Thanks Paul for spending some of your valuable and free time with us! I love your channel and information. I met you at 2019 RMAF. I got to say hi and shook your hand, sat down listened to your display and gear, went back to say bye and snap a quick picture with you and you were gone! Ask my wife, I was so disappointed. 2020 RMAF I'll try again. Anyway, good question and better answer, I have a dac with variable and fixed outputs. I notice when I use the dac's volume control and variable output, it never sounds as good as using it's fixed output and adjusting volume at the pre or integrated amp. I noticed a huge difference in between the two. I liked using the remote volume control on the dac for pure convenience, but then tried fixed and used volume pot at integrated and it made a dramatic difference. I wonder why that is. Like the system came to life and the music had a veil lifted off of it. Suffice to say, I skipped convenience for better sound.

variable output on CDP or DAC is typically not the best sound quality. Should always use FIXED output to preamp.

@jeffadams9699

4 жыл бұрын

100% agree!!!!!! And I just found this out first hand a couple of weeks ago. I have a dac with remote volume control, in fact it takes it one more convenient step further and has an app to control volume and settings right from my iphone. I've always used that method and had the volume pot on my integrated amp at full volume, opened all the way. Then a couple of weeks ago I decided to use the volume pot on the integrated amp, and set the dac to fixed. Man oh man, it was a night and day difference. Like everything came to life and a veil had been lifted off the music. I wonder why it was such a dramatic difference?

@jeffadams9699

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat , so best to go fixed on all sources to a real good pre-amp with a great volume pot right?

@jeffadams9699

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat, So lets say I have a killer dac, have everything, all sources going into that dac and a single set of outs, use a passive pre-amp for volume control and subwoofer hookups? I have been looking into that a lot as well. Passive vs active pre-amps. If it has a remote, it's still passive right? I MUST have a remote! I listen to way too much different genres of music in a sitting to be getting up and down.

Connecting a good DAC is a good idea for all entry and midrange cd players. But high end cd players have good interal DACs. Connecting to the internal DAC prevents timing issues between the laser output/cd transport and the DAC.

My Yamaha receiver in the garage has CD Direct that by passes everything. IMHO most tape monitors is mostly used for EQ's. Sadly there is very few makes that still have this feature.

Great job Paul

Not sure if ALL the analog out on CD players suck, but yes, an expensive dedicated DAC does tend to sound better.

@GREENTICKETRO

3 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat well done man! I have few cd players on my collection,and only i added a good equalizer to my system....and thats all!

@GREENTICKETRO

3 жыл бұрын

yes sound better on specs..in real life....so if you want to spend k for a small jingle more,is your business!I prefer to put a very good equalizer ..is enough for me...i have many tape decks in my collection,with poor specs,but sounding amazing than most modern tape decks!why?Marketing!

Great guy, thank you!

My Marantz CD6006 analogue output sounds wonderful.

@nunofernandes4501

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat of course, and I'd love to have a PS Audio DAC but funds aren´t available right now ;) I have a little Cambridge DacMagic 100 for the HTPC and BluRay player and flac files and it sounds pretty good too, a little warmer than the Marantz, not as detailed but pretty close. It's nice to have these two options with different characters.

Thanks.

My CD player doesnt have a digital out.

Hisense tv….the screen pop up audio fixed and variable….when I clicked on it….the sound doesn’t come on…..and turn my tv off and on and the the menu pops up…,,I do the controls on the tv and doesn’t work……,help me

I'd like to know the difference between weighted & unweighted, particularly when referring to s/n ratio. I've asked several people, even posted in a Facebook group I'm in, & have yet to receive an answer.

@jesusgavemeaids

4 жыл бұрын

Like, what the hell is it?

@paullazarro531

4 жыл бұрын

@@jesusgavemeaids An "unweighted" measurement is done with a voltmeter that has a flat frequency response. A human ear does not have anything even close to a flat frequency response however, it is much more sensitive to some frequencies than to others. This is also amplitude dependent. This makes an "unweighted" measurement useless for comparing how things sound. To make a measurement more meaningful, a filter is used that simulates the human ear frequency response thus making the response of some frequencies count (weigh) more than others. So, a "weighted" measurement is intended to be used to compare how things sound whereas an "unweighted" measurement is the actual value. The S/N can be a little tricky because different manufactures use different methods. Most manufacturers measure on a weighted curve (A-weighted), which means it takes into account what humans can hear, rather than just what measuring instruments can detect. For example, a measuring device can detect noise above 20 kHz, but humans can’t hear it, and are more sensitive to some frequencies than others. An A-weighted spec will always be better than an unweighted spec. Otari’s S/N measurements are unweighted, so at first they look better because their unweighted spec is as good as other manufacturers A-weighted spec. But there’s a catch - they only measure up to 18 kHz, rather than 20 kHz. This cuts out upper frequencies that would otherwise contribute to the unweighted noise measurement.

@marianneoelund2940

4 жыл бұрын

@@paullazarro531 Difference between unweighted random noise with 18KHz BW, and 20KHz BW, is 1dB. You can just degrade the Otari numbers by 1dB to obtain a figure for 20KHz.

Thay dont all suck I have about 7 vintage cd players that would give you a run for your money and I play them on 6 bose 901s a 2.4 kilo watts set up in a unique unorthodox fashion songs sound better then live.

I’m proud to own Ps Audio

how bad idea is to use variable dac output as preamp?

As much as i love the video's you produce. And the excellent information...Geez man just answer the question pleeeeeze instead of waffling on....All the same keep up the good work.

@ratedAD

3 жыл бұрын

He doesn't owe us anything. His videos are informative and fun to watch. Let him do his thing. Most of us find it endearing.

Terry is gonna break in any minute dragging him back home by the ear.

@Crokto

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat some ask pauls from his home theater could be sweet

Hey dad, what’s a CD player, a cassette deck and a preamplifier?

@poserwanabe

4 жыл бұрын

😂🤣😆🤣😂

@graxjpg

4 жыл бұрын

LOL, this question is so silly! “What’s the difference between having volume control and going without?”

@laurentzduba1298

4 жыл бұрын

Five years from now: "Hey dad, what's a Gibson Les Paul?" 🤔

@graxjpg

4 жыл бұрын

Fat Rat are you serious? I think the real answer is “control over volume”

@ThinkingBetter

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat I don't think this virus will be forgotten so quickly. We haven't seen the worst. Airlines, trains, restaurants, cinemas, concert halls, amusement parks, casinos and so on are shutting down rapidly now. Millions of Americans will soon be without work and if 2% of infected people die, it's potentially millions of Americans becoming victims. SARS is still remembered but is nothing in comparison. Actually I was on a business trip staying in Kowloon Hong Kong when that virus became news and the hotel I was staying in had someone infected. I still remember I read the newspaper coming to learn about SARS the first time while having breakfast in that hotel and realized my hotel was on the front page. I had no idea that SARS would turn out to become a global concern at that moment. I ended up becoming quarantined (in another hotel) but didn't get the virus luckily. I remember my thoughts of how I had met people in the elevator and was worried the air-conditioning system could have cross contaminated between the rooms there. It was a much more local crisis than what we see now.

A cheap cd player analog output not so good ! But a higher end CD player thats a different story ,plus your not adding to the signal path with an outboard dac ! I have a cheap cd player so I use an outboard dac , but I would rather have a higher end cd player less distraction Been saving for a Sony ES 5400 its a budget beast !! And Sony builds most physical media cds/sacds bluray 4k bluray. Ask Paul ? What tower speakers do you use in the PS AUDIO recorrding studio? 😆 Super-Fi-Sony 😆

Quad say there is no sound quality difference between fixed and variable output on their CD players.

@Paulmcgowanpsaudio

4 жыл бұрын

Of course they do. But, that doesn't mean it's true.

My CD player has dual 24 bit Burr Brown internal DAC's and sounds excellent through it's analog outputs. Just sayin' 💯

@j.t.cooper2963

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat At 20 years old, my CD player is the newest piece of equipment that I have.

@j.t.cooper2963

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat My stuff is all old, 20-35 years. I still love all of it.

@j.t.cooper2963

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat Eventually, I will have to replace my gear too, nothing last's forever, But it sure has lasted a long time. Excellent investment and all of it was made in Japan, except my speakers which are made in the U.S.

Paul's 'Salesman' personality pops out at the last minute ("Nobody's perfect, Saviik." -- Captain Spock). Shades of Ivor Tiefenbrun. PS Audio sells DACs and they used to sell transports until Oppo pulled the plug on supplying their optical disk mechanism. But contrary to Paul's self-serving proclamation, the DACs and outputs sections in all CD players do not "suck". Some do and some are mediocre, but some are very good and some are excellent.

@stephensmith3111

4 жыл бұрын

@Larry Niles I do not go out of my way to 'disrespect' people. I also fall into the category of "Nobody's perfect, . . ." and I will also admit to having grown snarkier in my old age. But sometimes even usually good guys like Paul will go over the line with blanket statements that spin things inaccurately and in effect 'dis' other people's carefully made choices of kit when he knows better. Sometimes I let such things slide, but in these times my tolerance for hyperbole has grown thin. If this is deemed to be arrogance, so be it. And I will continue to be here on a regular basis and make comments as I think are appropriate.

@stephensmith3111

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat Thanks for the heads up.

"Don't take the analog output of a CD-player, they all suck" = Wow!! Talk about that you and I are as far away from each other as it's possible to bee there.

@jeffadams9699

4 жыл бұрын

Depends on the CD player. But in general, "most" budget and mainstream cd players dac's do suck.

@birgerolofsson2347

4 жыл бұрын

@@jeffadams9699 Perhaps, just that that I've not had any experience with "mainstream players" for over 25 years now.

very stupid question !!! A quick google search had answered your question !! fixed means that it is already adjusted to a fixed adjustment while variable means that something can be adjusted or changed. If you have a CD player with volume adjustment then you can output the audio signal at full power out on the RCA output or through the audio adjustment potentiometer. Portable CD players many times had 2 outputs where one was designed to plug directly into an amplifier

@byrong1561

4 жыл бұрын

I'm sure you are right, but you don't have to be so rude

@ford1546

4 жыл бұрын

@@byrong1561 Sorry. I don't look at it as rude.

@byrong1561

4 жыл бұрын

@@ford1546 No worries. Fundamentally you are right. Let's be honest, many of the questions on this channel could be answered by a Google search, but that is kind of missing the point as we all come come to be entertained to some degree. Paul has an audience with varied knowledge, so what might seem obvious to one person is educational for the next.

@finscreenname

4 жыл бұрын

I think the real reason for the question is because you cant always believe what you read on the net. Take my water heater for example. The other day we were getting air in our hot water lines. Being we use a well when you looked on line it was everything from the check valve to the well running dry. I found like 1% of the answers even mentioned the water heater and even then it was the sacrificing rods in it being the wrong ones. I've had the heater for a couple years now and it just did it so I knew that was not it. The check valve and pressure tank were both a couple months old also. One post out of all I saw mentioned the heating element in a electric water heater on the verge of burning up would do that. The very next day the element in the tank burned up and I replaced it. Problem solved.

@jesusgavemeaids

4 жыл бұрын

Google isn't always helpful. I've been trying to figure out what weighted & unweighted is in regards to s/n ratio... asked around, googled it, & asked in a Facebook group I'm in... still don't know what the hell it is.

This guy is something… never ever cuts to the point The question was clear- so is the answer. But this guy is twisting his tail… Jeez