[Elecraft] Which Audio Filter Kit?

[Dale Boresz]

Hello Jim,

I've owned my 746PRO for about 3 years, and my K2/100 S/N 3039 w/ all 
options for a little over 2 years, so I feel qualified to render an 
opinion here. I'll start by saying that although the 746PRO is a nice 
rig, it's no match for the K2 for CW, which is my primary mode of 
operation. For that reason, the K2 has been my primary rig ever since I 
built it, and I pretty much keep the 746PRO around for use as a 
reference for frequency accuracy, and as a monitor when testing things, 
such as mod's to the KSB2, or more recently, to monitor the output of 
the XV144 transverter.

As for the K2, I had always been a fan of the KAF2, but, IMHO the 
versatility of the KDSP2 makes it a much more useful option. The NR 
performance of the KDSP2 is better than that of the 746PRO, plus it is 
more configurable. The DSP bandpass filtering of the KDSP2 is very good 
as well, and I use it at times, but my primary usage of the KDSP2 is for 
noise reduction, at which it excels. Although the high 'Q' of the KAF2's 
filter provides a very nice peaking effect, the KDSP2 filter, when 
adjusted for a 50Hz bandwidth, sounds very similar. Plus, you have the 
option of selecting a 'softer' filtering algorithm, which I particularly 
like with the narrower bandwidth settings.

So, in my opinion, the KDSP2 offers far more performance and 
versatility, and is worth the extra money.

73, Dale WA8SRA

Jim Harris wrote:

>...  My question today is how much difference is there in
>performance between the KDSP2 and the KAF2?  Is the
>KDSP2 worth the extra $140?  I'm been using an
>IC-746pro for about a year and a half so I am familiar
>with the use of a DSP.
>  
>