[sdiy] uLaw DACs in the modern era?

[rburnett at richieburnett.co.uk]

I suspect that a lot of the perceived "punch" in the sounds of early 
digital drum machines is down to the same sorts of processing applied to 
the acoustic drum recordings before sampling that we would apply to 
drums these days to obtain a more punchy and "produced" sound.  Namely, 
things like dynamic range compression with artistically chosen 
attack/release times, gating, dynamic EQ, etc.  Oversights in the 
recording process like allowing a fair degree of clipping also make 
things sound a lot harder too.  Heavy clipping is not uncommon in the 
samples of these early drum machines!

-Richie,