There is without a doubt inherent compromises with NOS DACs and a good bit of disagreement as to whether those compromises can be worth it. I've heard it's easy and recommended to do. I believe he replaced the DAC's coax jack with a BNC one.
![arta vs truerta arta vs truerta](https://artalabs.hr/images/imp-setup.png)
Not sure how that might affect the measurements I did or how it would affect music playback/what we hear. One fellow posted measurements showing how impedance mismatches across the chain can cause reflections: I also read that many NOS DACs are sensitive to feedback and reflections.
#ARTA VS TRUERTA SOFTWARE#
And, as mentioned, going the software upsampling/oversampling route gives you greater control in picking out the filtering methods. These measurements show little difference in terms of IMD, but I do believe I remember seeing it greatly help clean up the form of sine waves up to 20KHz.
![arta vs truerta arta vs truerta](https://testgear.audiofrog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Screen-Shot-2020-12-31-at-2.18.12-PM.png)
If I'm remembering correctly, many of the inherent issues of a NOS DAC can be mitigated by setting the sampling rate high and either using "HD" music or going the software upsampling/oversampling route (I still forget the technical differences between the two terms, TBH). I would consider loaning it out to some of the more experienced folks around here for more critical listening tests if interested. So far with listening I haven't noticed anything particularly out of the ordinary, but I also can't say I've listened long enough or compared with other gear directly to say that definitively. That said, I'm not sure what to listen for to detect IMD. Well, this certainly does not exhibit what I would call pretty IMD according to measurements.