Pure Piper A-1 DAC review

Soundcards and Speakers 106 Page 4 of 9 Published by

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Testing

 

RMAA

RMAA has become a staple in most audio reviews, graphing to measured signal quality of the card.  It should be understood by the reader that any measurements presented are the sum of both the unit being tested and the devices doing the measurements.  We connected this DAC to a Pro recording audio interface for our RMAA audio measurements.

Frequency Response

Pure Piper A-1 DAC Review

This graph shows the output signal characteristics of the Titanium HD.  The more linear the graphed line is the more transparent and neutral the cards audio output is. variances in the graph would produce coloration in that particular frequency range producing output higher or lower than the remaining frequencies.  The PurePiper A-1 DAC module produced excellent frequency response results providing a very flat response.

Notes on above Graph: We have noticed that RMAA has difficulty with scaling on the frequency axis when graphing multiple bit/depths and sample rates.  The results are accurate when viewed on their own but the axis scaling is incorrect when comparing one to the others. We have contacted the RMAA authors and hopefully it will be fixed in upcoming revisions of this application.

Noise Level

Pure Piper A-1 DAC Review

The above graph shows the level of noise present in the devices output signal. There will always be some level of noise present in any audio device but in many cases the level is so low that it is not audible to the human ear.  The PurePiper A-1 DAC module produced excellent noise measurements during these tests.

 

Dynamic Range

Pure Piper A-1 DAC Review

This graph shows the card's operating range and the graphs illustrate the lowest and highest range the device is capable of producing accurately.  The PurePiper A-1 DAC module produced an excellent dynamic range across the tested ranges.

 

THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)

Pure Piper A-1 DAC Review

The above measurements illustrate how much Total Harmonic Distortion and Noise is present in the devices output signal. Harmonic distortion presents itself as multiple odd and/or even harmonic overtones in the original signal.  Lower measurements are what we are interested in here and the PurePiper A-1 DAC module produced very low THD+N measurements across the tested ranges

 

Intermodulation Distortion

Pure Piper A-1 DAC Review

The above graph shows the measurement of IMD.  This type of distortion results from multiple signals being mixed together and producing distortion in the form of overtones that are not harmonically linked to any of the base signals. Lower values are preferred for any type of distortion tests and the PurePiper A-1 DAC module produced excellent results through the test sets.

 

Cross Talk

Pure Piper A-1 DAC Review

This graph is a measurement of the bleed-through effect from one stereo channel to the other. The lower the measured crosstalk values are the less bleed through.  In our test set the PurePiper A-1 DAC module produced great results.

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