who exactly is r2r? I’ve seen them referenced, but never looked them up until just now, where I can only find a broken website showcasing a speaker.
r2r, also known as resistor ladder, is a type of dac circuitry that was one of the first ways to make a digital dac to sum it up. It differs from the common sigma delta dac that is mostly used today. There’s alot to go over so I don’t think I could properly explain how it works
https://www.tek.com/blog/tutorial-digital-analog-conversion-r-2r-dac
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thanks. are there any cliff notes you can give me that are the pros and cons of r2r vs sigma delta’s?
oof. I’m going to let someone else explain the pros and cons, because I don’t want to get anything wrong and its pretty subjective if you discuss sound instead of how the tech actually compares. I’m sure you will be able to find people arguing about r2r somewhere on the internet
let me rephrase then. why do people want r2r if it’s old school vs. the more modern sigma delta?
It’s the same question for why do people still like tube amps? Why do people like vinyl? Why do people like older classic cars? Its pretty much just preference. It sounds best to my ears in my system compared to similarly priced sigma delta dacs, and I liked enough to buy it.
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people buy tube amps because of the warmth they give sound. do r2r’s inject warmth as well?
also, when people refer to ladder DAC’s, are they referring to r2r?
R-2R commonly refers to resistor to resistor, also known as resistor ladder dacs.
The dac I have is tuned in a way that gives my system a more warm sound and to me at least a better sense of space and realism, but that probably comes from the tuning rather then the r2r tech itself
Nope, that’s not a “to”, it’s a multiplier, the name refers to the resistance values used at every step of the ladder: R and double-R.
That’s the structure that lets every bit from the digital sample contribute twice the voltage of the previous bit, all adding up to a final analog value that is equivalent to the binary number at the input.
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Thanks for catching that error, I knew I would have one somewhere
what are some examples of R2R DAC’s, besides that one from Drop?
You can get some vintage r-2r dacs that people really like, or modern versions. Both can be pretty expensive though. I can’t think of any older designs off the top of my head, but I’m pretty sure I mentioned common brands somewhere else on this forum
it’s too bad the 887 doesn’t have pre-out’s…that killed it for me. 
it does have a pass through though. You could always get a jbl nano patch + or mackie big knob passive to control the output levels
No, it’s not. I will always call it massdrop. I don’t care what you say!!!
I even renamed it to Massdrop in my browser, even though it defaults to drop.com.
I don’t like change. Get off my lawn!!!
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drop is stupid, it removes any character behind the company and makes them less unique imo. But the products are still pretty good
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I’m not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change lol.
why did they change the name to Drop?
Who knows, I wonder if it was because they got ahold of the domain drop .com
Drop just sounds so generic.