Playback Designs Firmware Update

I always wondered why high-end DACs did not actually put everything into FPGAs when the software was there. With the right 'gatekeeper' (pun only partially :^), the IP can be protected, and it could be updated on a regular basis. With even a simple OS and some RAM, users could keep all the older algos and directly compare. Eventually, I suppose this goes down the road of loading the data into RAM and processing it realtime, which I would have imagined FPGAs do quite well.

Thanks. I understand the concept of the firmware, but still unclear as to why it would result in such a big improvement in sound. The resources of a digital source are fixed based upon the hardware and processing capabilities. Software can either (1) apply different filters to the sound or (2) reallocate resources to achieve that sound.

For example, updating your BIOS or a computer driver could result in increased compatibilities, but it doesn't make your computer run faster or have a larger memory.

So I'm curious to know from a design standpoint, how firmware can be used to improve a machine without altering the power supply, the transport, or the processing chips.

Thanks.

The BIOS analogy is interesting - updating the BIOS "could" also raise the speed of the CPU (overclocking) in which case the computer WILL run faster.

Regards,

Rtn1, I doubt that Andreas will come on here to clear up our confusion, but I think that the alogrythms do more than filter, but that is one key activity. The upsampling to DSD will get certain noise up into the stratosphere, allowing a number of sampling alternatives.

Let me tell you what was wrong with version 18. It sounded good on almost everything, including BIG orchestral stuff with lots of dynamics. I received a CD from Al Hood, a trumpet playing friend, and on one cut, where he was doing a bravura-style solo, that soared over the band, the trumpet broke up very harshly, even worse than a mistracking stylus. I reported the problem and found another CD or two that did the same thing. Andreas was able to replicate the bug. When I reverted to the default software the problem went away and when I reinstalled v. 18 the problem was not there.

Andreas said that we needed to install v. 19, even if v. 18 was working for us. He said that a certain series of actions could cause it to recur.

It's very interesting that the highs, particularly trumpet sheen or what we call sizzle, was more realistic, open and unstrained than on v. 18.

Could that all be due to a filter change? I suppose that it could be.

There are dark secrets we'll never be told the answer to. Is the EQ manipulated in the digital domain?? Just like "voicing" of amps and preamps, I think that DACs can be voiced. What's "neutral" when you start with a harsh, brittle sounding CD??? Maybe they can simply filter out that harshness and hash, but maybe you also apply some gentle EQ. I don't know, but I bet it's done by some.

Dave

Dcstep/Dave, I bet you are right - it can probably be voiced in a variety of areas - from upsampling algo to analog gain stage after DAC output, and several places between. I am surprised about the trumpet problems not being there, being there, then not being there on a reinstall - sounds like a bug in software setup in v18 (not so much the filters themselves but the way one part reads the status of another part). Not being a PD guy (neither in English, nor French), I don't know the version history, but if he's not careful, Andreas might incur the contempt of Audiofeil, who seems skeptical of a high upgrade count :^)