Lost in the 70's

[ajanzalone]

Excuse my ignorance ..... But I have questions .....

I apologize if these are redundant Basic questions,
in my case still using 2 channel audio for Music & TV

1- Analog verses Digital?
Other than a Phono & Tape, what else do I need a clean Analog Preamp for?
CD's, DVD's, Verizon Fios, Cable, etc is all digital, if I am correct?

2- Dac to Dac?
If the CD, DVD, etc., Player has a Dac, and the Preamp processor has a Dac?
Is that like a double digital filter?
Will that cause muddy translations of the sound data to the amp?

3-Balanced inputs/outputs verses non balanced ....
Is this process modifying the original balance of the recorded music?
Why do I need it?
I assume you need an Amp that has a balanced "in" connection to take advantage of this feature.

4- Mixing New & Old Equipment
I have observed a continuing flux in the buying of new equipment because new interfaces are developed ie: hdmi, dvi, etc.
Are there cable adapters to allow the use of the new interfaces on older preamp / processors?

Or am I alone in my confusion .....

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I am trying to rap my mind around all the new technologies
T

[cheddar]

We still live in an analog world. I think you'd be surprised at how much analog there still is in electronics. Speakers, for one, are still completely analog. So a lot of the electronics takes digital signals and converts them back to analog. (DACs don't provide a 'filter'. They convert digital back to analog because speakers can't understand digital. You have to choose which DACs to use as you want this conversion done once with the best available for the sound you prefer.)

Digital also has limitations when it samples our analog world. You can easily see this with the difference between material recorded at 480p and 1080p for TVs. Both can be digital recordings of the same analog 'picture'. But one obviously has more information and that you can easily see when comparing the two images side by side. And neither comes close to the original picture location you can see with your own two eyes without the TV.

Digital audio sampling is the same. You can have digital recordings that are coarser or finer, but nothing compares to the original analog source you can hear with your own ears. And many prefer vinyl even with its pops and scratches because the analog recording is actually finer than what is sampled by a typical CD. Although there are formats like SACD, DVD-Audio, and Blu-ray lossless that provide high resolution digital playback.

So not all digital sources and processing are equal and you still have to get the best synergy out of a system for the analog sound you like best from your speakers.

[TECHNOKID]

i apologize if these are redundant basic questions,
in my case still using 2 channel audio for music & tv

There are still many people that prefers 2 channels to surround sound technology.

b]1- analog verses digital?[/b]
other than a phono & tape, what else do i need a clean analog preamp for?
Cd's, dvd's, verizon fios, cable, etc is all digital, if i am correct?

Yes pre-amps are also use for CDs and DVD audio even if digital.

2- dac to dac?
if the cd, dvd, etc., player has a dac, and the preamp processor has a dac?
Is that like a double digital filter?
Will that cause muddy translations of the sound data to the amp?

Just a little correction; a DAC is not a filter but a converter (DAC = Digital to Analog Converter). Yes, adding too many unnessary circuit to the chain can actually deteriorate the SQ rather than improve it especially if the DAC is of poor quality. However, in modern equipment you can bypass the internal DAC if you are using a better external quality DAC.

b]3-balanced inputs/outputs[/b] verses non balanced ....
Is this process modifying the original balance of the recorded music?
Why do i need it?
I assume you need an amp that has a balanced "in" connection to take advantage of this feature.

There is NO modification of the signal when using balanced connections, balanced connections simply had an extra lead which include the negative of the signal for comparition with the original positve signal which allow for eliminating unwanted signal IE: noise etc...

In order for a balance signal to be effective, it must be used all the way down the equipment chain from I/P to O/P exception of the speakers.

b]4- mixing new & old equipment[/b]
i have observed a continuing flux in the buying of new equipment because new interfaces are developed ie: Hdmi, dvi, etc.
Are there cable adapters to allow the use of the new interfaces on older preamp / processors?

Yes, interface or digital to analogue conversion is possible/achievable and yes, proper cables can be bought for such.

sorry if this sounds stupid, but i am trying to rap my mind around all the new technologies
t

There are NEVER any stupid questions, only stupid answers ;)

Cheers!
TK

[tonyb]

Unless your happy with the sound your getting now, then none of this means diddly.
Or maybe you think you might be missing out on something as far as sound quality goes?

[cheddar]

One thing new in the digital world isn't so much that interfaces change, as content producers use DRM (Digital Rights Management) to digitally prevent reproduction of their original sources for sale as pirated copies.

In practice, the pirates find ways around DRM anyways, but legitimate users are left with incompatible interfaces or buggy equipment that doesn't always work well together.

There really isn't anything preventing analog video component connections from producing a picture almost indistiguishable from digital HDMI. But a player's internal electronics may limit what can be transfered over each connection simply based on industry preferences (no DVD picture upconversion from 480p to 1080p for instance). Some things can still be done well with analog video and audio connections, some can't, especially with DRM in play. So researching what's what can often save you from unecessarily upgrading everything to the latest bleeding edge interfaces.

[ShinAce]

Just a little correction; a DAC is not a filter but a converter (DAC = Digital to Analog Converter). Yes, adding too many unnessary circuit to the chain can actually deteriorate the SQ rather than improve it especially if the DAC is of poor quality. However, in modern equipment you can bypass the internal DAC if you are using a better external quality DAC.

In order for a balance signal to be effective, it must be used all the way down the equipment chain from I/P to O/P exception of the speakers.

TK

You can't convert a signal twice. If you feed an analog signal into a DAC, it will spit out garbage. You can only use one DAC. So you should choose which DAC sounds better to you. A CD player without a DAC is sometime called a transport.

Also, in theory, you could drive a speaker with a balanced(differential) signal. You just need drivers with dual voice coils. And two crossovers, and some serious delusions about what hi fi means. I gotta agree it has little effectiveness.

/end nit pick

[TECHNOKID]

You can't convert a signal twice. If you feed an analog signal into a DAC, it will spit out garbage. You can only use one DAC. So you should choose which DAC sounds better to you. A CD player without a DAC is sometime called a transport.

Actually, the receiver uses the opposite: Analogue to Digital Converter so we should call them ADC ;) If you use the word DAC for both ends, you are right nothing good comes out of it since you can not feed analogue into digital. However, feeding DAC to ADC let's say will provide a decent O/P however with potential lost in SQ due to adding an extra link in the chain. Thank you for staightning this up ShinAce ;)

Also, in theory, you could drive a speaker with a balanced(differential) signal. You just need drivers with dual voice coils. And two crossovers, and some serious delusions about what hi fi means. I gotta agree it has little effectiveness.

Do you have any example of speakers that uses such, I always been curious why they never bothered to have balanced speakers?

Wouldn't double voice coils be a hazrd for cacophonie if the - and + signals were actually even slightly different? Unless a special differential circuit is tied at the Xo O/P just before driver I/P??? Very interesting...

[ajanzalone]

TECHNOKID:
Thanks for answering all the questions.....

Thanks to the rest for the input you all added ....

So basically speaking .... I should shunt past one of the DAC's, either on the receiver or the DVD and just use the one that sounds best to my ear on my system.

The signal sent to the speakers is still analogue no matter how it was originated or processed.

Got It
T

[concealer404]

TECHNOKID:
Thanks for answering all the questions.....

Thanks to the rest for the input you all added ....

So basically speaking .... I should shunt past one of the DAC's, either on the receiver or the DVD and just use the one that sounds best to my ear on my system.

The signal sent to the speakers is still analogue no matter how it was originated or processed.

Got It
T

In most cases..... ;)