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Does your question mean you have a NOS DAC and want to upgrade

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13th Duke of Wymbourne

In Reply to: RE: What improvement can be expected with NOS DAC upgrades? posted by chuck55 on November 15, 2023 at 19:45:18

or are you asking about how NOS compares to sigma-delta?

From a technical standpoint the difference is that NOS has no filtering whereas oversampling DACs include a filter. I've never heard a NOS DAC but many like them. They are certainly not more technically accurate than an oversampling type - there is no filter to remove the aliases and they have a small high frequency roll-off (that is usually compensated by a small boost in the oversampling filter design). NOS DACs have to be a 'flash-type' converter than converts the whole 16 bit, or 24 bit word in one go, whereas oversampling types usually work at lower amplitude resolution (less bits) but make it up by converting them more often and averaging (i.e. low pass filtering) to regain the full resolution.
Is there something inherently better about NOS - I can't see that unless it is related to better phase response because no filter (though the signal will still get low pass filtered somewhere further down the chain by amplifiers and speakers)? Or, it is because the aliases aren't removed and the flash-type DACs are less linear an add a bit more distortion and people like those additions?

Follow Ups:

Yes - chuck55 21:49:57 11/16/23 (4)
.

Edits: 11/16/23 11/18/23 11/18/23
- Pre-ringing is a red-herring - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 09:39:11 11/17/23 (0)
  There is no pre-ringing if the signal sent to the DAC is band limited, which it should/must be. And there is much irony criticizing digital's impulse response and then praising vinyl - try cutting and playing back an impulse response on that medium!
- Why are you citing an article that is 20 years old ? - AbeCollins 07:43:07 11/17/23 (2)
  There have been incredible improvements in modern DACs so I would consider widening your search beyond old filterless NOS DACs. Just my 2-cents worth.
  The DAC maker featured in that 20 year old article is out of business as best I can tell.
  
  Edits: 11/17/23
  - Did you read the title to this thread? Do you have anything constructive on topic to offer? - chuck55 15:40:49 11/17/23 (1)
    .
    
    Edits: 11/18/23
    - Did you read the constructive comments.... - AbeCollins 20:52:08 11/17/23 (0)
      ...in the body of my two posts directed at you? I thought it was civil conversation but sorry if you felt it was unpleasant.
      
      Edits: 11/17/23

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