yeah... i can totally understand that...
but, it has superior dynamic range, frequency response, extremely low jitter (compared to wow/flutter on turntable), and of course no rumble, no pops and ticks etc, compared to vinyl haha.
But agreed it sounds very, very analog.
I am hesitant to post any of my measurements because when I took them, there was an impedance mismatch between the DSC2 and the E1DA ADC. That has since been rectified with the addition of E1DA's 'scaler' device. I am all set to take new measurements, so take these below with a grain of salt. They may be better than this.
However, I decided to reveal them with full knowledge I will be re-measuring them soon, and will post the updates in this thread.
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EARLY DSC2 MEASUREMENTS
The graph above is where you can see the output transformer signature. SINAD stays at 90db and above from approx. 57hz to 18khz.
preferably for a DAC, I would like to see SINAD at closer to 100db. (And of course the latest state of the art DACs are way above that). But there are some really fine sounding DACs that have their SINAD in the mid to high 90's. For instance, the Burr-Brown DSD1793 (per single chip) has a best case scenario of 0.001% THD+N. Which is exactly 100db SINAD. And I find it sounds just fine. Actually, my reference DAC is the iDSD PRO.
But what you CAN see is the very low SINAD as frequency drops below approx. 57hz.. Down to 76db at 20hz. Also, at 20khz its as low as 82db.
IMO, this must be where the analog sound comes in. It actually reminds me a bit of tube sound, which will and most often does have SINAD even worse than this.
I was actually quite impressed with the DSC2 and how long it stayed over 90db SINAD through most of the audible range, and I don't hear any issues personally in the bass.
It always sounds full and tight enough.
I placed an order today for the original version of the PSAudio DirectStream DAC. It is NO measurements darling. It uses similar tech to the DSC2, but instead of the superior filters on computer hardware, they are on a FPGA. Output is also via transformers. I am curious as to how it performs compared to the DSC2. It is RIDICULOUSLY expensive for very similar implementation. The 'Audiophile' markup. 'Magazine Engineers' seem to hate it; listeners of course seem to love it.
Myself? I am just too curious for my own good. And for the good of my wallet!