[@johnyang799]

Dozo G What he says is actually correct....

[@dozog]

John Yang . Which part?

[@rx4unyc]

dave killer

[@AlSelk]

There is some false information in your video that should be corrected. There are now R/2R DACS up to twenty bit, in fact Schiit audio uses one in there Yiggy DAC (and an 18 bit in there Gumby). It should also be explained that there is no usable information above 20 bits in music, and in fact there are no preamps, amps, or speakers that can actually do anything above 20 bit, and very few that can go that far. Anything above about 20 bit is nothing more then marketing hype. It is unfortunate that Paul, who certainly must know better, choices to deceive that public about the illusion of high bit.

[@AlSelk]

I would hope you are aware that anything over 130dB causes permanent hearing loss, so I do hope you are not suggesting playing music that loud. The sound of a full orchestra at 1 meter away is 120dB (20 bit). A front row seat would be less then that. Medical scanners and the military use R/2R DAC's because they are bit perfect, meaning no information is thrown out. What comes in is what goes out (in analog of course). You are confusing resister ladder DAC's with R/2R chip DAC's. The R/2R DAC's used by the military and medical are extremely precise.

[@kacperuminski1547]

Paul McGowan Increasing the bits just causes the noise floor to drop subsequently increasing the dynamic range. The problem is that the noise floor of pretty much all current electronics is higher than the noise floor of 24-bit which negates it's benefits.

[@BlankBrain]

The noise floor of the listening room needs to be considered when determining what dynamic range will be perceived. Personally, I think 16 bits is sometimes too much of a compromise. But 18 bits provides four times the dynamic range. Sixteen times the dynamic range, accomplished with 20 bits seems like overkill. The power supply stability becomes very difficult. If I have 80 volts swing on my power amp output, the least significant bit of a 20 bit signal is wagging 76 microvolts. My own heartbeat will easily mask the difference in signal from my speakers.

[@johnyang799]

Alan Selk Dynamic range doesn't mean you have to play that loud. It actually indicated how much noise you can hear when played at normal level. Do measurements before talking all these nonsense.

[@kacperuminski1547]

John Yang What I meant is that you'd have to listen at very loud volumes to hear the noise floor of CD. And even louder to hear it in 24 or even 32bit.

[@pcbuildfrance]

Quality of DAC is mostly dependent on power supply ??? Seriously ? You're finding way to sell snake oil in any topic...

[@marcjones1967]

Patryk Kulczyk power supply is very important , think of it like putting petrol in your car , if that petrol has water/oil/sand etc in it your car won’t run properly. Try listening to your hifi at 3 in the morning and hear the difference. Would take to long to explain why this is to you so just try it and see.

[@pcbuildfrance]

marc J yeah AC power has some importance especially when your power supply circuit of your device (amp, pre, dac, etc...) is poorly designed or not sufficient on filtering. Also if there is interference in your power network but it has to be something near and strong. I never had any issues with my power network and I move a lot (every few years different country). What I don't agree with is selling snake oil like power cables worth couple hundred dollars. Or some conditioners that are passive or active that does not generate pure sinus...

[@johnyang799]

Patryk Kulczyk Fpga is very dependant to the power supply. In fact, if the power supply and the caps don't have enough buff and speed fpga won't even work.

[@pcbuildfrance]

John Yang what is fpga?

[@johnyang799]

Patryk Kulczyk Logic gates. But fpga is running at a very fast state. So very stressful to the powersupply.

[@noob9103]

what happens if you explain a little bit more ? the world ends?

[@Trev9]

It cannot, or should not sound completely different. Either one, or both of you are doing ir wrong... It Must sound like the analogue.. Anything else is embellishing, or subtracting from the origin.