DAC's : The missing feature: Signal quality


One thing I wish DAC's would provide is some idea of how much jitter and noise a particular input provides. This is something which I think with a little work could be gleaned from the input circuits.

I want something that tells me "woah, that's a really dirty signal coming in, but i"ll do the best I can with it."

One common source of noise is ground loops. Another may be high jitter from a source like Apple TV. This would also help us evaluate the benefits (if any) of various signal cleaners and reclockers.

Best,
E
erik_squires
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audioman -

The issue there is the same. I’ve read technical reviews on iFi purifiers that show them to be a really mixed bag. They don’t do enough to control power supply noise, and end up just moving noise from one area to another. See if you can find it on google. Lots of charts and measurements in it.

The problem for us consumers is if there is an audible change, we don't really know which is better. What if the purifier, or digital cable is actually awful, but we buy it because it sounds different?

I'd rather have some way, built into my DAC, that tells me. Like signal strength meters or tuning centering meters on old FM tuners.

Best,
Erik