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Hi-rez digital, is the analog amp the bottleneck?

Interesting interview with John Siau of Benchmark Media. About 1/2 way down, is this quote:
The 32-bit systems will offer no advantage until converters reach a SNR of about 138 dB, but many other things would have to change as well. The best line-level analog circuits barely exceed 130 dB, many power amplifiers barely exceed 16-bit (96 dB) performance, and today’s best 24-bit recordings barely exceed the SNR of a 16-bit system. Most audiophile systems are limited by the SNR of the volume control circuits.
JA (Stereophile) has made similar comments in his measurements section of recent amp reviews. So what amps are people using with their hi-rez digital audio sourced systems?
bob_reynolds

Showing 1 response by kijanki

kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
Bob - There is a lot of marketing with DACs. ESS Sabre32 with 135dB dynamic range could be as well 24bit (144dB) but "32 bit" is something brand new. On the top of it has THD+N=120dB (20 bit).

In reality converters work up to 20 bits. Sigma Delta goes higher but has timing problems limiting resolution plus similar THD+N limitations.

THD+N is update rate dependent. John Siau's baby Benchmark DAC1 uses 24/192 converter but updates only at 110kHz to keep THD lower.
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