@BShaw It is a bit out there /mad scientisty, that's for sure. 
Btw having had another quick listen today and doing a bit more experimentation incl damping tweaks outside the R26 and elsewhere in the system, I don't want to overstate the magnitude of the internal shielding etc improvements. The benefits are real and of the character I described, but easy to get carried away in the moment with the relative scale... there's many ways to denoise one's system, many of which are much simpler but also very effective so have a greater effort/return ratio. Ultimately though they're all satisfyingly additive/cumulative.
I'll keep tweaking and report back with any further insights in coming weeks, bring a bit more perspective, what's best bang for buck/effort.
For now though just one more observation from playing around wirh HQplayer settings:
- reconfirmed my optimum PCM bit setting* definitely 18 bits for my unit as present.. resolution and dynamics, incl richness of timbre and sense of space drops off a cliff at 19 bits and a bit less -a touch softer - but still very good at 17. Similar incremental delta to 16, 15 and 14 which I listened to
- *there's a pretty interesting exception case I discovered where an 18 bits setting is too high (beyond the linearity range of the R26's R2R ladders incl FPGA) and loses resolution relative to 17 bits, when 10mhz ext clock is set to OFF, so R26 is using internal oscillator. Found 17 bits is optimal there, after comparing to 16 & 15 bits etc
- DSD, yes has a low level background white noise hiss that I can't hear while playing music, but definitely a notch more resolving and dynamic than even 18 bits PCM.. though it's getting close. PCM has a slightly warmer and richer midrange, terrific for vocals. My preference will vary by music genre methinks, to my ear DSD tends to better suit acoustic instrumental music and electronic music, but I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow...
Main track used for comparisons was Nenad Vasilic Gavrilo's Prinzip (don't judge it from YT, you gotta hear it lossless), superbly recorded double bass, a great test of the speed of attack on the leading edge of a plucked string, then the richness of its timbre and length of decay, and expansiveness and precision of soundstaging. Not to mention bass weight, impact and texture.
Btw having had another quick listen today and doing a bit more experimentation incl damping tweaks outside the R26 and elsewhere in the system, I don't want to overstate the magnitude of the internal shielding etc improvements. The benefits are real and of the character I described, but easy to get carried away in the moment with the relative scale... there's many ways to denoise one's system, many of which are much simpler but also very effective so have a greater effort/return ratio. Ultimately though they're all satisfyingly additive/cumulative.
I'll keep tweaking and report back with any further insights in coming weeks, bring a bit more perspective, what's best bang for buck/effort.
For now though just one more observation from playing around wirh HQplayer settings:
- reconfirmed my optimum PCM bit setting* definitely 18 bits for my unit as present.. resolution and dynamics, incl richness of timbre and sense of space drops off a cliff at 19 bits and a bit less -a touch softer - but still very good at 17. Similar incremental delta to 16, 15 and 14 which I listened to
- *there's a pretty interesting exception case I discovered where an 18 bits setting is too high (beyond the linearity range of the R26's R2R ladders incl FPGA) and loses resolution relative to 17 bits, when 10mhz ext clock is set to OFF, so R26 is using internal oscillator. Found 17 bits is optimal there, after comparing to 16 & 15 bits etc
- DSD, yes has a low level background white noise hiss that I can't hear while playing music, but definitely a notch more resolving and dynamic than even 18 bits PCM.. though it's getting close. PCM has a slightly warmer and richer midrange, terrific for vocals. My preference will vary by music genre methinks, to my ear DSD tends to better suit acoustic instrumental music and electronic music, but I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow...
Main track used for comparisons was Nenad Vasilic Gavrilo's Prinzip (don't judge it from YT, you gotta hear it lossless), superbly recorded double bass, a great test of the speed of attack on the leading edge of a plucked string, then the richness of its timbre and length of decay, and expansiveness and precision of soundstaging. Not to mention bass weight, impact and texture.
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