Thread: Grimm audio company comes out of the DSD closet

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Post by Fitzcaraldo215 December 9, 2014 (91 of 93)
tailspn said:

Switch mode power supplies (SMPS) suffer the same bad rap as screw top wine bottles. It's/they're superior technology, but most generally applied to the cheapest products.

...

Tom - thanks. I lack your engineering know how. But, I am glad to see that with a knowledgable, technically savvy opinion, my skepticism about heavy, inefficient linear power supplies was not totally misplaced.

The ExaSound DACs speak for themselves sonically. I am not saying they are the best in existence. But, in the Mch e28 package, they are really, really good. Perhaps it is not the equal of your Meitner setup. But, it is clearly steps above where I was sonically. I can be happy for a long time with this sound.

Come on down to Philly sometime for a listen. I will gladly serve wine from a screw top bottle, as I frequently do. To me, it is the taste of the wine that is important, not the bottle or the cap.

Post by trntbl December 10, 2014 (92 of 93)
Fitzcaraldo215 said:

If you would feel better with a linear power supply brick, there are some compatible ones available for a few hundred $. I question whether that is a magic bullet or that one philosophy is inherently better than another. Plus, are all wall warts alike, such that the use of one is an automatic kiss of death? Perhaps George should have hidden his wall wart in a big, shiny box, but I credit him with too much honesty and integrity to have done that.


For a parallel, please see the thread in this forum about Class D switching amplifiers. Some are "allergic" to all switching amps, lumping them all together based on little or no comparative listening. Others by listening find no correlation in sonics by amplifier class, switching vs. non-switching.

I have found out that dacs are extremely sensitive to power supply design. All good ones I've tried came with pretty massive implementation. If there is better power supplies available for e28, that's good. My point was that in e28 price level you expect a ps thats pretty high level from the beginning.

I'm not claiming that switch mode power supply is worse than linear in this case, I have heard good dacs with both desings.

Post by Fitzcaraldo215 December 10, 2014 (93 of 93)
trntbl said:

I have found out that dacs are extremely sensitive to power supply design. All good ones I've tried came with pretty massive implementation. If there is better power supplies available for e28, that's good. My point was that in e28 price level you expect a ps thats pretty high level from the beginning.

I'm not claiming that switch mode power supply is worse than linear in this case, I have heard good dacs with both desings.

Thanks, trntbl. If interested, the most complete forum on ExaSound DACs is here:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/exasound-e18-e20-e28-info-and-experiences-post-all-here-17190/

It also includes many in depth explanations by the designer himself of his approach. There are many user reactions to different power supplies buried therein, but George takes no position on them, positive or negative (ouch, pardon my corny attempt at humor).

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