Sound Quality?

[.Gogeta§§J4BR.]

off-topic: I was supposed to be studying how "amp-op"s work for my electronics test wednesday :rolleyes:

 

[sbock]

It should be substantially better than the GP2X. The DAC is made by Burr Brown.

Oh, that's a very good decision. Burr Brown has an excellent reputation among audio fans. Many very expensive and good sounding units using Burr Brown converters.

Regards,
Stephan

 

[JerryG20]

It should be substantially better than the GP2X. The DAC is made by Burr Brown.

Oh, that's a very good decision. Burr Brown has an excellent reputation among audio fans. Many very expensive and good sounding units using Burr Brown converters.

Regards,
Stephan

Unfortunately, we won't be able to judge how good it sounds with just numbers given on the previous page and the manufacturer of only the DAC. I suspect the Pandora won't have audiophile sound quality, or even anything close to that. I suspect it will be on par with other, non-audio-centric devices in this price range, which is reasonable for such a device. If you're an audiophile you sure as hell won't be using the Pandora as your DAP, especially considering it doesn't have line-out or digital audio output. I don't think audiophiles are the intended audience though, so it's all good. It'll probably sound good enough (won't be able to find flaws in the Pandora) for the vast majority of people because most people don't have high-end headphone rigs (understandably).

 

[sbock]

Of course the chain of components used in an unit is important for audio quality. This is stated in this thread before. But using fine components like Burr Brown is a good first step and don't underestimate the importance of the DAC in this chain.
Even the cheaper Burr Brown chips followed an audiphile concept. If this remain after the sell to Texas Instruments I cannot judge.
No, a handheld device like the Pandorra cannot be as good as a stand alone device for 10 times the money and space. Nobody awaited this. The digital parts of the unit are very near to the audio output and will more or less interfere with it, with is a problem for every handheld device.
That the sound output stands and falls with a good headphone is true and that people who don't care about good sound quality will use cheap sound buttons for the ears is for sure.
But you can't blame the Pandora for that...

Regards,
Stephan

 

[Suntan]

If you're an audiophile you sure as hell won't be using the Pandora as your DAP, especially considering it doesn't have line-out or digital audio output. I don't think audiophiles are the intended audience though, so it's all good.

Speak for yourself, it may not replace the output of a Lynx 2, but I am not about to carry that rig onto the airplane for an 8 hours flight across the ocean. That still doesn't mean that feeding a quality pair of headphones isn't desired.

In any case, if drivers were available, this can be solved easily.

http://www.ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=32

-Suntan

 

[PolloLoco]

Hmmm, I was hoping it'd just be possible to do audio out via the usb - not a whole dac connected to USB. I just wanted to skip past the system's built in amp, because it sounds like it already has an excellent dac.

 

[jhoff80]

Hmmm, I was hoping it'd just be possible to do audio out via the usb - not a whole dac connected to USB. I just wanted to skip past the system's built in amp, because it sounds like it already has an excellent dac.

Um, audio out through USB is always done that way. The audio is always passed out USB digitally, so it would always need an external DAC (digital to analog converter).

 

[PolloLoco]

Hmmm, I was hoping it'd just be possible to do audio out via the usb - not a whole dac connected to USB. I just wanted to skip past the system's built in amp, because it sounds like it already has an excellent dac.

Um, audio out through USB is always done that way. The audio is always passed out USB digitally, so it would always need an external DAC (digital to analog converter).



Ha ha, you're right. I guess I wasn't thinking because otherwise it doesn't make sense. Sorry.

 

[grndslm]

So, where might I find the details on this open hardware? DAC and such?

 

[Tobriand]

So, where might I find the details on this open hardware? DAC and such?

I don't know if such information is available yet. Pandora is open insofar as it can be, but a lot of the parts are still under NDA. Given that we haven't been told the specifics of this one, I'd guess that it's among them.

 

[timofonic]

What about using the ext connector for giving audio out without amp? And digital audio output?

Remember cards like Sound Blaster 64 Gold, it had a RCA-like connector for the digital audio output as this kind of output isn't only for optical cables (I think this method was invented later and came from professional systems, not sure).

 

[JerryG20]

What about using the ext connector for giving audio out without amp? And digital audio output?

Remember cards like Sound Blaster 64 Gold, it had a RCA-like connector for the digital audio output as this kind of output isn't only for optical cables (I think this method was invented later and came from professional systems, not sure).

Yes, there are many different output methods for digital audio output. For S/PDIF you have coaxial (the RCA-like connector you're talking about) and optical/TOSLINK. Most audio products I've seen use S/PDIF, I2S, AES/EBU. It's just more practical (in my opinion) to use mini-optical output (which I had hoped would have been integrated into the headphone jack) for a portable device.

 

[PolloLoco]

Is it remotely possible that software could be written to forgo the amp between the dac and the headphone jack, or even to the tv out?

I believe that's how line out was refined via firmware in the sansa e200 series. Both official and rockbox.

 

[Suntan]

You can always hack the board to wire the analog out prior to the amp, if you wanted to.

Enabling digital out SPDIF would require gratuities to Sony and Philips, as far as I know. Anyway, assuming there are drivers for it, a TBAAM (Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro) could be plugged into the back to give digital out. Also, it has a pretty decent headphone amp for its cost.

-Suntan

 

[PolloLoco]

Gotcha, I understand the possibility of a usb dac with a headphone amp - but in a sense it seems a waste if the Pandora already has a nice DAC. I've already got a decent portable amp - so I was hoping line out could be accomplished by software. The only reason is that the Pandora has all the features I'd look for in a perfect dap - except for line out. So close to perfection. . .