This forum has taught me so much. Amir and countless other intelligent, generous,( if occasionally curmudgeonly
) professionals have contributed and distilled all their years of professional experience, and it's here for free. Gratis. This is such an incredible resource, I strongly urge you to search, research, then wear that search window out even more. Then, if you can't find what you were exactly looking for, any one of us would love the chance to humbly help a brotha out. There are so many things I learned coincidentally while looking for data completely unrelated to what I was seeking. Pretty damned rad! Another benefit of the search
I come from an avionics/turboprop (T-56-A-15) maintenance (and aircrew background), but I have learned more about digital electronics DACs/ADCs/PLLs/ESS Humps
, etc, from hundreds of hours of reading, looking at the stickies,, et, keeping my eyes and ears wide open, and just soaking in the free masterclass. Presented here, is a data, measurable, repeatable, reliable, and valid (others may believe otherwise).
The data that Amir presents (Estimated in Room Response for example) for a given speaker can, allow one to infer, or predict tonal qualities that deviate from a target frequency (a house sound--perhaps what you describe as warm sounding). Google Harman Target Curve, or BBC dip for a better idea of what a house sound or target curve is.
As far as comparing your two DACS, unless the two devices were level matched-the devices being compared must play at the same level. A slight increase in volume on one DAC likely will make it sound more detailed, clear, etc. A $14 Amazon basics DAC when properly level matched would probably sound indistinguishable from the best of any of the bling brands boutique hipster flintstone ladder-dacs. Actually, it would probably embarrass them in the SINAD metric (PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC
). Make sure you're comparing like with like. I had no idea of the vagaries and complexities of our acoustic world, the power of psychoacoustics, and the insidious tricks they can play on you. Fascinating.
Sorry I couldn't give you a clean concise answer re: "warmth," thicker highs. This is where subjective experience can cause confusion. When I think warm sound, I feel upper mids are more pronounced, while treble is more rolled of less attack/decay. Warn sounding to me would sound more like a song played over AM radio vs FM (more defined, more clear, less fuzz), if you catch my drift.
Use this resource as a starting point. Amir takes us back to school on Youtube. Watch the one on grounding. Watch/Read lots of ASR speaker reviews. In the preamble of each review, you get quick primer, and explanation of fundamental concepts.
Audio has become so much more rewarding now that Amir has sort of drawn a line for all of us. There's no reason for people to blindly buy speakers based on looks, brand cache, and pay for their salesperson's commission on all the audioquest bs they sell. Gross.
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Which without having to listen to it (absent from the very place it should exists-- the companies (shellcorp most likely
) absent from many of most comprehensive, easy to understand, and easily available. I have an incredible amout of respect for the Amir, and the likes ofPMA, Solderdude, Mr. March, napilopez, just to name a few off the top of my head. Thank you gentlemen, line in the sand!