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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 

 

 

jackhifiguy

Showing 2 responses by big_greg

big_greg
6,565 posts
 

it seems like so many of you guys have subjective-only opinions about what "sounds good"

Can we all agree that machines used for measuring audio gear are more accurate than human ears?

Do you use machines to decide whether art is visually pleasing or not?  Do you have machines taste your food for you?  Do they tell you what smells good?

big_greg
6,565 posts
 

I assume that most of the posters on that site have never heard a high-end DAC and are fearful they will get "taken" if they buy one.  All based on the "knowledge" of all the other sheep who have also never heard a high-end DAC, but insist that they know how they will sound based on measurements that one person posts. 

It reminds me a lot of the "fans" group on Facebook for our local football team who all profess to know more than the coach and general manager, even though many of them appear to live in their parent's basements and can barely spell.

What's interesting is that Amir purports to also listen to items he measures, yet his listening impressions rarely line up with mine when I have also heard the item being reviewed.  Confirmation bias?  "It measures like this, so it should sound like that" and voila, it does!

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