ANATOMY OF A DAC - VOL #1 ROCKNA WAVEDREAM SIGNATURE BAL.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ย. 2024
- Here we start the dive into DAC anatomy. This will help you understand what happens inside the DAC and how to differentiate a high end build from a basic build.
What we feature here is a ROCKNA WAVEDREAM SIGNATURE BALANCED @ $16,000 Retail .
Lets look at this DAC VS others, shall we ?
Here are the main parts of every DAC.
1. Power Supply
2. Control curcuit/front panel display
3. Digital input/dsp/clocking stage
4. Conversion Stage
5. Analog output stage
You are my DIGITAL DAC GURU! I'm with you as I prefer balanced outputs as all my gear including preamp, amp, SACD/CD Transport, and DAC are balanced. Enjoyed your explanation and insight. Looking forward to VOL #2.
Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic Mikey! You can read all about this stuff, but when you "see it" explained, well, that is how we learn best.
Absolutely!
Nice explanation Mike👍
Thanks Shane !
Thanks Mikey, knowledge is wisdom 🙏
Exactly !
Great explanation Mickey! Love your delivery brother!
Thanks Man !
Thanks for elaborating on this Mike. What do you think of Lampizator DACs? Especially higher up the range, Golden Gate 2 and Pacific. Any personal experience or credible "hearsay"?
I sold Lampi for a few years and used a modded out balanced Big 7 (was a GG except for copper cover.) and enjoyed my DAC while I had it . They can be lots of fun if you like to roll tubes. I think many long standing audiophiles get away from tubes eventually. They can be fun to play with, but the variable electrical performance of a tube can make them precarious. IMHO a Killer SS DAC is best. Lampis to me are like chopper motorcycles, fun for the younger cool guys but the seasoned riders go for BMW..(Generally speaking)
Great vid Mikey
Thx !
From what I know the DAC chip is not something that needs to be very fancy. And you're right Mike, they've been good enough for many years now.
It's the delivery of the data stream to the chip and then the analogue output section that really matters.
Its EVERYTHING together in my opinion. Power supply is VERY important as well.. But I agree..
Great series of videos! Thanks for putting this together. What do you think about the Rockna wavelight? Seems an interesting simplification of this wavedream, i wonder if there is really much difference sonically.
Great man with a great job,Mikey
Thanks Brother !
Nice video Mikey! Thanks for explaining what is in the anatomy of a DAC and why.c
Glad it was helpful!
Any consideration of commenting on the new Playback Design's Edelweiss MPD-6?
Are you looking to buy one ? Call me for the straight dope..
@@OCDHIFiGuy I am considering it but I have a local dealer. I have read everything I can on it.
On a different note, what do you think about making planers using graphine. Super strong so 1 atom thick might be enough
Would be killer. Far to expensive currently however.
Mikey, I own a Theta Gen. Va R2R DAC that was made in the early 90's. Mike Moffat was the designer and the price was around $5,000.00 at the time. It will only play 44.1/16 so it has limitations. I would appreciate it if you could speak to the sound quality of the Theta vs more modern designs. I understand the Schiit Yggdrasil is basically an updated version of the Gen. Va. Thanks
far as I know Theta is KILLER.
What do you think of the new Lampizator Horizon or Pacific dac's? Do you prefer R2R?
I do not prefer R2R and I do not like tubes in my DAC. Hope this helped ..? ;-)
Hi Mike. Thanks for great informations. In Your opinion Rockna wavedream is better the Termiantor ? I had it terminator it was too smooth, too gentle. When i play rock on him - Omg it was deasaster - too warm too gentle
Yes, absolutely Rockna Wavedream Sig KILLS Terminator..
@@OCDHIFiGuy thanks Mike
This is such good information,.Thanks Mike !
You bet Mark !
Hell yah Mikey. I need to freeze some funds for a PD dac!
Do it !!
what do you think of the Audio Note dacs with their single chip, no clock and no over sampling?
Then you are completely at the mercy of the signal integrity. This means clock is sent over a wire which I dont like. Clock should be on the board no more than an inch from the DAC. If you dont oversample you are getting artifacts galore. I dont like multi bit PCM conversion in any of its forms. Im a single bit conversion guy.
@@OCDHIFiGuy Thanks. Can you suggest a way to minimise these artifacts assuming one is already using this kind of spdif dac? can you add a DDC in between the server and the dac?
My power amp only has single ended but my dac and preamp are both fully balanced and single ended. Is it better to run balanced into the preamp then single ended out to the power amp? Or should i stay single ended all the way?
Id depends on the gear and if its truly balanced circuitry or only has the inputs. If you are combining types, I prefer to use balanced every place I can. Though I like to maintain the integrity of the circuit. I would run balanced to your preamp then SE out. But try both to see if you prefer one or the other sonically.
very favorite content
Thanks Tex !
good stuff, we got new boards for elevator control and it looks like lego made cheap plastic and sold it to swift elevator I forgot which model. I am retired and most of the stuff you sell I can't afford I hope your doing okay and making some money I enjoy this its different than anything else on the u tubes thanks Mikey.
Elevators are amazing technology to me .. TK Elevator just put in a building near me. I can help people put full systems together for $25K which I could help you find in all the stuff you've accumulated over the years ! ;-)
In any DAC, hit the highest sample rate as much as you can. It is already proved that it lower floor noise within the chip itself. DSD512 or 768PCM basically you can turn the filter off. The filter will be set at ridiculous high value that it doesn't impact the audible frequency. Near -150dB real world.
uhhh. OK... ;-)
Why not listen to records and tapes on vintage equipment? You get pure analogue sound at a fraction of the cost.
Why not drive a vintage car or wear vintage clothes ? Its not my thing. I like new technology. To each his own !!
Nice explanation.😬
Glad you liked it!
I heard Captain Cool and the Cong are looking to fire up Hanoi Hannah's
Original Radio Broadcast and are looking for some very rare Tubes! I told them OCD Mikey's is the Man to Consult with! They love Reel to Reel too! Any Intel on your Newest Audio Adventure's, you have completely peaked my curiosity "Post Audio Show"!
Video forthcoming .. ;-)
If digital would stop exploring other technologies you would not have the Dreamdac that you love so much . I guess you prefer FPGA based DACs if you use it as a reference . That Rockna looks awesome btw , probably sounds very analog
Rockna sounds a little sharp. Great for soft sounding rigs if you're into tuning like that.
Hey Mikey, the music in the background sounds very nice. May i ask you for the name of the artist?
My GF has a Reggae channel on Pandora..
@@OCDHIFiGuy ah ok, thanks
Even before i see OCD Mike's video, i click the like button 🖱
Atta Boy ! Thanks !
Did you drop the brand Rockna/Audiobyte?
YES, I did . Dishonest business practice, nothing to do with sonic quality.
@@OCDHIFiGuy 👏 🙌
@@OCDHIFiGuyFor my knowledg, what does that mean? I thought in theory and execution it looked very well made, featured high end separate power supply, seperates DAC, and seperate Streamer. FPGA with updates like PS Audio does.
Same reason for Denafrips too. Hmmm…
I like the schiit multibit dacs for the more budget minded of the hifi tribe!
great videos btw I really enjoy the teaching sessions!
Right on !
WOW
How could you NOT wanna just go and build your own DAC after seeing this? Seriously!
I certainly wanna give it a try at some point. It might wind up generic looking as hell, but I would bet it could sound on par with multi thousand dollar retail DACS long as I dont skimp on capacitor/transformer quality.
MMM. DAC is black Art.. Just because it looks easy does not mean its easy. You can find kits however. But the magic is in the algorithm. The programming in other words, the math...
Starboard Right...Port Left
Starboard channel ? lol
MSB DACs are certainly diff. and prove a LOT has been done in recent years. Most DACs are not that good. Even Analog Devices white-papers show (7) errors in conversion. Add power supply, clock, output stage - the quality-difference is staggering...
Totally true, thats why I stick to ONE Brand that I feel does it right.. the only time I sway from that brand is to hit lower price levels.
*❌✅ You should put an empty (BiG Gulp cup) next to the DAC. just to see how everybody on your Channel would Flip the Fu*k Out 👋🤣‼️ it would be hilarious😂*
You mean a FULL Big Gulp ? lol
❌OCD HI-Fi Guy 👈😎 Nope empty , I bet they’d still Flip ✅
Rockna copied msb msb copied burrbrown denafrips copied them all. whats the difference?
He said Rectification hehehehe
LOL, Ye olde Rectum Fryer
Permission to board the mother ship👽
PERMISSION GRANTED !
Digital sounds like a fax machine if anybody’s old enough to remember what that sounds like
Come here for a demo.. lol, you will change your mind ;-)
@@OCDHIFiGuy I was talking about the part where you say audio of a pure digital signal sounds like hissing, it actually sounds like a fax machine.
ok but why don't tell us the truth , music is designed to sound bad on our dacs and CD players . Music is designed for ear buds and car stereos , you can listen to earbuds all day with very little fatigue . Same music on a high end system ? It gets hard to listen to .
Wow, I feel bad for you Marc. Earbuds drive me crazy with fatigue, they are dirty and unclean for the ear canal and my system is as easy to listen to as live music... Please visit me so you may understand better. I know the truth which is opposite of what you believe. What you believe is the "common man" idea of how music should sound. Unless someone teaches you the difference you will never know and thats sad... Please visit for a demo.
Nope . Sorry Mikey no one in the recording industry gives at rats ass about audiophiles and many just plain don't like us .So maybe in our delirium we think we have it right but the truth is no . Music is designed for ear buds .What equipment I listen to is irrelevant as it has nothing to do with the recordings .I'm sure my equipment has an equal value to yours . The only difference is I don't feel sorry for anyone who listens to music no matter how they are doing it .
totally garbage dac
You really don't know what your talking about. You are way out of your league. Sorry, pal..
Good thing I dont design them and only sell !!! ROFL !!! I know how they sound and that's all that matters for a system builder. No need to be sorry for me , Im doing great... Hope you have a successful business as well my friend.