General Source Gear Help/Discussion Thread

Sovrce Gear
2798

People really tend to either oversell how good dsd sounds, even tho sometimes it does sound legit on some r2r systems. I think it mostly hype, some old folks think DSD is the new vinil.

Yes there is a listenable difference on some amps, but honestly I myself couldnt care less for dsds, even when I had and r2r dac with native r2r decoding the hussle of getting dsds was not worth listening my PCM (flac, alac, mp3) music normally.

DSD are hard to come by, usually expensive and theres even a chance you dont even prefer their sound over regular PCM file. Depends a lot on the digital chain they all sounds a bit different.

The weissdac204 is special because unlike r2r amps (Holo, denafrips, soekris, etc) it actually converts dsd into pcm with some of the best conversion technology available so that the format can be used in PCM without I²S and by an excelent PCM delta sigma Dac, not a native dsd dac like r2r are.

Id personally go weissdac205, dsd just isnt for me.

You should definitely get a holo cyan red, itd a ddc, its $800 and will help exactly with that while improving your dac performance quite a bit, think of it as great upgrade for the dac.

Holo cyan 2 struggles to provide on this.
Yeah this is a wisedac204/205, and the wandla would also deliver here.
As well as the pontus 12th and a schiit yggdrasil (massive sized dac).
Berkeley alpha 2 and Sonnet Morpheus Mk2 are a little more advanced and would have to be gotten used.

This is actually more of an amplifier and preamplifier thing, some dacs include extremely good preamps so 2 birds with 1 stone. But the DDC denafrips iris I recommended before should help.

Then everything in order, the way you described the last sentences

Either go for a great r2r like the denafrips pontus 12th for sugmented size, weight and body; and go for the weissdac for taking things a bit closer and getting more clarity, detail, resolution, and extension on both sides.

Its a matter of size vs technicam ability

Id go weissdac205 + holo red DDC for a super complete dac system. Its suited way better to your taste than the extremely generalist ferrum wandla.

If I went pontus 12th or 15th they have their own DDC called iris, you should prefaribly use that one for denafrips cause of brand synergy.

But both ddc are compatible.

Also if you can get a sonnet morpheus dac mk2 or a berkeley alpha series 2 for a great used cost keep in minds those exist

Also check the dac that you want has everything you need it to before buying.

2 Likes
2799

Ah, so DSD is like vinyl or SACD or streaming services; fancy gimmicks I don’t want or need.

Why do you like 205 over 204…? Because 205 can be found for much cheaper?

I have a Red already! It’s awesome :slight_smile: Sounds like I’m set up for a Weiss, then. :+1: Thanks!

1 Like
2800

Yes exactly, its cheaper. the only difference between them is 204 can convert dsd to pcm (which is technologically very advanced but not bery useful for me at least), and the 205 is the exact same product without the dsd converter.

Nice, the youre ready to go, remember what I said its very important I made clear weiss is more in your face and energetic but also smooth and organic, can get a little crowded on veru busy songs.

If you pick this hou are picking clarity, more forward presentation, a bit of a sweet color in the tones and technical abilities

If you pick something like the pontus 1th youll get bigger sound in general tho it will be a bit further away, sounds will have more body and weight, a bit more hazy that weiss, r2r dacs also have this hard to describe energy, what they dont have in technical ability compared to sigma delta they make up for in energetic sound, even if its darker or warmer.

Hard to go wrong with eirher choice, or most of the choices you had previoisly picked by yourself.

If you go weissdac youll be amazed by the new technical skill and clarity presented in your systems

If you go with an r2r dac (another example holo spring) youll be amazed by the sheer distance and warmth these amps can produce, the density and wight of the sound; specially if its a holo as they are currentlu making the warmest ones. But it seemed like you wanted closer nor further so I recommended weissdac. Also sounded like you wanted to priorize detail.

2 Likes
2801

If 2 DACs had equally precise imaging, I would choose the one that sounds a little closer. If the more distant DAC was also more precise with imaging, I might choose it instead, but wouldn’t want to be stuck with that option! Lol.

Plenty of great options to choose, here :+1::+1:

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2802

Delta sigma power incoming

whatever you choose hope youll like it, this ones seems on budget and also should bd able to do everything you asked fof if I understood correctly

Have good luck

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2803

Hey guys, i got myself an osciloscope so i can determine at which levels of pre-gain my amps will clip for each set of cans.

Now that i can measure that, i wanted to understand how to best use this tool, here is one example:

The Quicksilver clips at 3:00PM on the volume pot when connected directly into my DAC, if i use a pre-amp i can increase the signal and then it will start clipping at 12:00PM and i can also decrease the signal so it will not clip at all even if i max out the volume pot.

My question is, what is the ideal world here? Should i set the pre-amp so it will eventually clip at around 3:00PM in the volume pot? Or the ideal thing to do would be to set the input level so it will never clip?

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2804

Doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t clip at the volume your listening at.
Slightly more complicated answer, the pot position has no impact on what the quicksilver is outputting, BUT your preamp if it’s tube based it will introduce more distortion, at higher output levels. That may or may not be desirable depending on the preamp and your preferences.

One other caveat, generally at maximum volume pots are kind of shorted out, in that it’s basically a metal to metal contact vs something travelling through a coated plastic or carbon strip. This can be preferable, in some cases BUT you’ll also be minimizing the coloration from the preamp when you do that.

Short version of longer version, listen and pick what sounds best.

5 Likes
2805

Thanks for the reply!

So, in a scenario where the amp clips at 1:00PM and i am listening at 12:00PM, is it still possible that when there are big dynamic swings i will end up reaching the clipping zone? Or that is now how this works?

What i am trying to understand is, should i pay attention to how close i am to the clipping limit? Does clipping apply to the headroom as well?

2806

Not if your measuring with a sine wave that corresponds to the peak input signal.
Basically if the source voltage exceeds the maximum voltage the amplifier can put out then it clips.
If you test from the source with a full dynamic range sine wave your looking at the worst case.

With the caveat, dynamic headphones don’t have constant impedance with frequency, so if you measure at say 1KHz, you can end up with it clipping somewhere else in the frequency spectrum, because the load is higher. It’ll usually be Bass or high frequency where you hear it first. Planar headphones for the most part present a constant load, so it’s not an issue.

The odds are your not actually listening very close to the limit. It’s usually self limiting, it’s either too loud to listen to before it clips or you hear it clip and turn it down.
For tube amps clipping is audible, but it isn’t all that nasty for say a headphone or speaker unless you just keep turning it up.

1 Like
2807

Where can i find an example of that? I was just using a website generating a 4khz sine wave.

2808

You can make one yourself with audacity or similar.

But in all likely hood the website is generating a maximum volume signal and if your computer volume is set to maximum that’s probably good enough, validating it would require you capture the signal and check.

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2809

It seems my system is finally getting sensitive or it is something else or the tube.

With the addition of G73r, I hear some buzz through my HP with what it seems my pc cpu spikes, just slight buzz and goes away. Nothing when nothing is running or music is playing.

I never had any buzz issues been using the same stuff.

In theory, could this be the tube picking up things from the source or being faulty?

2810

The universe is telling you to get off the pc!

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2811

a sign!

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2812

That’s par for the course on PC USB.
I added the Ifi IPurifier USB cleaner to try and resolve that in the system I have connected directly to a PC (for gaming), you could literally hear the mouse move when a game was running.
FWIW the IPurifier didn’t resolve it for me (or rather I resolved it before it turned up). moving things on my desk did, could have just been moving the devices relative to the PC case to reduce RF, could have been one device coupling the USB Ground noise to the input of the other.

It’s hard to convey how terrible a source a PC is.

4 Likes
2813

Some cables are close to the case, tried my best to not make them touch. Ill try some moving then.

Makes since why before i didn’t hear and now i do.

2814

It’s weird that the noise is getting through your Mutec.

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2815

If the devices themselves are close to the PC, it’s quite possible it isn’t, but rather it’s RF being transmitted directly to the device. GPU’s in particular spew out a ton of RF, and with gaming computers in particular, a lot of people turn off the power settings designed to reduce the amount of RF they are broadcasting.

It’s one of those things it’s often hard to mitigate, I go to all the effort with high quality cables and a streamer not connected to my PC, and my Pacific is still less than 2ft from one of the PC’s in my office. I don’t directly hear it, but it’s probably not a positive thing, and one it’s hard to resolve.

3 Likes
2816

Ye i thought ill be safe

2817

Even a few inches can make a difference between audible and not audible. I’m sure everyone has experienced a similar issue at one point or another and there are ways to help/mitigate but distance is going to be your best friend.

1 Like