How much difference good DAC makes? - Page 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

Any chance of you being a little more specific, moodryn - I thought Ken was pushing the Solo stack for the iPod, but perhaps he and Vinnie have cooked something else up ?

 

Edit: sorry - is this the dock you are referring to ?

 

http://www.aloaudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_15&products_id=396

 

If so, in ALO terms, its quite reasonably priced. I think they have LODs that cost more.

The dock I was referring to isn't on that page. I don't know if they even still make it or not. All I know is it was a wooden alo dock. I don't really know if I was hearing the dock, the interconnects or what. I'm sure whatever the dock it was, it cost much more than I would ever be willing to pay for one. And I'm not saying that it's as good as a high end dac/cd player. But it sounded darn good, and I was surprised at how good the sound was coming out of an ipod. It could have been the amp, the headphones, etc. But I will say this, the ipod wasn't holding that set up back. Now back to dacs. There are differences, but none are to the point of making 500.00 headphones sound like 1000.00 headphones. Also like others have said, unless you have headphones and amps that are resolving enough, you really won't hear much of a difference. This is why the dac is the last thing I would upgrade. After music, I would focus on getting the best headphones I can afford followed by an amp that will have enough juice to amp them properly. Then I would look at upgrading the dac. But still, I wouldn't start off with a 100.00 dac either. Any midfi 200.00-400.00 dac would do until your system reach the status of being able to appreciate getting a high-end dac. And still after that, like I said, the difference isn't huge.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism 

 

I don't have a problem with people being honest... I have a problem with naysayers who habitually spread nonsense throughout a hi-fi community. How a member of a few months can decide what should get "airtime" here makes you slightly narcissistic. Whether you like it or not it all comes down to experience; if you can't hear a difference learn from it, it does not automatically equate to members being bewitched.

After reading your personal attack on what I clearly stated was "just my 2 cents", I thought I would just let it go.  But then when I read your "I've-been-here-longer-than-you" argument I just had to step in.  If it's post count you are worried about or how much CO2 you've produced while being here, there are a number of other people in HF with 'credentials' higher than yours who have a different opinion about DACs and where to best spend their money.  Nothing I stated in my reply to the OP hasn't been said around here numerous times- again, by people with good 'credentials'.  If you feel somehow threatened by the opinions of others here, you might want to ask yourself why.  No one here is claiming "conspiracy".  In fact most people with different opinions than yours have scientific data to support their knowledge; and it can be discussed in a civilized manner over in the Sound Science forum.  Name calling and personal insults, while not specifically prohibited by the TOS, are not good forms of argument and are certainly not helpful to those looking for advice or wanting to simply share their experiences about music reproduction.  Remember, this is supposed to be fun! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mkubota1 

 

If it's post count your are worried about or how much CO2 you've produced while being here, there are a number of other people in HF with 'credentials' higher than yours who have a different opinion about DACs and where to best spend your money. 

Yep, and my post count aces both of you, even if I wasnt here in 2006 with graphicism ...

Ok, so 90% of those posts were based on me quoting half a page of someone else's post (including images) and adding 'Right on !' or 'My man - you take a really sweet photo !', but who cares - the important thing is the number, right guys ? Er, guys ?  <sounds of crickets chirping>

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that DACs will always fire people up, especially expensive DACs. End of the day, he who dies with the most toys wins :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

Yep, and my post count aces both of you, even if I wasnt here in 2006 with graphicism ...

 

Ok, so 90% of those posts were based on me quoting half a page of someone else's post (including images) and adding 'Right on !' or 'My man - you take a really sweet photo !', but who cares - the important thing is the number, right guys ? Er, guys ?  <sounds of crickets chirping>

+1

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that DACs will always fire people up, especially expensive DACs. End of the day, he who dies with the most toys wins :)

Lesson of the day: let others fight it out then steal the toys from dead people.

I don't think i have golden ears by any stretch, but to my ears there are some definite improvements to be had

While running WAV files to an alessandro pro, beyer dt 48 and everything in between with a bottlehead modded Sex, meier opera, and various other descent amps, swapping in a uDac vs. a benchmark was just a different universe - nearly the same thing with the benchmark vs. an HRT II.

That said, i don't think you need to spend big bucks on a dac - i have a couple of dac-only picos (picked them up here used for $200 a piece) and they are simple and sound very, very good (to my ears preferable to an HRT, Dac Magic and even a vDac)

I thought i could stay with just that and a simple inexpensive amp like a Matrix or some of the DIY stuff that comes up - but listening side by side with an opera (amp/dac)  i do prefer the latter - but could be happy keeping it down to a reasonable budget as long as the system was in balance

For instance, shopping used a pico and and a modded MStage can be had for under the $500 mark, which is pretty tough to beat for bang for the buck - add that to some of the used cans floating around like Beyer 880s, senn 600s, a sextett or even a 701 (descent with an MStage) and for $500-$600 i don't think most folks would are that there is anything but a pretty notable point of diminishing returns beyond - not to say there are not differences and improvements to be had, just that your bang for buck goes down and to the OP's question, the gains to be had from a dac that exceeds that are present but not enough to justify it for myself

Personally, give me a great bang for the buck system that takes me to the edge of notable diminishing returns - and do it for a few hundred bucks - and the relative value of dacs vs cans vs amp vs recording becomes much more academic