I am relatively new to the whole stereophile thing, and there are a few concepts which I am still fuzzy about. Most of them have to do with DAC's, such as how to know how good of a D/A Converter a certain product has, and your opinions on a few specific products.
I guess my first question would be what to look for in a D/A Converter. When I'm shopping around for a CD player or a receiver and I want to know what kind of D/A it has, it's very hard to find. When I look into specifications I see a million different numbers, and have no idea what they mean. I have a limited understanding of THD, and Signal-to-noise ratio. What other specs are important to a good DAC, and how else can I know what kind of DAC a certain product has?
Once I know what has a better DAC, my ipod, my CD Player, my DVD player, or Playstation3, I want to know how to bypass one and use another. I believe that using an HDMI cable or coaxial or optical cable bypasses the DAC of the player. Is this accurate?
My other question is what is the difference between a D/A Converter and a sound processor. When my Receiver has Dolby Pro-Logic does that have anything to do with the DAC or is that different?
Lastly I would like to know your opinions on the ipod DAC, the Intel HD Audio chip, and the PS3.
As you can see I have a lot of half questions. Most of my information I've gotten from browsing online forums like this one, but there are a few things I'm still unsure about such as the above questions. Thank you in advance for answering my questions, and enabling me with my newest addiction.
Tom
I am relatively new to the whole stereophile thing, and there are a few concepts which I am still fuzzy about. Most of them have to do with DAC's, such as how to know how good of a D/A Converter a certain product has, and your opinions on a few specific products.
I guess my first question would be what to look for in a D/A Converter. When I'm shopping around for a CD player or a receiver and I want to know what kind of D/A it has, it's very hard to find. When I look into specifications I see a million different numbers, and have no idea what they mean. I have a limited understanding of THD, and Signal-to-noise ratio. What other specs are important to a good DAC, and how else can I know what kind of DAC a certain product has?
Once I know what has a better DAC, my ipod, my CD Player, my DVD player, or Playstation3, I want to know how to bypass one and use another. I believe that using an HDMI cable or coaxial or optical cable bypasses the DAC of the player. Is this accurate?
My other question is what is the difference between a D/A Converter and a sound processor. When my Receiver has Dolby Pro-Logic does that have anything to do with the DAC or is that different?
Lastly I would like to know your opinions on the ipod DAC, the Intel HD Audio chip, and the PS3.
As you can see I have a lot of half questions. Most of my information I've gotten from browsing online forums like this one, but there are a few things I'm still unsure about such as the above questions. Thank you in advance for answering my questions, and enabling me with my newest addiction.
Tom