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Another CD Comparison AH! vs Sony DVP NS999ES


tigerwoodKhorns

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Since nobody asked me to elaborate on why i don't care for Upsampling..............

i'll answer anyhow ...

First . .your file size will increase,slowing transfer by a factor of 2

Second computational power needs to be increased, by a factor of 2

Third since speed must go up, accuracy goes down

Lets say you have a device, DAC, with fixed computational powers and speed

you can design for best 0-24khz Bandwidth

you can have less precision, but more Bandwidth.0-48Khz

you can have even less precision, but even more Bandwidth, 0-96 Khz....

but, in all cases, Speed, and Precision are interdependant

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Chris, Did you notice differences in newer, well-recorded CDs with the Ah!?

All the newer recordings played very well, especially with acoustic instruments (upright bass and guitars). I never had an issue with those. However, the upsampler just made the overall midrange smoother on all recordings.

Combining this upgrade with the ALK crossovers in the Klipschorn, it is now pretty hard to go through my collection and find something unlistenable.

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Chris, Did you notice differences in newer, well-recorded CDs with the Ah!?

I was wondering the same thing. A new CDP is on my list of needs, so I have been watching all this closely...

TommyC,

If I were starting over I wouldn't hesitate to get the Ah!. It's a very value-oriented package with few comprimises in sound quality.

If you're concerned, however, about leaving something on the table sonically, perhaps you could order the Ah! (30 day return policy, I think?) and borrow a Sony (or other brand) from dealer demo stock --- then do a side by side at home.

Honestly, there are so many good options in the CDP world these days for short money. I remember a year or two back that we were doing $50 shoot-outs from Best Buy brands. Besides for being of modest build quality, they sounded darned good! If you're able to spend $500 - $800, you'll be able to get a deck you can live with for many years.

I have heard a Sony in Tim Babb's system (NoDisc here on the forum) and was blown away by the smoothness in the midrange and dynamics. In truth, though, his system was so refined in every part of the signal chain, I couldn't determine the sole contribution of the Sony. However, it had to be good for Tim to own it.

Good luck with your hunt. You can't go too wrong these days.

Chris

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Duke;

Whatever you were trying to convey was clear to you and made no sense to me.

I have never read of a technical liability associated with upsampling.

Detest what attribute of the sound?

Well just rant on, it is Saturday.

Audio Flynn,

Internal 'upsampling' is done by almost all converters often in the MHz range (for A/D). No problem. I think Duke is talking about a DAC 'sampling', i.e., outputing signal at an 'upsampled' rate.

A DAC sampling at 192 will provide a degraded signal (all else, e.g., filters, being equal) compared with it operating at a lower rate. So, if you can control the output rate (as a generalization) select a lower rate (less bandwidth) for maximum signal quality.

Mark

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Chris,

If you cannot find any unlistenable recordings in your collection, I'd say that is a pretty solid endorsement for the upsampler.

The AH! was a big improvement over my Philips 963 w/ blackgate mod in the sense that soem recordings that had a harsh sound at certain volumes smoothed out. If the upsampler makes poor recordings sound better it is worth it. K-Horns can make a lot of material unenjoyable to listen to.

Chris

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