Topic: V3 A/D vs 722 A/D - can you tell the difference?

[JasonSobel]

thanks for the responses, everyone...
I'll post which is which tonight.

[sygdwm]

I prefer source A and I think its the V3, but i didnt dislike B at all. they both sound great. i can hear a difference, subtle as it is.

playback: pioneer 563a*>sony3000es>b&w604s2/velodyne vx10

*i resampled to 24/48 because my deck does not pass a digital signal over that sample rate.

[JasonSobel]

ok everyone, I'm spilling the beans. 
first of all, another big thanks to Simon for letting me use the 722 for a while.
and if you're still interested, I have no plans to take the files off my server.  so go check it out 


spoilers below, so I f you haven't checked this out yet and you'd still like to do a blind comp for yourself, read no further...












































source A = V3 (S/PDIF) > HD-P2
and
source B = V3 (analog) > 722

some very interesting results here.
16 people voted in the poll.  25% preferred source A (V3's A/D), and 75% preferred source B (722's A/D)
everyone who preferred the straight V3 correctly identified it as the V3's A/D.
of the 12 people who preferred source B, 5 thought it was the straight V3, while 7 correctly identified it as the V3 (analog) > 722 source.
so, not sure what to make of the statistics, it's probably not even statistically significant.  as always we've got to trust our own ears as to what we prefer.

while I've enjoyed reading the responses, I mostly did this comp for myself, to see if I could personally justify the cost of a SD unit.  while the SD boxes are nice, small, and rugged, at this point, I can't justify the extra cost involved (I think ~$1400, after selling the HD-P2).

[OFOTD]

Thanks Jason for taking the time to put this together.  +T (480 no less )

I found it quite informative and was not surprised by the results as much as I was at how close both AD sections were.  I wonder how my ACM V3 would stack up in the test?

[sygdwm]

I wonder how my ACM V3 would stack up in the test?

i imagine it would crush 'em.

[Jamos]

I'd like to hear a test like this including the Edirol R-09 as well. 
To see how the little guy stacks up against the big boys.

 

Thanks Jason for doing the comparison...always interesting to hear these kind of things.

[Jamos]

The sound quality changed drastically when listening to the complete piece. You can definitely hear the high noise in the R-09 recording. I used the use my M1 was the back up...So I actually can say that my R-09's A/D is worse than my M1.

Do you think that it's the A/D that doesn't sound as good, or is it just the added noise of going line in through the R-09's analog stage vs. only hearing the V3?

[branas]

Thank you for the great comparison.

As a side note, I think it's interesting so many of us have Squeezeboxes   

[F.O.Bean]

Thank you for the great comparison.

As a side note, I think it's interesting so many of us have Squeezeboxes   

so which one did you prefer

[bombdiggity]

Thanks for doing this. 

Interesting indeed. 

Personally I did hear some difference.  Overall Source 1 seemed a bit more "flat"/"clearer", Source 2 a little more "lively".  There seemed to be some difference throughout the range. 

Surprising the output level was the same given the difference I feel in the energy. 

Whether one might be thought more natural and the other having a little added color and then which one prefers seems a matter of taste. 

[F.O.Bean]

Lets get this thread going again. Its been 5 years now

I ran a v3 and 722 at the same time, and I preferred the 722's ADC over the v3's ADC