Do All DACs Sound the Same?

[@rossheard9446]

I have owned several DAC's and spent endless hours jumping between them using the same gear and tracks to identify any sort of difference whatsoever. So far....nothing. Where there is a difference and IMO the better way to go would be EQ. Pick a decent DAC and AMP and be done with it....if you want change or to mess around with the sound just EQ to your particular taste.

[@sudir_ebi]

What would be decent dac/dongle for a iem user like me .

[@Joel-m777]

I noticed my schiit bifrost 2 sounded different to my previous sabre chip dac. I noticed a bigger difference when I upgraded to a holo spring 3 dac. It makes a difference but the rest of your system needs compliment it. No point having a fancy pants dac when you are feeding it into a mediocre amp and speakers. In my experience I have achieved more of an improvement upgrading my amp and speakers and to a lesser degree the cd transport or streamer.

[@jonfairway8235]

All chips from the same potato are alike ... but the oil they are cooked in and the cooking duration change the taste ...

[@theonlyegg]

That actually makes some sense.

[@DearSX]

Personally I have had over half a dozen DACs/integrateds $100-$2k, even full digital amps, and I can hardly tell them apart.

[@michaelb9664]

That’s because they are audibly transparent. Sadly channels like this one just talk utter nonsense.

[@MOOeymania]

lol

[@audioarkitekts]

That's a good problem to have.

[@nc3419]

I can tell them apart, sometimes very subtle. What I respond to are resolution, detail, tone and stage depth. I can give up some for better depth of stage and tone. Another issue is voltage output as I use lower powered amps so a good dac might sound lacking if the volume can't be pushed enough at least without adding a suitable preamp. A sweet spot for price to performance I ended up with was the D70s and an Aune X8 with upgraded sparkos opamp and an Aune linear PS. Both perform similar but the Aune with the upgrades push slightly past it. The stock Aune sounds like a $300 more or less dac, IMO and personal experience. Spending alot more on a dac wouldn't make sense unless I get much better equipment across the board and room treatment which quite frankly, I am satisfied with what I have although there is some equipment I would like to have/try but at a substantial outlay, like around 7 grand. Perhaps someday, for now, its good enough.

[@connorduke4619]

State of ears, speakers, amplifiers, cables can all impact this situation...

[@izzuezmusic]

Stop spreading lies for content

[@ptg01]

Not that complicated... NO ! The analog stage matters !

[@NeilBlanchard]

Yes - *and* the pre-filtering of the digital signal matters. And the quality of the clocks, and as mentioned the power supply.

[@carminedesanto6746]

Everything matters …in small amounts..but like any good recipe..the whole is only possible when all components are correct.☕️👍🍕🥓🔥

[@thunderstar254]

Mmmm 🍕🥓🤤

[@stancanadmapleleaf]

this deserve 1 million view, so much people talking trash everywhere on internet like dac are secret or a taboo, shame it's wasn't ever well said too much confusion about dacs

[@audioarkitekts]

Thank you very much!

[@nelsono4315]

in all honesty I don't know if I can tell the difference between different DACs. I have the Denafrips Ares 2 and am quite happy with it. Thanks for the video!

[@audioarkitekts]

That's an excellent DAC! 👏

[@theonlyegg]

I'd like one of you audiophile KZbinrs to put together a compilation video of the same song played on multiple DACS where the rest of the audio chain remains the same. Sure, there'd be KZbin compression, but if there really is an audible difference, shouldn't it still be there on the video if everything else is equal? I can't find a single one on KZbin.

[@bikdav]

This isn’t news. I’ve heard noticeable differences in DACS regardless of price.

[@thinkIndependent2024]

Then you have a great ear & a system that can reveal it!!! Congrats in both areas typically you can connect to Abstract Thinking and concepts

[@framegrace1]

Clock Jitter is just a remain of an old long past era..... to generate jitter on any new system, you almost need to do it on purpose. (Even the cheaper of the cheap processors have enough speed to drive a DAC, and the cheaper crystals have jitters on the picosecond region)

[@thinkIndependent2024]

Ok MIKE!!!! You are the zone!! Please continue to let the best things flow through you. You have a gift from the creator... Keep some things like this in your CUE!!!! And you can be a Top Dog that leads to a future Legend... What to you need to go & review Tekktons flagship speaker @ his office?

[@audioarkitekts]

Thank you so much for the kind words. Eric doesn't live too far from me so perhaps I should do that!

[@thinkIndependent2024]

@@audioarkitekts I built some low noise power for my Pi and found 5.21 volts caused loss of detail in highs and 4.86 collapse the sound stage.. And the right OpAmps can give you( Shoot the Moon sound) Your Fans would Love what you bring a review of that product good or bad I think he would also

[@calvinnapier9977]

What's your opinion on dac breakin and other gear? I do believe in it. I'm letting my new Geshelli J2S play without listening to it, using my CD player. By the way I have a Audiolab 6000cdt coming tomorrow. I watched your reviews on these 2 pieces of gear.

[@enriqueali]

Are there ANY female audiophiles/ audio enthusiasts? I know they exist for cars, and for watches. Those are both mechanical/ highly engineered products that have evolved (in public perception at least) to also be regarded as 'lifestyle' products. Certain audio products seem to be going that same route: headphones/ IEMs come immediately to mind. But the hobby still seems to be overwhelmingly male.

[@ganymedevisuals8576]

Why does it matter other than virtue signalling?

[@mikecampbell5856]

I guess saying all DACs with the same chip sound the same would be like saying all amps with the same output transistors sound the same. No!

[@randomsuper]

choosing a dac can be frustrating. my listening room is dedicated to physical media but i want to test the waters of the streaming world without a significant financial investment. i plan to use a wiim streamer and an smsl su-1 dac. the dac decision has keptme on the fence. topping and schitt have great options in the price range and i want to make sure i get the best option. any recommendations?

[@terenceyow]

Can’t go wrong with those choices. No downside. Go for it!

[@Yiannis2112]

@randomsuper It's a wise decision to go for lets say introductory level gear, at first. The SU1, the new Topping E30 II Lite and the older D10S, the Schiit Modi+, are all very good sub $120 or so, DACs. However, I'd consider something with its own internal power supply. The SMSL SU6 at around $175, would be my preference, since its the only one with internal ps in the sub $200 category, but also a very good machine on its own. If we're talking DAC/headphone amp combos, the SMSL D12 and iFi Zen Air at $145 and 100. For me however, at $210, the new SMSL DL200 is a no brainer. But it might be above the money you wanna spend for a DAC/amp. The Wiim Mini or the Pro version is the way to go for a budget streamer. Of course, for around $220, you can go all in one (streamer, DAC, preamp) and get an Arylic S50 Pro+.

[@Dankzzz]

You forgot the fraze -Sounds the same if the Dac is properly built…😂

[@NateEll]

That’s not true either as there can be multiple implementations of the same core component

[@Dankzzz]

@@NateEll I was Ironic.

[@arijitgayen644]

Noo

[@j.t.cooper2963]

👍🏻😎