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Is this good audio equipment?

Audio Equipment: What, if anything, makes Burr-Brown ICs sound good?

  • Burr-Brown have a long-standing reputation for making ICs (DACs and op-amps) that "sound good".  Is there any technical reason for this? (They are now owned by TI, but they still have audiophile credibility - I just connected an "audiophile" Music Fidelity V-DAC and it identified itself as "Burr-Brown from TI USB Audio DAC", for example).

  • Answer:

    Burr-Brown do have a good reputation. Three things make an analogue circuit 'sound' good': (1) Linearity. If the output is not a linear function of the input you will get harmonic distortion (not very noticeable) and, with complex signals, intermodulation (horribly noticeable if the input frequencies are not all harmonically related, as is the case with most real sources). (2) Noise. At low signal levels, thermal and other types of noise become significant. Such noise can create an 'uncomfortable' feeling long before it is consciously perceptible. (3) Stability. Linear circuits depend on a constant reference point to output a truly linear signal.  A circuit that has other than zero impedance in its internal supply rail will shift its reference point dynamically as the signal changes. This is noticeable as transient intermodulation distortion (TID) where the amplifier is starved of current during sudden signal peaks. B-B have obviously worked hard to achieve good performance in all these areas.

Roger Bridgman at Quora Visit the source

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ICs are only part of the equation that makes equipment. If done right, there shouldn't be a difference between brands as such. By far the biggest difference in audible quality between various brands of CD players and DACs is the output level. Ideally this should be at 2V, then you won't be able to tell a Wadia from a Samsung in a blind test. I do realize this is blasphemy, however double blind testing doesn't lie. In short, Burr Brown have their shit together technically. There are no other reasons than technical for them to perform well.

Bert Cattoor

There are complexities in DACs such that if the design is poorly done, the resultant signal contains some distortion. it relates to many design factors which I won't cover much here, but there are some good ladder designs and some poor ones. Switching times and settling times affect quality too. And proper filtering of the output also is critical. Sometimes also one has to take into account not only second-order but third-order effects of an architecture. One of my buddies at Dolby I think wrote papers on this. You might find them in Audio Engineering Society conference archives.

Robert Stone

The answer depends on whether or not one believes in science or magic. Being scientifically minded, I would state that there are only technical reasons for a given IC to perform well, or poorly. Burr Brown have focussed their efforts at designing very high quality audio silicon, and their reputation shows it.

Gordon Wait

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