DACs and bass response?
Reading various post by listeners who’ve heard the Benchmark Dacs some have described them as having a "thin" or somewhat clinical sound character. Subjective to be sure and some listeners love its sonic character. True. This is because they use delta sigma Sabre ESS series chips, which have a well known/documented signature sound. |
@audioengr Hi Steve. I took a cursory look at the overdrive info on your website http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/overdrive-dac and user manual. I couldn't find anything about the type/kind of D/A chip(s) or whether or not your technology is considered delta sigma, multibit r2r or something else. Please advise. Thank you. |
Here is what I determined by designing and building many digital cables, and making measurements on those and others: I went with a Belden 1694A cable with Canare RCAPs from Blue Jeans Cable. I'm pretty sure it meets the quoted criteria. https://www.bluejeanscable.com/pages/technicaldocs/canarercap.pdf |
@audioengr I appreciate the fact that at least you measured the 1694A and have data results handy. No doubt the results would be less than exactly perfect. I’ve also read - here on Agon - that the length itself (of any cable) can be critical in minimizing jitter. I’ve also read - here on Agon - to ignore measurements completely and simply rely on your own ears. You know as well as I do that this "hobby" is an endless pursuit of perfection, and after a certain point - when one already has a good sounding system with quality components - diminishing returns sets in rather quickly. In my opinion, and from my own pragmatic approach, right or wrong, changing cables produces only infinitesimally small changes. I believe changing cables (power, interconnects, whatever else) simply produces a difference and not a "better or worse" scenario (irrespective of measurement data). I use this cable to feed my Schiit Yggdrasil DAC. I am relying upon Belden’s and Schiit’s "claims" (published marketing BS as well as third party independent lab testing which in the case of Belden is ASTM D-4566) in addition to my own listening and derived enjoyment to arrive at the conclusions that (a) I’m not sacrificing any enjoyment by not having a better cable (or better anything for that matter) and (b) if I’m wrong and simply haven’t experienced the better enjoyment yet to realize I’m actually missing it then "Oh well, so be it". EDIT: And for what’s worth - and given the thread title - IMO the Bass from Yggy is phenomenal. And I've read quite a few posts from owners/others who report the same (in comparison to other DACs). |
@goofyfoot / @stuartk / @audioengr I appreciate your encouragement and advice about the paths to improvement. At some point I suppose I’ll try new things (cables?, isolation platform?, not sure where) and presumably get closer to nirvana. I’m good for now though. FWIW, my next improvement attempt (which will happen in the coming days, not weeks or months) will be to use shorting caps on the inputs to lower my already very low noise floor. |
...but I do believe that having a certain amount of musical knowledge is an asset. @goofyfoot I agree. This is why soon after I obtained my Yggy I enlisted the help of my dear friend whose a professional musician (electric bass) and who has formal musical education. It didn't take him all but a few moments to direct me as to what to listen for to detect the sonic differences between my Oppo UDP205 and Yggy! That plus finding the proper source material made things ever so obvious. |
This is a mod that will have little effect IME. Inputs that are not selected are not involved. Better off to figure out how to eliminate ground-loops. Now this will actually reduce the noise floor. I have zero ground-loops in my system. Jet black background. "Little" effect is precisely what I anticipate. As to inputs that are not selected not being involved, I recently raised this "question" elsewhere on the forum in a related thread (like RCA plugs, shorting caps, etc.) and was advised that (paraphrasing) theoretically they *are* involved and that shorting them can only help, albeit however slightly. Moreover, there have been some folks on this forum who have reported positive results by shorting unused inputs. Further, I did some do diligence by checking with the manufacturers of my gear (Golden Ear and Musical Fidelity) and both state there is no harm in doing so, although also state there shouldn’t be a noticeable benefit. This is a low cost attempt ($20?) on my part anyway, so I shall see. Besides, I’m a big Joni Mitchell fan (a Grateful Dead head nevertheless). She so eloquently puts it (Amelia) People will tell you where they’ve gone They’ll tell you where to go But till you get there yourself you never really know Where some have found their paradise Others just come to harm Consider this my holiday musical gift to all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N7gPcCgkZU |
