Paul…Would there ever be a chance of a stripped down version of the DS Sr. without the display (similar to the Jr. in aesthetics)
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No plans for it, but it’s always something to consider. It wouldn’t save much money.
The best solution would be to switch to a display without PWM dimming. Maybe the next DS?
PWM dimming is hated by many when used on computer monitors, too. It gives many people eye fatigue. Most higher end monitors don’t use it at all, or only use it if the brightness is under a certain value.
Thanks Paul for the explanation. PWM as a trigger… And I thought, how can a light bulb and a few resistors affect the sound… When does pwm-control not work? When the lighting is completely off, or when it is 100% bright? And can you do it so that with “light off” the pwm-control is completely switched off?
When I had my DS on the scope way back when I noticed that display injected a lot of noise back into the power supply that, if I recall correctly, also feeds the input board. (I could hear it by ear with the lid off.) The amount of noise goes down considerably with the display off. I did a small mod to remove the display from that regulator circuit, using a separate 5V regulator to feed the display.
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Interesting problem that I had no idea of being a non engineer. There are a number of articles online about the problems of PWM re computer monitors and audio. My DS setting is partially dim, but if it made a difference in sound, I could live with a light that’s off, comes on with the touch of a remote button, then returns to off. It would be a bit of an inconvenience, but whatever makes for good sound. Perhaps it’s good that I keep the P15 screen fully dimmed.
Hope you do consider it. Though the DS Jr. is always there as a fallback.
On a side note, since I acquired the SGCD and the M700’s, I have been spending more time listening to, and enjoying music. For that I thank you and your team.
Wow this is strange! I usually have 100% or dark but I tried it now dimmed (had to search for that option) and indeed sound is also dimmed. Crazy! While I’m not sure it would affect differences between firmwares, I’m sure some I’ll have quite an improvement now.
The settings are low, medium and high right?
Are you saying you previously had it either at high or low?
I just checked and mine is at medium. So that would correspond to you having it dimmed right?
No, I usually had it off and sometimes 100%
OK so 100% is high (or is there another way to get it to 100%?) and you turn it off by pressing the DIM button on the remote correct?
So no difference between display at 100% and off?
Correct
Does all this go for the DSJ too?
In theory, probably as they both have circuitry to make the display work but the two are very different technologies. However, the Jr. could certainly use a PWM dim (rapidly flash with less and less duration).
Seems safe to say, any display is best off vs. active as it cannot enhance fidelity.
Now I hope the DSD update is not released today.
The DMP 3.10 update was just released.
I would not upgrade both the DSD and DMP simultaneously.
I kinda like Paul’s first instinct - nuke the dimmer and ship!
Off course, ship it! Nice that it is discovered that the display had influence. I have another one: if you have reading spectacles, put them down while listening, it improves your sensitivity for resolution, really!
Berlin
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Also affects the sound hitting your head/alters your HRTF.
Second advice, I have my NUC on top of my directstream. After the mentioning of the display influence, I decided to wrap my Nuc in aluminum sheets. There was a change, very positive. Like the life of brian: its a miracle. Although it is friday night here, a glass, no i mean bottle of spanish 3.9 abadal wine here, we both noticed the difference. Happy listening.
Try physical separation if practical, much more effective than a sheet of aluminum.
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