Aaahhh, yesterday was a very enjoyable day and finally one of „those“ days in HiFi that I am always longing for …
CLIMBING ON MOUNTAIN TOP …
When reading this please pardon my deficiencies regarding technical “understanding” and abilities in precise explanations… and please keep in mind that even I tend to “compare” “things” which simply are not comparable – or at least are not comparable at this phase…
...both Doede and me were urgently waiting for this day to come and to test out exactly that what we long time wanted to:
his newly finished DDDAC-DSD “protytype B” with a “noise reduction” switchable in different steps...
in “comparison” to my totally untweaked DDDAC1794 four deck with Bernd’s power supply (we could have tested other DDDAC 1794
(the new DDDAC1794S blue deck with shunts...)
for example Doede’s own 8 deck with Sowters… and 1543 constellations (my 120)
but as it came out at the moment we felt no desire to do this…)
(Doede installing and configuring the new DDDAC-DSD...)
To make it short. For me:
1. this is the fulfilling of music-reproduction of a given recording (although the ultimate surroundings have yet to be build and complementarily integrated)…
(the whole new DDDAC-DSD with WaveIO, Doede's own power supply delivering 5 Volt for the WaveIO and two laboratory power supplies for 9 Volt and 15 Volt..)
2. and yes, the newly different steps in “noise reduction” have an influence on the sound… but you will need a finely tuned high end system to be able to recognize it at all… you will notice the more noise the more efficient your system is, otherwise when normal music is playing you will hardly even notice… playing pure ISO reminded me a little of listening to vinyl’s surface noise way back then…
But be aware, the new DDDAC-DSD is not to be meant in the sense that it “replaces” the DDDAC 1794 (or any other DAC for that matter), that would not work, the DDDAC-DSD is a construction completely on its own and does not play PCM…
…so it is not possible to simply “exchange” this one DAC with the DDDAC1794 (or any other) to be able to play “all” digital sources, but for our personal listening pleasures regarding the ISO-formatted-content generated from SACDs that we have in use, this is definitely the icing on the cake…
1. …to make no mistake, let me repeat: one cannot install a DDDDAC-DSD and simply get rid of the DDDAC1794 (or others), no, those HiFi-aficionados who want to listen to ISO in greatest purity without any “pollution” will need this DAC in addition to the already existing one(s) playing all the PCM-stuff. Point one.
2. Point two is that all the different already existing and implemented sorts of power supplies for the DDDAC1794 for 5 Volt and 12 Volt neither can be used for the new DDDDAC-DSD. It is because the latter works with 8 Volt and 15 Volt. Just here for testing purposes Doede managed to generate these degrees of voltages by combining adjustable laboratory power supplies (so nothing special, just to satisfy the need at the moment… but he told that in the near future he will care for creating special power supplies with these voltages for his DDDAC-DSD)…
3. Point three was very special (to me): what most of you already know and the one or other has already in use for quite some time with his DDDAC1794 Doede for this purpose brought with him stackable shunt-regulators which he pulled over within a second on both of the decks for the left and the right channel… as I did not have listened to shunt-regulators this way, I can tell now, these are a “must”, they have a very strong positive and desired effect on the reproduced sound reminding me heavily of all the positive effects of controlled power supplies... (and if I theoretically imagine in a future step all those shunts with controlled power supplies – my oh my…)… by the way, there is good news for all the DIYers out there: there are new boards in the making with already integrated shunt-regulators done by Guido Tent… there will be no changes on the boards, just the fulfillment of the integration of the shunts with no longer need for any individual tweaking…
4. When listening to Patricia Barber’s Light My Fire (MFSL, ISO) with the shunts on Doede emphasized: “Now she is here”, and later on his wife was struck in awe saying: “It is like sitting in the first row of a concert!”…
…although at that time an uncomparable “comparison” the newly DDDAC-DSD – because of still being prototype (the DDDAC-DSD, now is in the same phase of development as was the DDDAC1794 some two and a half years ago) – did not sound “better” as the given other constellations that we actually have in use, just different…
…and the difference became immediately and obviously clear in that what “Supersurfer” from the DIY-er site fully justified already pointed out: “…I have not listened extensively to the DSD proto to make a thorough analysis but in my recollection there is a […] sound signature: open, dynamic, the music flows without any restrictions. This is the new benchmark in streaming audio...“
…just let me add, contrarily to other opinions - to me at the moment – the new proto DDDAC-DSD still does not “match” the sound of my DDDAC-1794 four deck (it was the same with the DDDAC1794 which did not match the DDDAC1543 within the same phase of development)…
…but I dare to interpolate and theoretically integrate that what is to come (based on my ears and the last six years of experience with all the other DDDAC-types and power supplies in all their different phases of development)…
… in combination with the right supporting complementary “things” and power supplies – the new DDDAC-DSD rather soon will not only become even better on its own, but reach “perfection”… perfection in the sense of reproducing ISO-files…
…this is another really spectacular effort and for me one more proof, Doede is a genius…
Bravo !!!