you can click on the link for the full review, including FFT's, J-test graph etc. But I will post the majority of it here as well for your reading ease. Also, if you still have questions or issues with my thoughts on the DSD-Bypass mode, if you click and go through the measurements section on...

Who cares if there is or isn't a subjective audible difference! Thats exactly that! Subjective. That was NOT my review of this product. It is coming out in a couple days. If you had waited to read it, you would have read how I find no difference in the sound of either mode in this...

I am very aware of more than most, how conversations with some industry folks is filled with marketing muck. (actually the one or two 'insiders' I talk to don't give a crap about their NDA, one because he actually intellectually owns the technology the former company is still selling. Never...

not that I am aware of... I checked and it seems all is okay.. can you see it now? thank you, I must have a sligthly older manual also, THANK YOU for saying what many will not. The millions of taps thing is just a marketing prattle. Great filter design and great sound are inexorably linked...

Since 2014 I have been dedicated to learning all the means by which DSD is processed and converted. Like a dummie, one day a proverbial hammer hit me on the head when I realized, you can't do volume control on DSD, as I was reading up on the then new Resonessence DACs that were espousing their...

I have one in the lab for review... this isn't the review, but sort of a pre-review. It comes from my the blog side of Euphonic Review, where I get into a lot of things... i am pretty good at tangents! In this one I get into what I think is a controversy over AKM DSD Bypass mode, who is...

I made some needed corrections (mostly typos, plus some clarifications to my writing since my right brain often takes over and I go into stream of thought) to my 'article', if one could call it that, comparing the Signalyst DSC DAC (and every other DAC that uses similar techniques) to the...

sorry, my manual mentions nothing in its description of the modulator, although it does list the descriptions for the psuedo-multi bit modulators. I will see if there is an updated manual newer than the one I have thanks. A true 5-level DSM (something like 2.5bit binary) is indeed...

For those who may have an interest, here is an blog entry of mine diving fairly deep into how Jussi's DSC DSD DAC works, directly compared to how it is believed the PSAUDIO DirectStream DSD DAC works. It a big long and a bit technical dive, but I found the research and the understanding gained...

I have finished my review of the iFI ZEN V3 DAC. I am posting the written section here so you don't have to click over to my site. If you want to see the full review with test graphs and interpretations its all at https://www.euphonicreview.com/lansdale/ifi-zen-dac-v3-third-time-is-the-charm...

My review of the ZEN DAC V3 is done. It is truly a winner. You can read in full here. https://www.euphonicreview.com/lansdale/ifi-zen-dac-v3-third-time-is-the-charm Full listening impressions and a measurement suite that I am continuing to experiment with and evolve. The full review is...

the unobtanium types were not so bad in price 10 years ago when I started collecting. I sold too early it seems. (Don't we all?) Because supply and pricing now is just crazy stuff for things like Mullard, Telefunken, etc.. and thats just the noval tubes. The 6SN7 and related types have...

Rolling tubes transforms this Amp. Seriously. The stock tubes vs some really good NOS tubes, it just doesn't sound quite like the same amp. I suppose this is true of all tube amps, but I find it to be particularly notable in this kit. Don't go nuts and overdo it like me, and spend enough...

its an interesting question, and I am aware that it goes way deeper than 99.9 percent of the things Jussi deals with. And I am almost positive we are getting into intellectual property here that even if he told us might require an NDA haha. In the end it really isn't too important. There are...

@jlaako I think I refined my own understanding. A pseudo multi-bit dsm according to my research (good or bad), simply has multiple 1 bit quantizers working in parallel. They all receive the same signal, process separately, then the (3, 4, 5 etc) 1 bit streams are accumulated into one...

@jlaako I know their are a couple of 'pseudo multi-bit' modulators as you put it in the instruction manual. I have assumed these are modulators that use multiple 1 bit modulators in parallel with unary coded quantizer and filter loop, Like a 3 level system that we might call 1.5 bit binary...

have or had? the number grew to over 3000 at some point. Yes my addictive compulsive personality led me to own tubes worth many times more the actual equipment. It was an investment, right? Now I have sold most and am down to maybe 100. I kept the best. I have about half a dozen RCA...

i go back to near the beginning. Its around here somewhere still, but it was bricked by a firmware update lol. iDSD Nano. Immediately followed by the iDSD Micro. The huge iDSD Micro thread on Head-Fi was started with my review. Back then, I was already salivating over the rumored to...

Although the PSAUDIO DirectStream is a bit of different animal that tries to put what HQPlayer does into the DAC hardware itself on its FPGA, however on the back-end its basically the same thing although its limited to a set 128x DSD rate. Even the analog output is fairly similar with...

you may be correct. When data goes in my brain, it spits some out... I seem to have a shift-register up there doing the work. It would be limited by the XMOS chipset, if thats the case.

Couldn’t agree more. Getting lost in a 45 minute work by Brahms, Sibelius, Stravinsky and enjoying it so much the time seems to be no factor at all. Life is suspended in bliss. That’s what a great live performance does and it’s a rare thing to duplicate at home. It’s the highest praise I...

Filters really DO make a difference. The issue is the typical filter, in spite of the advancements in processing power (fpga,etc) makes it a real chore to hear the difference. Some DACs more than others. Leveraging the power of a modern x86 CPU and NVidia GPU allows for ‘fine tuning’ with...

I think we’ve had this discussion briefly before but yeah you were right it’s a very analog sound, but without all the negatives that come with say even the best vinyl playback. I still need to do some proper measurements but if I recall correctly. The dynamic range on the DSC2 I have is around...

I had owned an Icon Audio HP8 MKII tube headamp twice before. I regretted selling it each time, so I bought another. Likely an irrational impulse purchase. The 'real reason' haha, I did so was the SMSL SP400 THX headamp I was using. I love it. It sounds amazing. But I have also fallen in...

Yes its a winner. Quite good. The fact you get a headphone amp that is good at this price as well is the kicker. I have DACS up to to about the 400 dollar range that are in the same zone audibly via balanced pre-outs, the fact is none of those also have a very capable headphone amp built in...