Canjam NYC 2024 [Seminars] Digital Isn't

Canjam NYC 2024 [Seminars] Digital Isn't - Rob Watts

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Күн бұрын

From Canjam NYC 2024:
Digital Isn’t
SPEAKER: Rob Watts, Digital Design Consultant, Chord Electronics
Digital is digital, it's all ones and zeroes. Except that, no it isn't. Beyond the fundamentals of the digital-to-analogue conversion process, there are a host of additional factors that can dramatically affect the sound of your DAC - and consequently, what you will hear through your signal chain. Discover how power supplies, analogue devices and circuit design, galvanic isolation, digital cables and more can dictate your listening experience. But most importantly, learn how sometimes, digital isn’t.
More info:
www.head-fi.or...
canjamglobal.c...
Note:
Apologies for the shaky video, I was holding my camera by hand 😣

Пікірлер: 37

@gioponti6359 6 ай бұрын

This great material, thank you so much for sharing!

@steven2809 6 ай бұрын

Brilliant...thank you so much for posting this! Best wishes from the UK 👍

@crapmalls 6 ай бұрын

I can't afford an upgrade from my qutest anyway lol

@MidFiGuy 6 ай бұрын

Same page, I've had my eye on a TT2 + MScaler for the longest time but I'm glad my Qutest performs as good as it does for a fraction of the price.

@IHearEverythingDude 6 ай бұрын

you don't have to

@shirakawamaseru 2 ай бұрын

Thankfully my 50$ USB Dongle neither has Jitter, nor Random RF Noise, nor correlated RF noise issues and i run it with an 100yen USB Cable i got from Lawson because its longer than the one i got with the Dongle. Saves me a whole lot of money

@patrickmeylemans9627 4 ай бұрын

There is no discussion that speakers can make a large difference in sound. The reason that cables and PS make or don’t make differences is because the possible differences are smal (relative to speakers and placement). Why does nobody tell us about the quantity of change they make, we could end the discussions for ever. Many of us are not interested in the promilles differences they make, we have other changes to make….

@jamesdiaz6844 6 ай бұрын

I was expecting graphs, studies, real evidence but these slides just had statements with no support to back then up.

@thinkIndependent2024 4 ай бұрын

Cross reference the information. The information is free I used his talks to build a DAC that sounds better than figure systems

@richardtrussell8220 3 ай бұрын

And what you got was years and years of experience. Dreadful.

@joseluishernandezseptien 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing this!

@thanrl-yd9ub 2 ай бұрын

Do 192kHz-rated toslink cable sound different than a lower-speced one when the music is at 44.1kHz? I have a mildly fancy toslink cable ($50) and it absolutely sounded different than a generic 2.2 OD one.

@user550el0el0 Ай бұрын

placebo/bias

@thanrl-yd9ub Ай бұрын

@@user550el0el0 deaf

@koblongata 6 ай бұрын

A lot of audiophile activities are really modulating noises...

@Nephilim-81 6 ай бұрын

Rob is such a great, smart man who is so gracious with his time. He’s an amazing pillar in the audio world. An educator and an innovator. What more can you ask for?

@patrickmeylemans9627 4 ай бұрын

Why do we assume that our systems are performing better at night… probably because there is less background noise. In history we had to avoid confrontation with large predators, in the daylight we could see them, in the night we had te hear them.. soo we are trained to listen better at night.

@koblongata 6 ай бұрын

A lot of interesting products lately all powered digitally, for me, Hugo of course, which I owned quite sometime ago, now it's Buchardt, their stuff are all class D, and the new kid who is gaining quite a bit of recognition making digital amps, the ADG, and the Maria amp from Mark Levinson the guy who known for his role as the originator for high end audio. I think the future will be increasingly digital, not only sound better but yes a lot greener also. And I indeed too tried some linear powers over the years, and yes I think they change sound signature more than giving more depth.

@andjeyvolikov3508 6 ай бұрын

I use mojo 2 with Jotunheim 2 amplifier, qutest will be better dac? Or better to look for new amplifier? Tried today topping a90, didn't like it, on sale now

@thehutch- 6 ай бұрын

Buy an amp and keep the Mojo 2. It’s a very good DAC and there’s even an argument going on right now on Head-Fi where one guy claims the Mojo 2 is better than Dave in the right setup (he’s wrong, but still, it’s clearly a very good DAC).

@MWeston2 6 ай бұрын

I have a Mojo 2 and a Jotunheim 2 and a Qutest. I did this comparison a few weeks ago. I found the difference between the two Chord DACs to depend on the music track. Sometimes I preferred one, and sometimes I preferred the other. In general, I found the Mojo2 (EQ, crossfeed all off) a little bit brighter and the Qutest (white filter) to be more laid back or smooth (my interpretation of audiophile words!). It was a subtle difference and dependent on the track. If I had to pick one over the other, I think I would take the Qutest because I've loved its sound for years. The extra brightness of the Mojo 2 was a bit much on a few tracks compared to the smooth presentation of the Qutest. That's my personal opinion. I use each in different setups so I'm going to keep both. Oh, also, the Qutest is dead silent hooked up to my PC while the Mojo 2 sounds like an old Nokia phone near a radio back from 2001. It's a bit annoying if you have the gain or even volume pot turned up on any amp. If you are needing a desktop DAC, Qutest all the way.

@barneyrubble9309 6 ай бұрын

ASR clearly know better. 😂

@charleskingReal 3 ай бұрын

ALL of the stuff he's talking about: jitter, RF noise, intermodulation distortion, can be measured, and measured to vanishingly small levels. DAC noise-floor modulation can be measured, and the DAVE is beaten by a cheapo Topping, largely because the DAVE's inherent noise floor is frankly mediocre (but still good enough that it's unlikely anyone would notice). If you want to sell Luxury Audio products with fancy enclosures and 5-figure pricetags, then that's fine. But don't spout pseudo-scientific wibble in an attempt to justify it. You're selling Luxury to people who want to belong to the club of People Who Spend A Lot, and that's all you're doing. Patek Philipe doesn't try to pretend their eye-wateringly expensive watches keep better time than a Casio because they know that's not the reason people buy them. Why do Luxury Audio makers dance around making fools of themselves by pretending otherwise?

@mikeg2491 3 ай бұрын

I’m a virtual shut in with and I bought a Dave, I’m not showing it off to anyone, I listen to headphones by myself. It sounds fantastic. Luxury means nothing to me, I shop at Goodwill for clothes which gives me more money for my hobbies like this. I also own some Topping stuff, they frankly sound sterile and boring with no dynamics. Objectivists have a weird view of what they think audio enthusiasts are all like. The biggest myth they spread is we lie to ourselves more expensive equipment means better. I like my Grado headphones more than a Susvara. Price tags mean nothing to me. I also bought my Dave used which again, if I was a “luxury shopper” who cared about image, I’d buy new, and the latest greatest thing not a 10yo DAC.

@hugoanderkivi Ай бұрын

@@mikeg2491I wouldn't call them objectivists; it's more like an ideology. If they were truly objective, they'd be open and willing to see the other viewpoint.