What about all those Chinese DACs?


It seems like everywhere I look, there are DACs from China that have these amazing specs on paper. SNR: >133 dB; THD: 0.000004%;

Dynamic Range: 124dB. If you really think about it, these were specs that almost didn't exist outside of pro-audio gear. A lot of these units have chips from ESS, Cirrus Logic, Texas Instruments and very sophisticated conversion circuitry.

So, my question is, what do you all think?

usatran

I never made the quote above about the 124dB dynamic range! Don't attribute it to me!

@goodlistening64 - Unless Mahgister is acting on behalf of the US government, the first amendment has nothing to do with any of this; it just says what the government supposedly can or can't do if it chooses to pay any attention to the law.

@goodlistening64 +1.I generally think that personal insults say much more about the attacker than the target, but its the internet and I'm sure I've been guilty of typing faster than I think. When there is an easy choice, I avoid Chinese gear and Russian gear as well. I do that for my own reasons and its none of my business what others do, certainly not for me to judge. Some things are a little more complicated than labelling it with "stupid." which in the realm of speech, is little more than a grunt.

With that said I don't have a lot of experience with most Chinese gear, but have spent some time with the FiiO headphone stuff. Seems to be well built, attractive, and functional. Not the best I've heard, but certainly a reasonable cost/benefit proposition. I'm sure Chinese gear will continue to improve, if that's your cup of tea.

The Thucydides DAC Trap?

 

The Thucydides Trap is a political theory stating that when a rising power threatens to displace an established ruling power, the resulting structural stress makes war between them increasingly likely.

The concept is frequently used to analyze modern tensions between the United States and China. “

@willywonka 

Fair enough, my apologies! Specifications are wonky and you did not commit to them. OP is delinquent and his whole thread idea may have been a honey trap.

I do not frequent ASR but AMIR has measured Chinese gear and his take on inaudible specifications is that once measured distortion and noise fall below the threshold of human hearing, the gear is "transparent".

ASR/AMIR have also exposed legitimate, audible specs and flaws on certain models, such as high output impedance, channel imbalances, or lack of proper safety protections.

In addition, ASR frequently discusses how some Chinese manufacturers engage in a "SINAD race", prioritizing numbers that look excellent on a graph but provide no audible benefit over slightly less optimized, name-brand equipment.

Since the OP is not participating, he probably already knew about such vagaries when he began this thread. Maybe he was just looking for clarification, but it seems as if he has zero interest in addressing our answers to his question.