2. digital
  3. 176237-171875

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 1 response by relayer101

relayer101's avatar
relayer101
617 posts
 

I agree with many of the posts on this thread that different DAC's will sound different to some people and the best policy is to choose the one in your price range that sounds best to you providing you have an opportunity to compare different DAC's in the same setting. If you don't have an opportunity to audition the DAC's select a few with features you like in your price range and read a few different professional reviews on each DAC to see if that helps with your selection. 

I have an onboard DAC in my Preamplifier and an onboard DAC in a CD Transport and I can stream music from a separate Streamer through both devices and can say they both sound good but they definitely sound different. To my ears I prefer the matchup of the Streamer with the DAC in the Preamp. 

For CD's I prefer the sound of the DAC in the CD Transport possibly because it was designed to work as a system.

We all hear things differently.

 

More to discover