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DAC Reviews - Headphones v Speakers

Whenever we read a stranger’s impressions of a DAC, there are countless limitations. Different ears, different system, different taste -- all of that. To make things even more complicated, because why not, what do folks think of listener impressions of a DAC used on a headphone system, when you intend to use the DAC in a traditional two-channel speaker system?

There are various forums whose focus is headphone listening, and plenty of DAC reviews there. How meaningful, or not, do folks think those head-fi DAC impressions are for those of us who do not use headphones? My gut feeling is there must be *some* value in those impressions, but I’m not a headphone listener so I don’t have a good sense for how much to discount or otherwise translate head-fi impressions when my use-case would be a speaker system....

metaldetektor

Showing 1 response by soix

soix
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To make things even more complicated, because why not, what do folks think of listener impressions of a DAC used on a headphone system, when you intend to use the DAC in a traditional two-channel speaker system?

No. Just...no. Do NOT take an exclusive headphone reviewer’s take on a DAC if you’re a 2-channel guy. A huge part of what better DACs contribute is soundstage properties, and these just aren’t part of the HeadFi lexicon. If you have RAAL headphones like @yyzsantabarbara that might be a different story, but strictly headphone reviewers are pretty much useless in assessing a DAC for home system purposes and should not be trusted IMHO.  I’ve reviewed 2-channel gear for 20 years and recently started a HeadFi review site, so if that means anything. 

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