Dave Duvall

February 1997

REVISION AD (for the Audio Alchemy DTI.PRO 32)

The latest offering in the never ending upgrade path (a concept that I wholeheartedly endorse) of the Audio Alchemy products is the Rev. AD chip for the DTI.PRO 32 jitter reduction / resolution enhancement interface.

Rev. AD stands for "adaptive dither", meaning that the level of dither applied to the signal is constantly changing, and optimized at all times. The amount of computing horsepower required to analyze a digitally sampled signal in real time, must be staggering. In this world though, it all exists on a chip the size of a large peanut. It's plug and play with this latest revision. No technical skill required, nothing to fear. Just need to go slow and be sure not to maim any of the pins when unplugging the old and inserting the new chip.

And Lord have mercy....you're gonna like this deal! The combination of the DDS PRO/DTI.PRO 32/V3.0 connected via I2S, sent me down the path of living without vinyl (till my wallet gets fat one day) when I realized that digital did not have to be lifeless and disappointing. This setup introduced "air" and "bloom" back into the digital presentation. It's this lack of bloom, as well as digital harshness, that keeps many analog folks from considering CD (as we know it) as a viable format. This setup took care of a lot of those concerns.

Revision AD, simply stated, brings MORE air and a further sense of believability to the music. The change is not subtle. With this new chip, my pleasure level has been raised to a point where I seldom worry if I could do better. It helps keep my mind off critical listening (of course only when I'm not working for SoundStage!) and let's me relax into the music. My listening sessions are more therapeutic than ever!

The soundstage also becomes more open and spacious. But as far as this stuff goes the neatest part is, as a friend of mine best described, that the front to rear definition is more of a continuum, and less like vertical planes of sound spaced somewhat evenly apart in the horizontal plane. Events appear anywhere in the field of depth, giving less sense of a fabricated soundfield, and more of a natural occurrence.

Call your Audio Alchemy dealer and order the Revision AD chip. Recent management changes at AA may make locating this upgrade more troublesome than in the past, but certainly well worth pursuing! I confidently say that you'll be impressed, and we all know what that means; MORE TIME WITH THE MUSIC!

....Dave Duvall
dave@soundstage.com

[Editor's Note: As Dave Duvall pointed out in his article, as well as information obtained through the Newsgroups and through various Audio Alchemy dealers, there is indication that Audio Alchemy is encountering serious trouble. Many consumers are reporting having trouble contacting Audio Alchemy and the ability to repair products seems in question. If anyone has information to the contrary we would be happy to publish it. We sincerely hope Audio Alchemy gets through this stumbling block since they have provided the audio world with fine products. However, please do not assume this review is an endorsement to purchase any products. This is simply our opinion using this product. Please use your own judgement if you do decide to make a purchase, whether it be this or any other product.]