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help me with a DAC decision please

i'm looking to upgrade my wadia DAC. My first choice would be to have it also act as my pre. My mind could be changed on that however. I am looking seriously at the April Music Eximus. Does any of the Metrum offerings fit in here? I  need some help finding comparative models from other makers. There is no place for me to see any close by. I have to wing it off of the web and your recommendations. I do not object to buying used.My budget would probably be under 3 grand new or used.
thanks for all the help
dpm2340
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Mostly true, but to nit-pick an answer, I've seen at least one maker use a 32 bit DAC's to 24 bit music, and use the remaining most significant 8 bits to do digital volume control, as well as DAC's that adjust the maximum output voltage digitally, while leaving the music data the same.

So I'd no longer say that all digital volume controls cause data truncation. Caveat Emptor however. 

Best,

Erik

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
4,966 posts
 
Well I'd counter that, by saying if Wadia went to the trouble of doing extra circuitry for an absolute max configurable output setting when it uses the ESS ES9018S then they have measured "bit stripping" if the volume is below around 75% of full output. And they have stated it as so.

Also Thorsten Losche from AMR has also has stated this even more so.
Quote: " Turn down the volume even the tiniest bit using the digital volume control and the sound quality to a massive hit."  
Cheers George 
nutty
1,928 posts
 
Oppo Sonica, $800.00 (2017 arrival) ESS9830PRO Sabre DAC.

N
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