So who's best? Cirrus Logic or Wolfson?! :confused_face(1):

[ricthaman]

well,

Like the title states. I hear alot of things about Wolfson DACs being better in the older (5.5G) iPod's and so on. But at the same time the iPhone 3GS SQ is said to be terrific and the 2009 Classic seems to have way better performance too. So what is it now?!

Is the Cirrus Logic DAC really better or did the Apple engineering team just improve the circuit around the DAC so that the difference between Cirrus Logic and Wolfson is overruled?

I'd like to hear your opinion about this.
Nice detail: I bought an iPhone 3GS yesterday, and still have my 3G, I think the 3GS sounds better indeed..... 3G vs. 3GS = Wolfson vs. Cirrus Logic????

Rgds

 

[a_tumiwa]

this title already unsolved and never ended question since long time ago

 

[chengdude]

As you said, there's much more than just the DAC/codec to making a great-sounding player. The Cowon S9 uses a Wolfson codec that was also used 2 years ago in several Chinese players most people have never heard of...and which of them would you guess sounds best?

Wolfson is the proverbial 800-lb gorilla, though, and various Cowon, iriver, Samsung players, the Toshiba Gigabeat/Zune, Rio Karma have used them.

 

[leveller1642]

My take on this is that the Wolfson chip is coloured/warm, while the Cirrus chip is detailed etc.

I prefer the detailed souind of the Cirrus chip myself.

 

[a_tumiwa]

Apple said that they used change wolfson to cirrus because cirrus has lower distortion than wolfson, but many people love the sound of old ipod more than new ipod

 

[Pangaea]

I don't think that is exactly true. For all the time I have been on Head-Fi, now is the really the only time Apple has been consistently lauded for SQ (there were some isolated incidents ex: 1st Gen Shuffle). I have also had a plethora of ipods going back to the Photo and the ones kicking around today are the best I have heard.

 

[a_tumiwa]

yes, ipod shuffle 1st gen is very good, i love the sound quality too

 

[dippyboy_87]

even i've listened to the 1st gen shuffle carefully and still dont really know what the fuss is all about regarding it. i've even compared it with the clip side by side. well i dont find honestly much difference b/w the 2nd gen and the 1st gen. sorry if i disappoint anyone.

 

[estreeter]

dippybpy, its all relative - most iPod owners only compare the SQ of their player to that of other iPods. I could mention that several magazines over here have removed the iPod Classic/Touch from long-held positions as 'Best Music Player' and replaced it with the Sony X-Series, but the cynics would say that just means Sony are buying more advertising in their magazines

End of the day, its what our ears are telling us, not a $1.15 piece of silicon. If you can point me to another player that gives me 160GB of storage for the same price as the current Classic, I'll take mine back - till then, I'm pretty much stuck with the DAC that it came with.

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_tumiwa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Apple said that they used change wolfson to cirrus because cirrus has lower distortion than wolfson, but many people love the sound of old ipod more than new ipod

Which iPod are you talking about. Theres about a gzillion different ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dippyboy_87 /img/forum/go_quote.gif even i've listened to the 1st gen shuffle carefully and still dont really know what the fuss is all about regarding it. i've even compared it with the clip side by side. well i dont find honestly much difference b/w the 2nd gen and the 1st gen. sorry if i disappoint anyone.

Theres always the chance you had a faulty 1st gen Shuffle. The 1st & 2nd gen shuffles sound very different to me. The 2nd was also very hissy. But that was headphone dependent.

 

[Donnyhifi]

Its not so much the DAC but what is built around it. Don't place too much influence on the DAC.

Also, let your ears be the final judgement on SQ!

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donnyhifi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Its not so much the DAC but what is built around it. Don't place too much influence on the DAC. Also, let your ears be the final judgement on SQ!

Heresy ! Actually using our ears to determine which sounds better - preposterous !!

Donnyhifi, I fear we are fighting a losing battle here - this is a religious war.