hotaudio40
Member of the Trade: hotaudio.com
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- Feb 17, 2008
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Yes, that is correct, only one chip is used. I have tried many DACs and found that the PCM2705 did a better job all by itself of running headphones then the NON-BUFFERED chips like the PCM2702.
This is not to say that a non-buffered chip with a buffer chip like say a TPA6120a2 can't out-perform a PCM2705, but as far as I can tell, no other combinations I've tried will work better then the PCM2705 all by itself.
I will eventually incorporate the PCM2705 and TPA6120 together, but at the moment I'm torn.
Sometimes I listen to the combination together and sometimes I prefer the sound of the 2705 all by itself. So I leave the two stages (DAC-BUFFER) separate for now.
In honglongs case, he actually has one of my first units which used a PCM2704 or PCM2707 ( I can't remember...). Very nice sweet sounding chip/s, very accurate, but not quite as much PUNCH as the 2705s. So now I exclusively use the PCM2705s in all my DACs.
But you have to remember too, that just because I use the same chip in all of my DAC models does NOT mean they all sound the same. The components surrounding the 2705 make a huge difference too. Probably as much as the chip itself does.
That's why I have a few models.
They all sound very similar, and only a trained ear could hear the differences. But there are differences and thus the price differences between the models.
I must also note here too that there are a few pairs of headphones that are VERY HARD to drive.
If you have headphones like that, then you probably need a 12 Volt buffer stage because these particular headphones seem to require lots of drive to drive them.
The way you can tell if your headphones are difficult to drive is quite simple actually.
Plug your headphones into a normal MP3 player or computer sound card, and if you can get a satisfactory level of volume out of them, then they will be fine with all of my DACs.
If you add one of my buffers (HEADPHONE AMPS - ie. TPA6120a2 models) then you will get about double to three times the volume, which in many cases is WAY TOO LOUD. In fact sometimes the drivers in my headphones move so much that I can actually feel my headphones lifting away from my ears. That can't be good for my hearing....
hotaudio40
This is not to say that a non-buffered chip with a buffer chip like say a TPA6120a2 can't out-perform a PCM2705, but as far as I can tell, no other combinations I've tried will work better then the PCM2705 all by itself.
I will eventually incorporate the PCM2705 and TPA6120 together, but at the moment I'm torn.
Sometimes I listen to the combination together and sometimes I prefer the sound of the 2705 all by itself. So I leave the two stages (DAC-BUFFER) separate for now.
In honglongs case, he actually has one of my first units which used a PCM2704 or PCM2707 ( I can't remember...). Very nice sweet sounding chip/s, very accurate, but not quite as much PUNCH as the 2705s. So now I exclusively use the PCM2705s in all my DACs.
But you have to remember too, that just because I use the same chip in all of my DAC models does NOT mean they all sound the same. The components surrounding the 2705 make a huge difference too. Probably as much as the chip itself does.
That's why I have a few models.
They all sound very similar, and only a trained ear could hear the differences. But there are differences and thus the price differences between the models.
I must also note here too that there are a few pairs of headphones that are VERY HARD to drive.
If you have headphones like that, then you probably need a 12 Volt buffer stage because these particular headphones seem to require lots of drive to drive them.
The way you can tell if your headphones are difficult to drive is quite simple actually.
Plug your headphones into a normal MP3 player or computer sound card, and if you can get a satisfactory level of volume out of them, then they will be fine with all of my DACs.
If you add one of my buffers (HEADPHONE AMPS - ie. TPA6120a2 models) then you will get about double to three times the volume, which in many cases is WAY TOO LOUD. In fact sometimes the drivers in my headphones move so much that I can actually feel my headphones lifting away from my ears. That can't be good for my hearing....
hotaudio40
