Tube DACs??
LGLA wrote:
"cipher" wrote in message 0...
These seem to be popping up everywhere in audiophile circles..
what would be the purpose of such a device? Yes, I am young and ignorant
re electronics.
something about the whole thing seems counter intuitive to me.
One thing I have noticed about stereo stacks... everything has an output
in one way or another, even if it is the sound itself, from a speaker. And,
the output stage of a DAC would be the point, just for that tube's worth
of sound quality. Any output stage to another component, is an amplifier.
This is my FIRST post, as a reply, in this NG.
Alex
SoCalifornia
Welcome to our little group. I hope you have a wardrobe full of flame
suits to protect yourself from the barbs, sarcasms, inuendo, and
downright BS that this group generates like mushrooms springing up in
compost.
Between the lines of BS there is much to be treasured here, and if you
increase the treasure then you'll get by better than some.
If you did all the functions of a D to A converters using tubes,
methinks you'd have no room to keep a wife at your house and you'd be
horrified by the power bills. The Green Police would call to arrest you
for causing so much greenhouse gas. Rather a lot of tubes are needed.
However, their purpose would be to perform un-digitalling tasks which
can be done better with zillions of transistors in a chip.
But the tubes are very nice things to use as the fist device to handle
and filter the audio coming from the DA chip.
But soon the digital world will be rocked with DXD etc, so prepare to
say tata to CDs.
The world has always hosted a mix of the best and the worst in any
product. MP3 is the worst, but the DXD could be the best but only for
those who can afford it unless the DXD becomes a real cheap alternative
due to parallel developments in data processing speeds, memory
capacities and broadband data transfer rates.
Put it this way, in 25 years time, will anyone remember how CD players
worked? Will replacement lasers be available? Will anyone know how to
install them? And won't 44kHz x 16 bit all seem even more primitive than
vinyl?
And will we have holographic porno online streaming? and film character
/ plot choice? and a host of other gee wizz ways of creating
entertainment without actors, actresses, and orchestras?
Hu nose? I don't. And the future might arrive and I'll be too old to
enjoy it.
Patrick Turner.
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