[Buho]

Hello i just wonder, i have a dac that i can choose 16bit 44 or 16 bit 48 khz, but i wonder how do dacs works. 
 
If i put 16 bit 48 khz in the characteristics in the dac do that mean that if a 16 bit 44 signal came to the dac ship or processor that that signal is the upsample to 16 bit 48 khz? meaning that extra sound or in this case numbers is ad to the original music that is was not there?
 
 
And what about the other way round, if i got a signal that is for example 24 bit 88 do that mean that the signal is just cut to 16 bit 48 khz or maybe the signal is just filtered to 16 bit 48 khz so that the dac is working all the time with the translations of the numbers to 16 bit 48 khz?
 
Regards

 

[castleofargh]

 changes are done by a processor(your computer) before the signal is sent to the DAC. what you select is the resolution of the signal you will send to the DAC. if the original track is in another resolution, then the computer will have to convert the file into whatever format you asked to output to the DAC in your settings. that can be done in a number of ways.
now a word of warning, you cannot create data from nothing, so taking a 16/44 song and sending it to the dac as 24/96 will not make it highres music. the information you send will still be what you originally had and it doesn't serve any purpose in general. some DACs and some circumstance might make use of higher resolution setting than the resolution of the file, but there is no universal rule on how to do it best because it depends on the DAC.
 
now there is something else happening in modern DACs, that's called oversampling. the DAC will increase the sample rate by a huge value to help with the way it converts and filters the signal into analog. this is happening inside the DAC so you usually have no control over it and you do not have to be concerned by it. I'm just talking about it because it exists and changes the sampling rate of the data.
 
  if most of your music is in 16/44, I suggest setting the output to 16/44, the volume level of your computer(media player and general OS level) close to the max, and see if life is good. case by case situations do exist and will require special settings, but they are by nature, case by case circumstances.

 

[Buho]

   .......
 
now there is something else happening in modern DACs, that's called oversampling. the DAC will increase the sample rate by a huge value to help with the way it converts and filters the signal into analog. this is happening inside the DAC so you usually have no control over it and you do not have to be concerned by it. I'm just talking about it because it exists and changes the sampling rate of the data.
 
  if most of your music is in 16/44, I suggest setting the output to 16/44, the volume level of your computer(media player and general OS level) close to the max, and see if life is good. case by case situations do exist and will require special settings, but they are by nature, case by case circumstances.
 
oh as i understand what you say, it means that for the best quality of my music ( that is all them in 16 bit 44.1) i should set my dac to 16 bit 44 and not 16 bit 48;  i will do this today, but before that a question, i read somewhere that the dac never output exactly (in this case 16 bit 44) but something lower than that like maybe 14 bit 22? if that is the case then would not be better if i put 16 48 khz? just wonder
 
 " Nearly all of today's analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and digital-to-analog converters (DACs) oversample at very high rates. Few people realize this is happening because it's completely automatic and hidden."
http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
 
 
ps. what do you mean by OS level do that mean about 90 or 80 of 100 volume?
 
ps.2 a interesting video about 16 bit 48 khz but then maybe this is not for my case that listen to rip cd and rip vinyl? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuMwZ2XqMGE
 
 

 

[spruce music]

  Hello i just wonder, i have a dac that i can choose 16bit 44 or 16 bit 48 khz, but i wonder how do dacs works. 
 
If i put 16 bit 48 khz in the characteristics in the dac do that mean that if a 16 bit 44 signal came to the dac ship or processor that that signal is the upsample to 16 bit 48 khz? meaning that extra sound or in this case numbers is ad to the original music that is was not there?
 
 
And what about the other way round, if i got a signal that is for example 24 bit 88 do that mean that the signal is just cut to 16 bit 48 khz or maybe the signal is just filtered to 16 bit 48 khz so that the dac is working all the time with the translations of the numbers to 16 bit 48 khz?
 
Regards

It somewhat depends on the piece of gear and what connections you are using.  If you tell us the brand and model we might give a better answer to your questions.
 
If you are using SPDIF input to the DAC then it will lock onto the sample rate in the signal fed to it.  If it is USB connected then as in the other reply the software is probably changing sample rate for you.

 

[Buho]

hi again this is the one i bought:
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322122120995?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
but the name i can read now at home in my dac is ZHILAI H5
 
is a very good dac that doesnt need to download drivers, and i conect this dac with usb, for more info se here:
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZHILAI-H5-USB-to-S-PDIF-Converter-DAC-Decoder-PCM2704-Sound-Card-Optical-Coaxial-/321803173341?hash=item4aecf6bddd:g:O08AAOSwyQtVnjcT
 
thank you very much for all your helps 

 

[spruce music]

So using USB the playback software or Windows will take anything higher than 48 khz and resample it so the DAC can work for you.

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

This is an incredibly expansive topic that requires some fundamental knowledge of electrical engineering and analog design. My answer will be a gross oversimplification, since it would take prohibitively long to explain every detail.

A DAC has a number of inputs. A clock, reference voltage level, usually some digital control interface (SPI, etc.), and an input data bus.

The clock and input format define the sampling rate. For example, if it is dual edge logic the sample rate will be twice the clock rate. It may be possible to have more unique schemes, such as an NCO/VCO for the clock (though I suspect this would have pretty poor performance) or perhaps a PLL to have some rational multiple of the nominal clock (more likely, but probably still a stretch). I suppose it would also be possible to have an internal clock divider in the DAC, either using a PLL or digitally if the divisor is a power of 2.

The reference voltage level determines the full scale, rail to rail, analog output range. The bit width specifies how coarse or fine the resolution is. For example, a 5Vpp DAC with 12-bit inputs will have a resolution of ~1.2mV.

Inputs are usually two's complement or offset binary.

Many DACs have different signal processing functions designed into them. Filtering is a common example.

The specific architecture (electrically) of a DAC is not something I've looked at in any sort of detail. And again, would require a solid understanding of basic electrical engineering principles and analog design.

Ultimately it comes down to the DAC performs a conversion, per the resolution we talked about above and drives new outputs every clock cycle.

Some DACs may operate as current sources rather than voltage, etc. But this is the general idea.


Sent from my E5803 using a highly trained, special forces carrier pigeon

 

[Buho]

  So using USB the playback software or Windows will take anything higher than 48 khz and resample it so the DAC can work for you.

 
so then it doesnt matter att all if i put my dac to 16 bit 44 or 16 bit 48 khz?

 

[Buho]

A DAC has a number of inputs. A clock,...

 
do all dacs have clock, even those that dont need to download drivers?

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

Drivers are software... They have nothing to do with the clock tree on the board. Without a clock source the DAC output would never update... They would be stuck at the power on reset value.

Sent from my E5803 using a highly trained, special forces carrier pigeon