Electronics Overview
Digital to Analog Converter (Outputs)
The PCM 1794 Digital to Analog converter chip is easily one of the best converters available from any company. This chip boasts excellent measurements with a dynamic range of 127dB in this configuration and a THD+N of 0.0004% according to the available information.
It should be noted that the PCM series of DACs are becoming more and more prevalent in modern soundcards.
Analog to Digital Converters (Inputs) - Burr Brown PCM4220
We were amazed to see this quality of an ADC on a consumer level soundcard. This ADC is usually seen in very high end external converters used for recording. Lets go over the specifications and you will see why as this chip offers a dynamic range of 123dB (A-Weighted) and a channel separation of 132dB. This type of input quality is very impressive indeed for a consumer level card at this price point.
Wolfson WM8775
This chip is used for the front panel microphone input analog to digital conversion (ADC).
This ADC offers a SNR of about 102dB A-Weighted at 48 KHz. The THD rating for this chip is about -90dB. This chip is not up to the quality of the other ADC but is more adequate for microphone input for gaming or VoIP applications.
Opamps - JRC211D
These amplifier chips function as current to voltage (I/V) converters. All DAC's are current output parts but many have built in current to voltage sections. As far as audio goes we would prefer having an external I/V section like the Titanium HD has, as it allows more options for the end user to tailor the sound to their personal preference.
LME49710HA
These amplifiers are used as Single Ended buffers on the Titanium HD.
Ah, the famous LM4562...What? Yes, the LME49710 is a part of the same family. We have been using these chips in the G3D audio Lab for a long time to tune our cards for the best sonic performance.
Many audio designers would prefer such a design as dual mono parts are preferred over a single dual part. Greater signal isolation which allows lower crosstalk and this type of configuration just sounds better.
