maxwell3e10
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Most high end DACs (eg. ES9038Pro-based) operate in current mode. The outputs of the DAC are held at virtual ground and the current flowing out of them is converted to a voltage using an I/V converter (eg. using OPA1612). This gives a lower distortion (according to ESS datasheet). But it also increases the power dissipation in the DAC so that its temperature changes a bit for different output levels. One can see that if a high level output is suddenly turned on and the RMS amplitude is monitored with a high-resolution AC voltmeter it will drift over the first minute or so. This of course is not audible, but still...
ES9038 also allows voltage mode operation, which would use a voltage follower at the DAC output without drawing any current. So my question is if there are any DACs implementing this topology? Perhaps THD would be somewhat worse but the output stability would be better and total power dissipation in the DAC would be smaller.
ES9038 also allows voltage mode operation, which would use a voltage follower at the DAC output without drawing any current. So my question is if there are any DACs implementing this topology? Perhaps THD would be somewhat worse but the output stability would be better and total power dissipation in the DAC would be smaller.
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