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What benefit does a DDC really do for a DAC?

I have a 2 year old Denafrips Venus 12th, I have seen some videos about adding a DDC to the Venus. I think I would try the Laiv Harmony uDDC because of the iiwi Review. It is newer and less expensive than the Denafrips DDC. Does anyone have the experience of adding a DDC to the Venus DAC. I use my Venus in a STAX Earspeaker setup only. Power starts from a PS Audio Power Plant 15 to a OPPO BDP-95 to the Venus, then to a Schiit Audio Loki Max than to my Stax setup. I am extremely happy with the results. Oh I forgot everything is XLR connected. Will I hear a difference adding a $850 uDDC, or more expensive DDC. 

stonyb3165

Showing 1 response by mitch2

mitch2
4,152 posts
 

For sure, using a DDC will allow you to use a variety connections to your DAC. If your DAC sounds best from an input that is not available as an output from your streamer, then interfacing with a DDC that allows you to use that type of connection could make a tangible improvement.

Other than that, the resulting sound quality typically depends on the DDC and the DAC. Most of them are said to offer benefits of better clocking and lower jitter, but having used a Denefrips Hermes and Singxer SU-6, I cannot say that I heard any reliably consistent sonic improvement from either. However, I did appreaciate the multiple output options that gave me the ability to use whatever DAC input I wanted.

Using a DDC also allows you to use a dedicated master clock to synchronize the entire digital audio chain, including your DAC, which some report to significantly improve the sound of their digital playback.

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