Post by routlaw on Aug 6, 2019 17:49:52 GMT -5
I would agree with Russ there...
I'm not personally a special fan of R2R DACs.... but there are in fact small, but sometimes quite audible, differences between different DACs.... and between different filter choices on the same DAC.
(However, as with many things, as the technology gets closer to perfect, the differences get smaller and smaller, and can sometimes be difficult to quantify.)
I would point out, however, that the comparison of DACs to file conversions is not really valid.
FLAC files and WAV files are both lossless - and the conversion process is standardized - so converting back and forth between them results in no difference - as long as it's done correctly.
(And, since we're talking about purely digital data, we can compare the actual data, and confirm that it is identical.)
However, when you use different DACs to convert a digital signal to an analog signal, you will find that the analog outputs they produce are in fact measurably different.
(There is no question that the results are not the same. The only question is whether the differences are audible, and if so, how significant they are, and under what circumstances.)
I would agree, however, that I wouldn't expect to hear any "night and day difference" between the XMC-1 and our newer processors (other than Atmos and DTS:X and more channels).
