I saw advice in this thread and agree with it. Go to a dealer, compare and listen for yourself.
The sound quality from DACs - is it all the same?
I've been talking to my cousin brother about sound quality. He is a self-proclaimed expert audiophile. He says that Audio Science Review has all of the answers I will need regarding audio products.
In particular, he says an inexpensive DAC from any Chinese company will do better than the expensive stuff. He says fancy audio gear is a waste of money because the data is already bit-perfect. All DAC chips sound the same. Am I being mislead?
He also said that any DAC over $400 is a waste of money. Convincing marketing is at play here, he says.
He currently owns a Topping L30 headphone amplifier and D30 Pro DAC. He uses Sennheiser HD 569 headphones to listen to music. I'm not sure what to think of them. I will report my findings after listening one day! (likely soon, once I get some free time)
- Jack
- ...
- 232 posts total
Given that DACs contain an analog section, it's pretty clear that they can indeed sound quite different, if that's the intent of the designer. I mean you can tweak, or even omit, the reconstruction filter if you like the way out of band aliasing sounds.Wouldn't be the first time. The question is, do you want one that *has* a distinct sound of it's own? Or one with the most accurate reproduction? The former will be a form of fixed tone control you may not want if you're an equipment junkie and change components frequently. Maybe it fits with the next gear iteration, maybe not. This type of "voicing" is one likely culprit for what I consider to be the "system synergy" canard. Whichever floats your boat. |
Is it possible that if we all listened really close to the speakers that we would want perfect measurements but once we get beyond a certain distance away, that's where components can sound different from one another? In other words, sound waves close to the source look similar or even identical, as confirmed by ASR measurements, but the better sounding gear is designed around sounding better at a certain listening position and in a certain environment? That's why something can sound great at a dealer but not in one's own house and vice versa? The "trick" the component designer is getting paid to implement is making it sound better in room than close to the source, sometimes to the detriment of sound at the source. Maybe the only way to make it sound good in room is to make it look or sound bad at the source, i.e., up close measurements? I really have no idea but just a thought. I think @mahgister understands this more than anyone else on this thread as he is doing the component designer's job in the room, rather than paying the designer to do it for him. |
- 232 posts total