DAC Vibrations?

".1%" improvement is nothing to sneeze at.

A dealer suggested I put my digital gear on my better HRS rack w isolation shelves and my analog gear on the other.  Plus I’m going to use CenterStage footers which seems to move the component’s vibrations into a better state - many very positive reviews.  

Wow. Live and learn right. I appreciate…as all do… the sense of community here. I threw this over to DIGITAL @Knock1… thanks to all

I have never heard a difference with a solid state DAC, but I have heard a difference with a tube DAC.  I have tried springs and pucks with my Pontus ll and I didn’t notice any change. Also, I don’t listen to screaming loud music, so I don’t really see a reason to isolate my SS DAC.

All the best.

I was shocked the first time I heard a good DAC put on an isolation base. As Mike above indicates, it is absolutely worth trying.

@mikelavigne 

+1

Having mentioned plate, try with and without to see if you notice any difference. Your perception is what matters.

P.S.

This post ought to be in Digital section.

every circuit in your signal path will be effected by mechanical resonance, and it will end up as part of the noise floor. it depends on the system ambient noise and gear noise floor how much it will be audible. and mostly you won’t know the effect until you eliminate it or reduce it and hear the difference.

resonance is distortion, something other than music.

basically your electronics sing along with the music and that is a non musical part of what you hear. get rid of it....and....drum roll please....there is more musical truth.

chassis quality, footers, cable routing, floor solidity, rack stability, local outside noise, ground noise, and especially the music feedback, are all sources of resonance.

some resonance can be helpful to hide edgy-ness, it can warm up the sound. so there is a tuning aspect to resonance control. too much clarity can be distortion too. you need a balanced natural sound.

and yes, dacs and dac chips are especially subject to all that too.

Thank you Jerry. 
  I had bought a Denafrips Ares ll and the Seller included a slightly soft sided solid metal 1/4” 8” square.  I think to separate electronic interference possibilities. Also this video was part of his logics are herein contained in this project description:

WILD!

Denafrips Ares II with Stillpoints ERS Paper isolation of power section and tweaks according to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwZiX1mc9Zs. Included: antivibration 3/8" thick aluminum plate, 

My thinking is probably not.  But it is cheap and easy and can't hurt.  I currently don't have my DAC on springs. I have had it on springs befor and likely will put them back under it.  

The pseudoscience over at ASR has people focused on measurements.  but as a physicist, I'll tell you that i've taken millons of measurements and have a good idea what can be measured and what can't.  The subleties assiciated with amazing audiophile sound are not something that I've ever seen quantified.  I remember in the 70's it was all about one little number:  every reciever had to publish their THD number.  Now we find that was never a great guideline. I guess it was an indication of attention to detail by the builder but that is all.

So I base my decisions on my understanding of the physics around the issue (which is usually pretty good, I graduated U of Chicago in physics in 1980 and have worked in techical business for 40+ years) and what I hear.  So for isolating your DAC, I consider is a very minor tweek with very little liklihood of much improvement since solid state electronics are very stable in vibrations.  However there are wires and power supplies and maybe some exotic components.  So why not.

This tweek, like many others we do it minor, trying to get that last .1% of improvmeent and many of these tweeks are not immeidately audible.  but do 5 or 10 of them and maybie it will add up.  If a listener does think they hear an imediately audible change after a tiny tweek like this, I suggest they think about whether they are experiencing a confirmational bias.  but occasionally a small tweek fixes a weakness in the system and voila, improvement.

Jerry