Rob has stated a number of times that he believes that there's no limit to the amount of resolution necessary for accurate reconstruction. He has found that the DAC has to be able to reconstruct signals as low as -320db (!!!), even though they'll be a tiny fraction of even the substrate noise of...

I wasn't talking about users. I was referring to the software update delays.

The problem with TIDAL is likely that the Zen Stream software is based on a long-discontinued version of Volumio, which itself is based on a version of Debian that has long expired. Any versions of the TIDAL software are going to have been designed for more recent OSes, so iFi are stuck trying...

The AD1865 was one of the nicest-sounding R2R DACs, so this will be interesting.

Featuring: Second generation WTA upscaler Styled in the Choral range of products 5 FPGA's 4 Million taps Equalizer function Separate dedicated designed power supply by Rob Watts

Much of one's perception depends on how exposed one was to music as a child. I was exposed to actual instruments, so my sensitivity to smaller differences is greater than someone who wasn't. As well, a lot of modern music isn't recorded and mastered in a way that preserves detail. It's just not...

There are fundamental differences between what is involved in making a piano and a high-end headphone. The piano industry has been around for countless decades, and the manufacturers have established methods and systems for creating their products. There is more sheer labor and established skill...

Sometimes, since the phone manufacturers buy up all the supply, the integrated DAC/amp chips aren't available, as I understand things. Ditto good camera modules, faster processors, etc.

If Kingwa has managed to get better sound quality out of a smaller set-up (there's obviously a switch to surface-mount transistors) then that's fantastic. The new Master 9 does look like a Master 19 internally though, with only a couple of differences.

You've been absent for too long. It's 4.4mm Pentaconn for balanced, and 3.5mm TRS for SE (or TRRS if it has a mic input like most smart phones). You don't. I had a look at the official page and in one of the images they say "No data mining and advertising push". Anyway, to be sure, I run...

Audio-gd doesn't make high-output-impedance amps. The ACSS gain stage is followed by a diamond differential output stage with a low output impedance, the same as in every other ACSS headphone amp Kingwa has designed. If the resolution of the amp is a step up from the older Master 9, it will be...

Neutrik make an impedance adapter, but you’d be plugging that into the AES of your DAC and using a S/PDIF cable from the MScaler. In the US especially everything has become extremely tribal. Sensible middle ground attitudes aren’t appreciated as people can’t get worked up over them. I prefer...

LOL. Expect it to send data back to China. All DAPs send telemetry at the very least. This wont be any different. It's surely just a cheap phone with the electronics of a basic dongle included. I wouldn't hope for much. But, people have been asking FiiO to do this for some time now, so maybe...

I noticed this most if I switch between the NUtopias and the E3. Each sounds wonky after listening to the other. I suspect that the bumpiness in the 2-4k range in the NUtopias was deliberate for this reason. Likewise, quite a few headphones have a slower rise between 1-3k than Harman...

The Lyr+ isn't very "tubey"-sounding with a tube in, unlike, say, a Woo Audio amp. It's quite subtle, at least with the tubes I've tried.

Never even heard of it! I'm not a fan of Class D anyway.

Did you try with the stock BNC cables that the MScaler comes with?

Dammit! I don't need the temptation!

Not yet. I plan to eventually though. I don't want to do it while I'm in the midst of reviewing portable gear as I'll be too distracted!

I think he wont be able to answer that for a few days.... 😆

Here's the short answer: Dongle is ESS-based: Sounds slightly edgy, with some degree of harshness in the treble. Newer models maybe slightly more refined. Dongle is CS-based: Sounds slightly smoother, with varying degrees of clarity. Timbre is a bit flat. Some variation to be allowed for what...

I basically agree with the posts above this one. If you got a MJ3, it may not be dramatically greater, since you'll be limited by your DAC, but you'll really notice when you get the Yggdrasil later on.

I recall some software having issues with files that had album art images over a certain size. This may be something worth checking. 500x500 px used to be the norm, but I've heard of people using images over 1000px, but I don't know what the standard now is, if any. Not at all. After the N3...

Just to make sure I get this straight, when you talk about a transient, are you talking about something that is still within the bandwidth limit? If I understand what you're saying, you're referring to transients that have energy near FS/2 that trigger the "apodising" counter in HQPlayer, such...

No, that's not what I'm asking. The original question that was asked was: Jussi's reply didn't mention genres. I'm asking if a similar result where the entire track would would have ringing wouldn't result from, say, sinc-l.