2. digital
  3. 1355083924

Older is better - D/A chip?

I had three audio nuts over my house yesterday for a component shoot out. I have a highly modded Jolida JD100 tube cd player with Mullard tubes. We then swapped in an old Magnavox player running a TDA1540 chip. This player has been recapped, extensively modded, and the oversampling processor removed. Well, we were all blown away. It was clearly more open, detailed......had more decay versus my Jolida or a Sony 5400. I just assumed the more current chip sets would sound better. What an eye opener.
pdspecl
elevick
2,439 posts
 
That old magnavox is famous for modding. The transport is almost impossible to replace. Mod squad and others loved it 20 years ago.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"IMO all these dac of the week stuff is just cashing in on folks thinking new is always better."

How do you define DAC of the week? I'm not sure I get what that means. Can someone post any examples of equipment that would be considered DAC of the weak?
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
782 posts
 
I second what Roscoeiii said. Everything else matters too.
timrhu
2,778 posts
 
Roscoeiii has it right IMO. The DAC chip is just one link in the chain.
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,219 posts
 
I have once read Charlie Hansen's post on one of the forums, where he stated that DAC chip itself is only responsible for 10% of the final sound. Power supplies, digital filter, jitter management, I/V conversion and output stage are by far more important and account for the remaining 90%.
More to discover