Speed Reading DAC Audio Measurements

Learn to understand and quickly judge the performance of a DAC using measurements. Topics covered include SINAD, THD+N, Jitter, Dynamic Range, Linearity, DAC Filtering, Intermodulation distortion and frequency response.

[JesusMartinez-mkfc]

A masterclass on DAC measurements. Kudos Amir! The YouTube algorithm had hidden this little gem from me for one month. Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge and passion.

[richardf]

Excellent insights offered from the Wizard! Thank you.

I've visited your website over the last 2 years and my enjoyment of music has dramatically increased from my first DAC, an Anedio D2, an excellent DAC in its own right, to a Topping E50, using a very low noise powerbank. Your analyses of audio components has brought a tremendous amount transparency and honesty to a market that has survived in the past on slick marketing and dollars spent on magazine advertising. Sunlight is, indeed, the best disinfectent.

Thank you for that!

[pmAdministrator]

Thank you so much, for the video & your time, prof! This is that one type of a video idea people will appreciate & a video that, honestly, should have been made a long time ago already to help people (especially the normies (the majority of people) & audiophiles) to understand the measurements way more. Now that we're together changing the world & the whole audio industry from distortion to actual high fidelity, these things are very important to understand!

[trox-c]

man, why have i been watching fashioned reviewer? This man needs a praise 🙌

[StMrMoose]

This video is like a user's manual for the ASR website. Well done, Amir.

[robo]

Your reviews and explanations are always excellent. Your work is greatly appreciated.

[Johnnytrades]

Awesome info as usual! I am seriously considering the Zidoo Neo Alpha, their top line streamer/DAC/media player. With measurements like you have shown, I am going to pull the trigger! Thanks Amir!

[Madlop]

Great educational video, as usual, Thank you Amir.

[regrobinson]

Thank you. You've made my slogging through all of the opinions and arguing much easier. Head to your review then out the door.

[didassquatshoes]

It's a good day when you see Amir in a new video!

[CaveyMoth]

I know how to read DAC measurements, but I didn't know exactly how the pink panther rating system worked. So that was good to learn right off the bat.

[paolobertozzi]

Beatiful, I own a lot of audio things and most of them bought after reading your reviews. Thank you from Italy

[j]

Didn't know the low frequency tones in the jitter test were expected. I managed to learn something :)

[dlgn]

Immensely useful video; such a gift to the community. Thank you so much for your reviews and sharing your knowledge!

[jonthompson]

Amir! Watching the whole video. on 1.25x speed hahahah. Now i want to check the ranking of my dac against the list at the 30min mark

[MR_VJ_KR]

Excellento! Now I understand all those graphs and their meanings. Would like similar video on headphones measurements, How are they measured and what is measured? How are sound signal to sound measurements done and performance evaluated? Thanks!

[YuengsNwings]

Wonderful video Amir. If possible could you address clock quality at some point? When relatively inexpensive DACs produce jitter below threshold of hearing, what benefit is there to having a fancy temperature-controlled clock and advertising it as a feature worth paying for?

[epi]

Love this channel. Keep up the good work Amir.

[hartyewh]

Great stuff. Any ideas of potential meaningful aspects that influence sound quality that would not show on these tests since a lot of people seem to think so? Why wouldn't time domain be an important angle for testing as many seem to think it is?

[syf]

I always enjoy seeing your measurements and your choice of panther for a given product. That said, I’d love a way of hiding the panther reveal until I’ve had a chance to read the measurements. Maybe take two pics: DUT alone, and DUT with your choice of panther. Panther pic reveals by clicking spoiler button?

Regardless… Thank you, Amir, for reviewing all these devices, speakers, etc., posting these companion videos, and for hosting & running your incredibly helpful website!