What I would really love to see is AVA HiFi collaborate with a chip manufacturer / specialist such that the actual DAC portion (of the AVA DAC) could be improved, while retaining the AVA analog processing after the actual DAC. Stated differently, a single 16 bit, 4x oversampled DAC (for two channels) cannot compete with bigger, better, faster, and more powerful chipsets in converting bits to a waveform. Period. This is the nature of digital technology; one blinks, and things become obsolete. However, waiting around for a bit usually allows a paradigm to plateau, creating a law of diminishing returns relative to technology vs. task performance. But with that said, a single 16 bit 4x oversampling chipset may not be at that plateau.
First off--separate chips for separate channels. Using 1 chip for stereo essentially causes interpolation issues. Second-- upsample 16 bits to 24 bits, thus allowing (exponentially) better resolution via antialiasing (i.e., Analog Devices AD1896). Third--use a DAC at 196KHz and 8x oversampling (i.e., Cirrus CS4398 DAC). Finally--this type of digital processing does not lend well to hand soldiers; throw it all on a board and let technology take care of the connections. There are companies that solely provide this type of services @ low production quantities. (And what would really be killer would be added flexibility, such as the ability to read uncompressed music files burned onto a DVD or off of a portable MP3 player... but that's just icing on a cake.)
The purpose of a DAC is to use math to convert a bunch of 0s and 1s into an analog waveform. And when it's in a mathematical realm--algorithms, resolution and processing speed really do count. Converting the bits to a waveform is where the pencil-necked geek in a chip lab excels.
But what is done after the waveform is created is where AVA excels; analog designs that are second to none. Nobody with a brain would ever argue this point.
Why not marry the two and get the best of both worlds?
