11–20 of 270 posts
Oh geez they could have left this statement out: "When I wrote my previous article, class-D audio was fairly new, and audiophiles were still arguing about whether class-D amps could sound as good as class-AB or class-A units. Nobody is having those arguments anymore." Those arguments are still front and center when it comes to amplifier design, both on the manufacturer and consumer sides.
Any recommendations for people that are tempted to build this but should really put their time elsewhere?
Are you asking for an amplifier that would deliver similar performance to this, because you don't have the time to build one, or that you suspect you'll come out ahead on build vs buy because of the price you value your time at?
I don't know much when it comes to audio amp design, but this reminds me greatly of the O2 headphone amp[0] - that anecdotally a few of my friends have soldered for their personal use. [0] http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-headphone-amp.html
I thought of the same thing. Both are inexpensive, straightforward, no-BS projects that leverage the advances made in electronics over the years to deliver quality audio. If I made one of these, I 'd be tempted to put an ODAC and O2 board in the same chassis to have a complete amplifier.
Such a product is available commercially:
> https://www.jdslabs.com/products/48/objective2-odac-combo-re...
Any recommendations for people that are tempted to build this but should really put their time elsewhere?
Of all disciplines of human interests and hobbies, Audiophiles are one of the most stubborn, misinformed, anecdotal and delusional bunch. Of course I am generalizing, but every time I engage in a discussion about audio quality, it is a losing battle. Not because of lack of data or supporting evidence, but because of the fundamental dissent for data driven arguments. You cannot argue reason when the first step is to be born with "audiophile ears".
Why is it hard to understand that we have sophisticated metrology and instrumentation that can analyze things better than human ears can? I can understand a separate discussion about personal opinions regarding how "warm" a particular sound is, but that should remain distinctly as - subjective and that's perfectly OK.
It feels like the entire audio industry is promoting pseudoscience barring a very few vendors that actually care. We have a $8500 mp3 player from Sony claiming all kinds of things to the overwhelming abundance of cheap Shenzhen exports. There is just so much noise.
I absolutely abhor audiophiles.
Oh geez they could have left this statement out: "When I wrote my previous article, class-D audio was fairly new, and audiophiles were still arguing about whether class-D amps could sound as good as class-AB or class-A units. Nobody is having those arguments anymore." Those arguments are still front and center when it comes to amplifier design, both on the manufacturer and consumer sides.
That said, many high end audio folks are straight up whack jobs.
And slightly OT, but does anybody know any ABX test of balanced input/output signal? I find it hard to believe that there is a single person who can hear the difference.
It is refreshing to see these types of articles. Of all disciplines of human interests and hobbies, Audiophiles are one of the most stubborn, misinformed, anecdotal and delusional bunch. Of course I am generalizing, but every time I engage in a discussion about audio quality, it is a losing battle. Not because of lack of data or supporting evidence, but because of the fundamental dissent for data driven arguments. Yo…
The technique worked just fine, but man, that guy was loony. He was trying to claim, with a straight face, that a GPS disciplined oscillator wasn't stable enough for his audiophile-grade Rube Goldberg machine.