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End of an era

Paul's Posts — 02 August 2012

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End of an era

The era of the analog preamplifier has come and gone and in its place we have a new class of product: a digital preamplifier – a term that may be new to you.  First, a bit of history.

In days past when analog was king we needed a way to aggregate and control all our analog sources like turntables, tape decks, radio tuners and yes, CD players – as they too became just another analog source – despite the fact you placed a shiny silver digital disc in one end – what came out was analog no different than that of a radio tuner.

But today a growing number of our sources are purely digital in nature: CD/DVD transports, streaming media players, USB out from your computer, NAS drives, USB sticks with music on them etc. and so we also need a central place to aggregate and control all our digital sources.  That class of product is currently called a Digital To Analog Converter or DAC – but it is more appropriately called a Digital Preamplifier – just people haven’t gotten their heads around this major paradigm shift we’re right in the middle of.

So we have moved from the need for managing a group of analog output devices to the need of managing a group of digital output devices.  Central to this new paradigm is a fundamental change: instead of requiring every source to have a built in converter that outputs a proper analog signal, we now move to every source remaining in the digital realm with but a single converter at the output of the device.  In other words, we now have but one analog converter accessed by many digital sources.

In fact, if you think about it, every DAC that’s ever been made was at least a multiple input switching device – where you could connect multiple digital sources aggregated on the rear panel and then select which of those to convert to analog – just like a preamp.  All those earlier DACS lacked, to become a digital preamplifier, was a volume/balance control.  Once that feature was added there was no reason to call it anything other than what it is, a Digital Preamplifier.  Yet we all still cling to the term DAC – DAC with a volume control.

Change is tough but once we see the writing on the wall, we can all start to adjust.

Tomorrow I want to cover how the output stage of an analog preamp is pretty much identical to that of a digital preamplifier, thus removing another possible roadblock in our acceptance of the preamp paradigm in the digital age.

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About Author

Paul McGowan

Paul McGowan is the CEO and co-founder of PS Audio Inc. a Boulder Colorado design and manufacturing company of high-end audio products and services. McGowan has been designing and building high-end products for nearly 40 years. Hobbies include skiing, music, hiking, artisan bread baking, kick boxing and cooking. He lives in Boulder Colorado with his wife Terri and his 4 sons.

(12) Readers Comments

  1. August 2, 2012 at 4:16 am

    I agree with that, Paul. In fact there are a lot of Pro-devices (A-to-D & D-to-A with volume control) from Pro-Audio companies like Cranesong, Crookwood, Lynx, KRK, TC Electronic, Drawmer, Antelope, Weiss,… I’d say that Hi-End is still merely squeezing that small group of old HI-End users (…not buyers, because they practically do not buy beyond a piece per year)… A kind of dying embers of the night. As more and more aficionados are becoming manufacturers for a while they will boost the shrink of Hi-End market… and I have not mentioned the new generation of Chinese products that are coming… get ready: they are mostly true manufacturers and, based on what I can see on their online stores some of them are already ahead of what the european & american Hi-End markets are offering. But, hey… maybe it is time to add some glowing tubes to some DACs… maintenance is also important.

  2. TonyPlachy

    August 2, 2012 at 6:43 am

    Paul, Please get out of whatever office or room you are staying in and talk to audiophiles. I have yet to hear a digital preamp that sounds any where near as good as most analog preamps. It is not about convenience or efficiency or any other such nonsense – IT IS ABOUT MUSIC AND SOUND! Analog just sounds better!

    • August 2, 2012 at 7:58 am

      Tony, I spend my day talking to Audiophiles and I don’t live in a cave – although my wife says something about a pig pen. I have been into analog for perhaps longer than many of you have been alive – old grizzled geezer that I am – and I am not suggesting analog is dead – quite the contrary – you need analog to listen to music! Look guys, I know this is an emotional issue and change is hard to accept – especially when what you have serves you well and works. Someone’s going to have to let you see into the future – how it works where it’s going and why.

      Gentlemen, let us fear not – I am not advocating giving up your guns. :)

  3. straylight

    August 2, 2012 at 7:40 am

    The member TonyPlachy sees deeper into this issue and I can identify with his answer and therefore would like to elaborate on it. Before we considering replacing all those ‘dinasour’ analog preamps out there let’s consider the audiophiles perspective first and ask if any of these ancient devices are still in use and it what way they are serving their masters…

    I own an Audio Research SP-10 preamp, which was rescued from a decaying barn in Pennslyvania a many years ago and was lovingly restored by the meticulous technicains at Audio Research. They told me that this preamp is something special and they would not even consider repairing it unless it was properly shipped and insured for the full retail value. They slaved over it for a full week until they were satsified and even then had to bring back a retired ‘master’ tech from retirement, because none of the new ‘digital’ guys apparently knew what it was supposed to sound like.

    Why all the fuss, you ask? Well, becasue when I place this preamp in front of my SOTA saphire/Clearaudio Vertias cartridge and Souther linear tonearm it does for LPs what the PWD/Bridge does for CD and high-res recordings…it breaths new like into these recordings in a way that drives me to want to listen every day. It tranforms and transcends in a way that I cannot fully explain, but when it comes to this ‘magic’ element…well…I know it when I see it.

    The digital archived files I have created with this preamp match the sound and fury of any digial recording I’ve purchased through HDtracks and other sources. In fact for several recordings that I’ve been able to compare of digital vs. LP source material, for some the analog was a better presentation, more lifelike and deeper and broader soundstage. Why…I don’t really care why, I just want more of it…and when I substitue a Krell 7B preamp transistor for the transcription to digial, all that depth and beauty is gone…poof!

    In the latest archive of Pink Floyd Animals the acoustic guitars float freely in mid-air, Gilmore’s distorted pig-nose amplifier is three feet in front of my nose, I swear the the barking dogs are coming from next door, and those swirling synthesizer notes put goose bumps in the all the right places…

    I’m even willing to admit that I prefer to listen to the PWB/Bridge neat, straight up (no preamp) because I think it sounds better that way, but that does not mean my SP-10 no longer serves a purpose…if fact, my preamp has been the reason, in part, for my fondness of the PWD/Bridge…it enables me to appreciate hundreds of recordings (after clean-up) and hear them in a way that provides a lasting impression, a permanent preservatrion of my audio history in a superlative way.

    So you see, you might be able to get my SP-10 out of the loop by prying it from from cold dead hands, but doing that with a digital equivalent will not be easy. I’m not sating it can’t be done and if anyone can accomplish such a feat it might be Paul his PS Audio team.

  4. hahax

    August 2, 2012 at 8:32 am

    I’m an old audio geezer too, going back to the mid 60s and the thought of losing the traditional preamp bothers me a lot too. But if I think about it the preamp has already changed. It’s become line level only at the high end. It’s lost lots of control functions in the name of purity(please bring back the volume control and stereo/mono switch). And in a world of multiple digital inputs as primary, why pay for more than one good DAC with a minimum of conversion from bits to analog. But please keep a couple of old fashioned high level inputs. I still own a tuner and a lot of old LPs.

    • August 2, 2012 at 9:26 am

      I have them as well and really feel a hybrid approach will be best for the next 5 or so years as we transition.

  5. Tom

    August 2, 2012 at 10:47 am

    While you’re working on preamp design for the digital age, I want to repeat my suggestion that the balance control should be a fader with full mono out of the left channel at one rotation and full mono out of the right channel at the other end. The dual-volume paradigm was never correct.

    And it looks like an analog to digital converter circuit with appropriate back panel (and maybe even front panel) inputs should be included, too.

  6. Undilutedigital

    August 2, 2012 at 11:34 am

    Now for something different: Paul, you aren’t being radical enough. The digital preamp is a transitional device and may not live that long. If you have a digital source, there is really no reason to EVER have analog in your signal chain until you hit the speaker terminals if your amplifier is itself digital (Class D). NAD has done exactly that with their well-reviewed M2 and now have lower-cost follow on products. NuForce just introduced this week an all-digital amp, the DDA-100, at the aggressive price of $549. I know there are some major technical challenges with this approach, especially in taming the out-of-band high-frequency energy. But it looks like the challenges are getting solved. Seems to me that thats’s the real wave of the future. DACs and the digital preamp become dodos.

  7. oliver T. Finch

    August 2, 2012 at 11:48 pm

    what gos up must come down. If digital is replacing analogue then decline has set in as far as the quality of sound is concerned. It’s all about the quality of reproduced music and nothing to do with volume of sales or convenience. People who can appreciate the difference between analogue sound and digital sound will never buy digital. When it comes to reproduced music digital is not a match for analogue at present and won’t be as long as it is based on the principal of fooling the senses. Surely a lot of people will buy digital but that is because they cannot tell the difference.In fact such people would be wasting their money if they spend it on more expensive analogue preamps. One advantage of digital is that it is very cheap to produce and can mean a hefty profit for the producer. This makes it attractive to producers. Also, if a person is brought up on mediocrity that person will go on believing it to be best. Sorry state of affairs. Regards.

  8. oliver T. Finch

    August 3, 2012 at 12:13 am

    CD was supposed to have rung the death knell of analogue almost thirty years ago but analogue is alive and well and in fact it is gaining in popularity It is CD which is in danger of coming to an end. Lovers of analogue are fact based people and therefore form a diehard community while the lovers of CD are convenience lovers and change sides as soon as something more convenient comes along. To them convenience comes first. Quality of sound is a distant second. I listen to CD’s in the car or when I need background music. It is convenient. Regards.

    • roko62

      August 3, 2012 at 6:12 pm

      Hello folks,
      I am German, so please excuse my bad English. In my opinion, the problem is not the gear we use to reproduce music, but the source itself. In fact, from monitoring desk to the speakers, digital technology is superior to analog technology in canning music. But all technology is just as good as the humans who use it and always depending on what the user has in mind. I am 50 years old and I have heard many badly produced vinyls and many excellent CDs et vice versa. There always have been trends, fashions and special needs influecing the production of music. Remember the early 80s, when music often was mixed and mastered for use in discotheques, considering the special acoustic features of large, crowded rooms (Try to listen e.g. to Hall & Oates, Ooh yeah!). Nowadays, mixing- and mastering-engineers are forced to produce music for consumers who listen to music in cars or with cheap stereo gear at home. They have to be quick and they have much more fast digital procedures to “play” with and – my assumption – most of them are less educated in music and acoustics. Listening to “Adele” or “Lana Del Rey” etc., with reasonable equipment will illustrate my point. Just horrible. Today, the keywords of desaster are sound compression and loudness. My stereo is a mix of old and new stuff, old (refurbished) Wega Lab Zero preamp and Yamaha B-2x amps drive rather good DIY horn speakers and are feeded with moden networkplayer, cd-player and good old Thorens turntables. I have “magic moments” with each of the sources. And believe me, a properly produced 96/24 file can easily outperform even a very good produced vinyl record. In the end, output just depends on the virtuosity of sound editors and engineers. So, as a conclusion, even if Paul is right with his prediction, digital preamps will not be the problem. As consumers, we have to motivate the vendors to produce music in premium quality. Or, simply said: garbage in – garbage out! Regards.

      • August 4, 2012 at 7:25 am

        I sure don’t think anyone’s going to argue with you on this. You are right.

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