looking over some specs of HU's, particuly the DAC whereas SQ known eclipse use 1bit DAC unless you pay mega $$$, and others use 24bit, now i just wanna know what it directly effects, and is it a major issue? or even noticable?

bigger isnt better unless you listen to the marketing dept. its like saying left handed is better than right handed or that red makes a car faster. The number of bits has no relationship to sound. With Dacs its all about the curcuit around the dac chip, despite what many a marketing dept may have you believe. A bigger number is just easier to sell. Forget the specs and just listen would be my advice...<<< is over getting bogged down with useless specs. Hell if I thought specs mattered there would be no way Id pay $3000 for an amp, as many cheaper amps have bigger numbers in specs, but I dont spec my amps/system, I listen to it
peace
Cyberpunky

Read these threads on 1 bit vs 24 bit.. there is much stuff you have to wade through but you'll see that 24 bit is well worth it in terms of processing..

CP is right that the processors also have to rely on circuitary around them, but you may as well start off with something decent at the core of your unit..

I personally believe that as much success as there has been with 1 bit dacs with sufficient oversampling, there is nothing that substitutes 20/24 bit processing..
eg Clarion DRX9255, DRZ9255, HX-D2, Nakamichi CD700, Alpine F1 status, Eclipse 8061 , 8550, Pioneer P9 etc etc etc..

http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/showthread....?threadid=77272
http://forums.nzicemag.co.nz/viewtopic.php?t=3803
http://forums.nzicemag.co.nz/viewtopic.php?t=2923
http://www.carsound.com/UBB/ultimatebb.php...t=006040#000000

In a normal car driving environment will the diferrence be noticeable though?? I know i wouldn't want to go to my car all the time when i'm at home just to listen to the music.

in driving you will not really notice the difference for normal listening, between a top-shelf 16 bit/44.1kHz DAC and a normal 24 bit/96kHz DAC.

also note that some less expensive H/U use 24bit DAC, I have the Pioneer DEH-P9650
it has Burr-Brown 24 bit/ 192kHz 6 channel DAC in it.
(the radio and line-in/cd changer is converted to digital internally via a 24/96 ADC prior to processing).

It's funny, because my car stereo is better than my home stereo, i do sit in the car to listen from time-to-time.

But if we consider all things, then we wouldn't chuck silly money into our rides on equipment that is up to scratch - we'd just spend money on "something that goes" and works sufficiently - but thats not the point of car audio and car audiophiles is it now??

Sure we have to contend with a bad acoustic environment and external environmental noises that enter the environment, but i prefer to have something that is up to what my standards are.. not some budget crap that "somewhat" sounds good.. and if you spent enough time in traffic or one the road then you'd want something that sounds damn right decent..

Its like anything.. why does a couple need to buy a house with 4 bedrooms when their is only 2 of them, why does a cricketer chuck a ball to some other person who just tries to hit it away.. we are we so crazy to stick better audio equipment into an environment that sucks for audio.. its all relative

Spending **** load of money on home audio yield a better result, but then again you can't compromise your ear while driving the car either .
My friend once tease my by playing 24 bit CD audio on my CD player which has no 24bit chip, just wouldn't work

you spend more money in the home audio environment than you would in the car audio environment.. but to each their own - i don't blink at dropping $800 on some speakers for the car, yet i'll blink that much when it comes to laying down the dosh for home audio stuff..

Back on topic - read the threads i provided Hill Billy - there is sufficient info to give you a small headache and for you to consider the advantages and disadvantages of 1 bit vs 1 bit w/24 bit resolution vs 20 bit vs 24 bit..

thanks for the help! read about half a page and that small headache is coming! lol

now my question is how do you know if your DAC is 24bit reso 1bit dac or true 24bit DAC, but this has truley made me aware of the JVC models in particular that the sales guy would claim as 24bit dac, which are nothing of the kind

Easy - JVC don't have 24bit processors on any of their models..
They use a multi bit DAC but they have never had 24 bit DACs to my knowledge.. mind you, most JVC's sound pretty darn good with their 24 bit resolutions

ahh crap, my unit aint JVC i got eclipse 5425 lol

The new models, like the exad series, have 24-bit burr-brown DACs...

Interesting comment, DeeCee. What do you mean that they have 24 bit resolutions but not 24 bit DACs?

Pft - whatever... JVC have a 24-bit resolution Burr-Brown 1-bit DAC - please note the use of burr brown is marketing only.. if Burr Browns were in JVC then the units would be much more expensive and the JVC units would be shouted from the rooftops as the next great units with the likes of the top end denon, naka's, clarions and alpines..

JVC claim that they get Burr Brown processing with a 1 bit DAC.. basically the multi processing of JVC's 1-bit DAC provide the "sound" of 24 bit burr browns..

and to DACs and resolutions, please read the threads i provided earlier..

Chur..

I get ya! Thanks for enlightening me =)