Hello, Phil Leigh;238538 Wrote: > I'm not sure it's quite as simple as that - and if you turn the gain > down by 48dB it's going to be rather quiet... Phil, I have been at my dealer today and can report that the tp exactly falls completely silent below -48db. So if we stick to 6db=1bit it apears that the tp is just using the exact difference between 16bit cd and 24bit dac capabilities for volume regulation. I am not sure if it can be simplified that strong without loosing some minor information but it more and more looks like a good rule of thumb to me. But I have to say that it wasn't all that quiet after all. -48db is just about my normal late night listening level.
Furthermore I can say that I rebuilt the exact chain I have at home at my dealer and if I turn the Marantz to 0db and the tp to -46 db the tp still produces sound of a reasonable quality but the sound starts to get harsh with a note of glare and glassiness if you wish. Now this can have serveral reasons: Either it is the tp destroying info as talked through above to some minor degree or it is the Marantz not really being comfortable with playing xlr at 0db amplification. It might get some overdrive. The effect is less when using rca connections which is quiet expectable since we've got lower vrms and therefore lower db numbers here. I compared the tp to the new T&A music player and must say they are enpar. The music player has a streaming client as well but plays ordinary silver discs also. I don't know how the streaming is done but suspect dlna or at least upnp/av to be at work. Then we replaced the Marantz by an Audionet m1v2 stereo power amp and although it only uses single ended connections I was stunned by the lightness and openess of the very same peace of music even on lower volumes. Removing the preamp afterall seems like the path to go. I heard a Briston gbbst as well but the sound was just not very different from the Marantz. The question remaining is: Is xlr really as superior as many on this board supose it to be? And how is the tp designed internally? Is it just inverting the signal for symmetric output or is it balanced from scratch and the single ended signal deduced from that? The guy also recommended a Burmester 036 if I remember correctly. He said it had a symmetric layout and good quality and sound. Only trouble is I didn't hear it and it costs arround 6k Euros as much as the Helicon speakers cost. But I would be interested in hearing that one at some point. However once you have spent some money on hifi stuff upgrading is a tricky thing. It's no trouble building a bad chain for good money is it? -- jaysung ------------------------------------------------------------------------ jaysung's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12375 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=39611 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
