2006-03-28-03:48:33 cliveb: > You can't get DACs out of the equation. Somewhere in the replay chain, > you need one. The XR55 has a DAC inside. If its analogue inputs go > through an ADC then onto the DAC, then you're right: there's no point > using any other DAC. But if its analogue inputs can be routed direct > (bypassing any ADCs and DACs inside the unit), then you have to > consider the possibility that a different DAC might be better than the > one in the XR55.
I think you might be a little confused about the nature of these Panasonic receivers, assuming that they're just like everybody else's. These units (unless *I*'ve gotten really befuddled along the way) use an Equibit-chip-based power DAC -- which is to say that this PWM DAC is (essentially) connected directly to the speakers, and powers them. This architecture is implemented at a low price point by Panasonic, and at a higher one by TacT. The reason one would choose to buy one of these Pannys is precisely for the sound quality of the D/A-converting output stage (or its potential sound quality, after a few parts-quality improvements); at their best, this technology can provide a spooky level of immediacy, directness, purity, or however else you wish to describe it. It'll only be showing its full potential driven digitally, with internal filters and A/D conversions switched out. To drive one via an analog input would not accomplish the bypassing of the power DAC; it'd just lay the sonic signature of the DAC you added *and* the signature of the Panny's internal A/D converter (since the output stage needs a digital signal) atop that of the Equibit implementation. _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
