Nice to see more vindication from people passionate enough to keep experimenting and measuring even after being told countless times that “it’s pointless”, “it’s placebo”, “all DACs are already perfect, even cheap ones” yadda yadda:
Myth:
All affordable DAC/amps built around the Cirrus Logic CS43131 or CS43198 are “audibly transparent”.
Reality:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/on-the-distortion-of-cirrus-logic-cs431xx-based-devices-a-comparative-review.63038/
(TLDR: if they have a certain DRE / Dynamic Range Enhancement option enabled, CS431xx chips produce an audible “Cirrus hump” in their THD+N, much worse than the old “ESS hump” that was showing up in the IMD back in the day. And as it happens, a lot of them do.)
FYI,