![]() ![]() ![]() Also, because its designs are proprietary, Chord doesn’t hand out circuit diagrams to anyone who asks-hence the reason it’s called “secret sauce.” Actually, Chord has a very particular name for its secret sauce: Chord Electronics custom-coded Xilinx Artix 7 (XC7A15T) FPGA. And Chord’s path requires far more programming and digital design savvy than one that merely inserts a digital chip into a standard layout. ![]() And while Chord’s approach is not unique, it is among the roads less traveled. In short, audiophiles have many choices in both design and execution when it comes to DACs. Even NOS DACs, which almost universally measure poorly when compared to oversampling DACs, have adherents among audiophiles who yearn for an “analog-like” DAC presentation. I’ve also heard two DACs that use the same, standard “off-the-shelf” DAC chip sound quite different from each other because they had different analog circuitry in their analog sections. I’ve seen inexpensive ladder DACs that performed worse than NOS DACs. Implementation still remains the critical element in a DAC’s success or failure. Also, an FPGA DAC can be updated incrementally, or have its operating system completely changed by a firmware update.īut just because a DAC is of one type or another does not mean that it will be inherently better or worse than another kind of DAC design. Over-sampling, digital filters, and the way the DAC works on a very basic level all can be dictated by the firmware in the FPGA. and all Chord DACs use this last methodology.Ĭompared with other DAC designs an FPGA-based DAC has several unique characteristics, the most important being the amount of custom programming and proprietary algorithms that can be applied to a design. ![]() The FPGA can be thought of as a blank slate that can be programmed to perform any function. Finally, we have FPGA DACs, which use a field-programmable gate array chip as their heart. These use older DAC chips with “simpler” internal designs and filters that some audiophiles prefer due to their relative simplicity. The third kind of DAC is an NOS (short for “non-over-sampling” but this could also stand for “new old stock”) DAC. MSB and dCS are two manufacturers who make ladder-based DACs. These are usually expensive due to the high number of critically-matched parts needed to make the design successful. Second are “ladder DACs” which use a resistor array to decode a digital signal. First, there are “chip DACs” that use a modern digital chip made by AKM or Burr-Brown as the heart of their designs. It also arguably offers Chord’s best value, as it includes almost all of the digital “special sauce” found in the maker’s Hugo and Dave models, but in a much smaller, more pocketbook-friendly package.ĭACs come in several basic types. The company’s latest, the Qutest, which replaces the 2Qute and, priced right at $1895, is the middle child of Chord’s DAC lineup. The letter Q has figured prominently in the nomenclature of many of their creations this notion is either clever or quaint, depending on your mood. If we were to rate audiophile firms on the basis of the strength of their brand identities, Chord would be near the top of the list. ![]()
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