How much does a DAC add? - Page 3

Words of wisdom!! Wholeheartedly agree.

The perfect DAC will not change the sound at all, but of course there is no perfect DAC! In pursuit of a quality music chain the quality DAC should neither add to the signal nor detract from it. It should just converts 0’s & 1’s input to an analog output. That is what I look for in a DAC. If I can get that consistency from transducer to transducer I will have achieved my goal. Some people prefer to find a DAC flavor that compliments their source, amp or cans. This is a perfectly acceptable method, but harder to achieve in my opinion. That is why I use the transducer-to-transducer method starting with the source.

Hmm I was wondering about this question as I paid for a 'better' dac a while a go and am waiting for it. I wonder how it might be better. Will I get improved detail? Could it possibly make those 160kbps songs I have even worse? Will it suddenly show me that those good albums are actually have some flaws I didn't notice before?

So what will I get? I don't know, but I'll be worrying while I wait instead of being super excited about a better component.

Greetings, MomijiTMO, were you using the MF v-can? What did you upgrade (hopefully) to? I noticed you list this under source, as others do for their DAC's. Am I missing something?

Hi

I currently have the v-dac and have bought an assembled Buffalo 32S. I don't have the latter yet, it's getting some final tweaks before being shipped.

IME a good entry level DAC needs to run on a discrete linear regulated PSU, and be fed w/ S/PDIF to kill any electrical contact w/ the computer...no EMI/RFI within the computer case, no nasty 5V ripple/groundloop climbing up the USB cable

then add some nice top-end opamps...as many of them come w/ crappy parts(even the DAC1, which is full of 5532/4562 apparently?)

I have 3 favorite opamps for DAC output: AD797B/LT1028AC/Burson V2...you can read about the two firsts in many places on the forum, they just sound really really good on a DAC output IMO.

so what's in it? much clearer SS, wider center channel, more details in the SS extremes, much more versatile instruments separation, a far less distorted/colored sound basically...all that used to be muddied by the nasty power fed to the audio circuits becomes crystal clear basically.

using a SMPS(wallwart or ATX) for audio would appear to be a terrible idea, and when it's shared w/ other computer parts it's just a huge no-no.

I haven't tried the 3 aforementioned opamps on the FireStone Spitfire yet, but you can read many ppl comparing the stock wallwart of several Firestone DAC's against their discrete PSU...they give a nice overview of the improvement to expect from a quality PSU:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f21/fi...pplier-410199/
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Supplier - Power Supply Unit

Review : Firestone Audio Supplier
look at the graphs, that's what a computer PSU feeds to your audio components: AnandTech: 20 Power Supplies on the Test Bench

and that's USB power: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/6078622-post123.html
FWIR on amazon, the V-DAC can be run on a proper regulated PSU, and you can roll opamps too...feeding a DAC and some high end opamps w/ a very clean current makes a hell of a difference...I've never heard vocals so clearly tbh