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May 27, 2008 - 3:17pm
#1
24 Bit Chips
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Do they come with 24-bit dip?
It does, but you wind up processing too many calories, which causes jingling.
The DAC chip is probably one of the cheapest parts in a CD player. Casework, power supply (or supplies), and parts for the analog output stage all would be more expensive than the DAC chip. So cheaper chips won't reduce the price of CD players noticeably.
How come when DVD recorders first came out they where super expensive....Philips invented/introduced the 1 chip DVD recorder, one chip controlling it all, the DVD units went from several hundred to well under $250. It's already happening on Blu-Ray and that is not that old yet, less chips less space, less ckt boards, it all matters. When teh chip does it all evrything around it goes away, cheapens up. Do you see how LCD tv's have dropped in price? More integration of ckts with more functions, less board space less shipping costs, it all matters. Audio is not imune from the rules of mfg stuff. Chips matter.
So does greed. As long as they can charge an extravagant amount of money for their junk, they will.
So go ahead and buy yourself a $10 24 bit chip. Now what?
You will also need an upsample conversion to go from 16 bits to 24 bits. How good is the interpolation algorithm from 16 to 24 bits? Lots of different ways to go here. Some are quite good, others are less so. You will still need a low pass filter. What method (frequency, slope, digital domain, analog domain)? You will need a quality power supply. Probably one with multiple outputs for both analog and digital circuits. Throw in a quality circuit board and connectors. So what is your point about a $10 chip?
In the bigger overall system picture, the price of any single component is irrellevent to the total cost of a piece of stereo gear.
No, it's all relavant to teh price of a finished product, but then the marketing guys usually set teh prices, based on nothing technical. They sell to a "market segment". The inner workings of a lot of extremely high priced componets are the same as used in much less costly non audiophile devices. When a mega buck player uses the same Philips optical assy, that retails for $29 as a replacement part, you know your are paying an extreme price for something with a giant markup. If chips didn't matter, how do you think KORG can produce a terrific portable DSD recorder that RETAILS for under $1000, with a sticker of like $1200. It records playsback DSD 2X 24 bit 48K 44.1 PCM all kinds of formats, with a buiult in 40GB drive!!! Componet prices matter, and they keep getting cheaper and cheaper with better and better functionality. A 1TB IOMEGA hard drive for $279. !!! USB plug it in, it works 1TB !!! Years ago that was called impossible!!! If it sells now for so cheap, think what is already in the labs, making this OBSOLETE. There would be no HDTV, if stuff didn't get cheaper and better, remeber that $15,000 Plasma tv...in no time better and bigger are $1200. Taht $29 Philips VAM1202/1201 drive was too expensive at $29, so I got a few at like $19 on sale!!! I had to change one out on my older units it was skipping, old grease on teh gear, new one is working fine $19 optical assy!!! think what that was 20 years ago!!! Next time you buy a $20,000 Cd only player......For that kind of money there are units that do everything and then some.
Yes, both a Yugo and a Ferrari burn gas.
The similarities end there.
Now when you are able to produce a Ferrari at the price of a Yugo I'll be interested.
Please set up your business with Alex as he will be able to set up a business plan where the cars are free.
I have a couple of garage stalls open so I will take two.
DAC chips, integrated circuits, and op amps certainly do get cheaper over time. But good capacitors, power supplies, and the other components in the discrete analog output stage don't.