Is low cost DAC worth it?

So I purchased the Schiit Bifrost DAC and feed it with the optical output from my Apple Airport Express. If it’s DAC is better than the Airport Express then we will hear the difference. I would say when doing A/B comparisons for a month there is a little improvement, but it is not substantial.

Then I switched to a Wiim Pro Plus and connected it to Qobuz for Hi Res files.   It sounds okay, but not any better than Apple music through the Schiit DAC. So next I’m going to try connecting the Wiim to the Schiit DAC to see if that provides anything different. But for now I can say the Wiim Pro Plus is not any better than an old Apple Airport Express DAC.

Sorry to hear you are not getting much of an improvement. Sounds like your system is not resolving enough to make the difference obvious. Hopefully, you can return the stuff.

+1 @ghdprentice Running Toslink from an Airport Express should be a pretty low bar, and I’d hope running the Wiim to the Bifrost would provide a notable improvement. I’d recommend trying a decent SPDIF cable instead of optical, and this one is good and doesn’t break the bank, and you can return it via Amazon if it doesn’t work out (just make sure you follow the direction arrows if you get it because they’re critical)…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N29180M/ref=twister_B01N5VTR89?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

This does beg the question though, what’s the rest of the equipment in your system?

I'm definitely going to try the SPDIF cable.    For the comparisons we were going back and forth between an NAD 2400 Amp and a McIntosh 225.  And for speakers we were switching between Lynnfield 975s and LaScala speakers.