Altmann Tera Player - Page 9  

How does this compare versus Cowon players?

Anyone has graphing charts which can differentiate the differences?
 

Not sure those graphs exist. You can't always tell things by the graphs. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pure Quickness 

How does this compare versus Cowon players?

 

Anyone has graphing charts which can differentiate the differences?
 

Others are planning a mid September buy? Guess I gotta try to beat you all to the trigger so I get mine first.

Even though it will play 24 bit files, anybody have an idea of what the Dac can actually decode after it's '24-bit serial-to-parallel shift register' input circuit? My guess would be everything at the actual d2a converter's input is downsampled to 16bit via this circuit since it is a 16 bit DAC. I would also be interested in the actual DACs maximum 16 bit decoding frequency after the input circuit. Not a big deal for me in a portable player where 16/44-48 already takes up plenty of space, sounds fine for this purpose where other limitations will be greater and I'm a wav fan. Just making a great sounding device that actually drives things properly with low noise and jitter is an accomplishment but it would be nice to know what the actual top res is without just knowing what it can play. It would be better to downsample to a divisible before loading tracks onto a micro card so as to have the most material at it's maximum performance parameters.

Basically, I'd like to know the maximum bit rate that the string dac portion of the 8552 will see and if it ever sees a 24bit word.

I'd also like to know what the difference is between a string DAC and a ladder DAC. The DAC portions look effectively the same to me.

Interesting, never thought to question that. Just emailed Charles asking about that. Was having a nice back and forth an hour ago, hopefully he's still at his computer and able to respond soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes 

Even though it will play 24 bit files, anybody have an idea of what the Dac can actually decode after it's '24-bit serial-to-parallel shift register' input circuit? My guess would be everything at the actual d2a converter's input is downsampled to 16bit via this circuit since it is a 16 bit DAC. I would also be interested in the actual DACs maximum 16 bit decoding frequency after the input circuit. Not a big deal for me in a portable player where 16/44-48 already takes up plenty of space, sounds fine for this purpose where other limitations will be greater and I'm a wav fan. Just making a great sounding device that actually drives things properly with low noise and jitter is an accomplishment but it would be nice to know what the actual top res is without just knowing what it can play. It would be better to downsample to a divisible before loading tracks onto a micro card so as to have the most material at it's maximum performance parameters.

 

Basically, I'd like to know the maximum bit rate that the string dac portion of the 8552 will see and is it ever sees a 24bit word.

Thanks. Even if the questions don't get the answers everybody wants, it doesn't diminish the performance in the least nor has he said otherwise by showing it accepts higher rate files.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes 

Thanks. Even if the questions don't get the answers everybody wants, it doesn't diminish the performance in the least nor has he said otherwise by showing it accepts higher rate files.

Reply from Charles, I hope he doesnt mind me posting this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenman345 

Not sure those graphs exist. You can't always tell things by the graphs. 

 

Others are planning a mid September buy? Guess I gotta try to beat you all to the trigger so I get mine first.

Thanks for the extra motivation.  Will try to save...

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


I notice no difference as compared to using a line-out. I set the Tera to full volume and use the volume control on my amp. This will allow for the lowest s/n ratio possible. There is, to my ears, no degradation of sound at all from the "double amping" of the headphone output vs using a line-out with both tube and SS amplifiers..
Of course this is not really a valid comparison, since the Tera lacks a true line-out. It forces a comparison between two different players. The bottom line is that the Tera sounds better amping from the headphone out than my other players do when using their line-out.

Thank you.  This helps so much for down the road.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes 

Thanks. Even if the questions don't get the answers everybody wants, it doesn't diminish the performance in the least nor has he said otherwise by showing it accepts higher rate files.

Thank you for bringing this up.  I am confused now.

I will try to read his section here:

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/conversion.htm

But it is a bit over my head.

One of my reasons for upgrading was 24-bit decoding and playback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenman345 

 

Reply from Charles, I hope he doesnt mind me posting this.

Thank you for posting.  I guess it is time to read a bit about this R2R process and try to get a better understanding.  I was really hoping it was native 24-bit, but will see if it treats 16 and 24 bit files the same.

What a great question by goodvibes...

I wouldn't be too worried. Their is lots of information out there to suggest the extra bits are not necessary. I am okay with it onyl being 16 bit though, I only own tons of CD's that are anyways 16 bit. Guess I'll be making the most of it anyways. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tera-Fi 

Thank you for bringing this up.  I am confused now.

 

I will try to read his section here:

 

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/conversion.htm

 

But it is a bit over my head.

 

One of my reasons for upgrading was 24-bit decoding and playback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenman345 

I wouldn't be too worried. Their is lots of information out there to suggest the extra bits are not necessary. I am okay with it onyl being 16 bit though, I only own tons of CD's that are anyways 16 bit. Guess I'll be making the most of it anyways. 

I read the link.  Not much to explain the dropping of the 8 bits or the 24-bit process.

It will be harder to justify.  On the player, it is engraved 24-bit, 96, 192.  I guess this is just playback and not decoding.

It would be really helpful if anyone can provide input if 24-bit will make even this slightest difference with this player given it is using a 16-bit DAC.

Yes, 16-bit is fine, but it is nice to have the flexibility of decoding 24-bit.  Especially, more and more music on sale now that is 24-bit.

Not sure if it is a deal breaker yet, need to decide in September.   Will still allocate budget and save for now.  I still agree with his statement of SQ > Numbers.  I just need to find justification since I already have other 16-bit DAPs and did not want to jump into a new DAP without 24-bit decoding. 

Where is there more and more music being sold at 24 bit? and I wouldn't really worry that much. Science shows the extra bits are not really necessary as filters will do a pretty damn accurate reproduction without those extra bits. And the Tera Player has a reputation for excellence, so I wouldn't really worry it isnt making the most of music. I'm just happy my CD Rips will not be adding extra information that wont be used. Might be worth recoding your files into 16 bit though. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tera-Fi 

I read the link.  Not much to explain the dropping of the 8 bits or the 24-bit process.

 

It will be harder to justify.  On the player, it is engraved 24-bit, 96, 192.  I guess this is just playback and not decoding.

 

It would be really helpful if anyone can provide input if 24-bit will make even this slightest difference with this player given it is using a 16-bit DAC.

 

Yes, 16-bit is fine, but it is nice to have the flexibility of decoding 24-bit.  Especially, more and more music on sale now that is 24-bit.

 

Not sure if it is a deal breaker yet, need to decide in September.   Will still allocate budget and save for now.  I still agree with his statement of SQ > Numbers.  I just need to find justification since I already have other 16-bit DAPs and did not want to jump into a new DAP without 24-bit decoding. 

^^

https://www.hdtracks.com/

There is always new material.  Just click on an album, then on the right side, it will show various resolutions of the same album.

Theory-wise, some say there is not a difference.  Some say with the right 24-bit decoding equipment, there is a difference.

But this is a portable player, so I guess it was a lot to expect.

Will have to dial back and sleep on it.  SQ comes first, so will try to stay positive on the TP despite this news.

16-bit was fine a decade ago, but the high resolution is trending so was hoping to ride that wave.