Interview with Chord Electronics' Rob Watts - Part 4: Why Up-Scaling is Better and Why MQA is Not

Рет қаралды 8,572

4 жыл бұрын

This is Part 4 of a lengthy interview with Chord Electronics' DAC designer, Rob Watts, a legend in the audio industry and a leader in DAC design theory. I recommend watching Parts 1 through 3 first.
In this episode we discuss why higher sampling rates are beneficial, why reducing noise floor modulation is a big deal, why MQA and similar linear or minimum phase filters are potentially the wrong approach, and whether a Chord M-Scaler is a better upgrade than a Chord Hugo TT2 for someone already using the Qutest.
This series was only made possible by the generosity of Rob Watts who shared his time and knowledge for free and for the betterment of the audiophile community - thank you Rob!
If you enjoyed this video series and want to see more, please remember to subscribe and maybe consider supporting me on Patreon: / passionforsound
PASSION FOR SOUND GEAR LIST
Desktop Sources
Playback software: Roon roonlabs.com/
Primary DAC: Chord Qutest amzn.to/303FAL7
Secondary DAC for active speakers: Topping D50s massdrop.7eer.net/AVbG1 or amzn.to/2T2GExr upgraded with Muses02 op-amp amzn.to/2FtPmNj
USB cables: AudioQuest Diamond amzn.to/35AX4Qf and AudioQuest Coffee amzn.to/3059qiA
Active Speakers
Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 3 Speakers
Amps
Massdrop x THX AAA 789 Amplifier massdrop.7eer.net/J0xWa
Bottlehead Mainline DIY kit tube amplifier bottlehead.com/product/mainli...
Headphones
Open: Meze Audio Empyrean (may or may not be available at this link) amzn.to/2tDs19h
Open: Focal Clear amzn.to/37Ihgky
Closed: AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon (these may have been discontinued)
Closed: Meze Audio 99 Neo amzn.to/2FxOHKQ
Portable
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S10+ amzn.to/37MzTUA
DAC for phone: Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt amzn.to/36AzpAB
Digital audio player: Pioneer XDP-300R amzn.to/2FwGnL5
Earphones
Noble Kaiser 10 custom IEM (discontinued) - universal version available via Drop massdrop.7eer.net/vkaWy
Campfire Audio Andromeda (may or may not be available at this link) amzn.to/39WFxpd
FitEar ToGo! 334
SIMGOT EN700 PRO amzn.to/304xO3R

Пікірлер: 55

@jeffhampton6972 4 жыл бұрын

Oh my goodness, this is seriously some of the best audio related stuff I've seen on KZfaq. Thank you and Mr. Watts SO MUCH for doing this. It was extremely informative and I loved watching it. So many questions answered!! Anyway, have an awesome weekend!

@pewwpew 3 жыл бұрын

This interview series has been a massive eyeopener, having an insight into how DAC's work and the theory behind it from someone so knowledgeable is very interesting!

@jbrownson 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the great interview. I've read a lot of Rob's writings and get a high level gist of what he's saying, but your explanatory interludes helped a few things click that hadn't before.

@gjtube37 2 жыл бұрын

What a great interview and your added commentary was very helpful! Thank you so much!

@lulululu4912 2 жыл бұрын

Brillant from first episode to this one. Thanks you very much for this. Very good and dense info, Rob's work and yours are very good.

@robjuhala5364 3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic interview! I'm new to your channel and I think you do a really great job. Perfect balance of technical detail and explanation.

@TiagrajI 3 жыл бұрын

Very good interview esp on the sampling rate. Thank you

@BentRasmussen 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent interview. And super intereesting material.

@ruudstet3186 4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant interview. I share your opinion that It is remarkable how much different highly knowledgeable technicians approach conversion of digital data. I own a poly/mojo that I really like and several (not very expensive) mqa dacs and renderers that I also like a lot. I don't hear mqa as being veiled or muddy. In fact, room information and small details are great. Only if both stages of decoding and rendering are used, that is. Only doing decoding leaves a half way house feeling.

@vivianvaldi7871 2 жыл бұрын

What Rob Watts says about the optical interface is a bomb & it's free.

@dmartyn3809 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent review. I will be buying the M Scaler & the TT2 Dac combination and then calling it quits!

@ruudstet3186 4 жыл бұрын

Hi. A question: Being in Europe, I would like to contribute financially to your work. I don't want a credit card linked to my Pay pal account, but only want to use Paypal as a debit card for occasional expenditure worldwide. Becoming a patreon to your channel requires a credit card linked to my pay pal account. Is it possible to make a paypal donation, without becoming a patreon? I don't mind not having extra chances in your give-aways, since being in Europe, transport and taxes takes a lot of fun out of winning anything if it would occur. But the depth and clear explanations, especially in the current string of interviews, makes you the go-to channel for learning more about the hobby I like. My compliments.

@ColocasiaCorm 3 жыл бұрын

MMM. MMM.

@JohnLee-db9zt 3 жыл бұрын

Range of human hearing under age 18 is 20-20,000 Hz. For us over 40, we’d be lucky if we could hear past 12,000 Hz. If you are a frequent jazz or rock concert goer, you’d be lucky if you could hear above 8,000 Hz. 😂😝