does DAC really make alot of difference? - Page 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamlau 

Confirms that I am looking for some sort of coloration in my gear? When did the DAC1 become the yardstick for neutrality?

When has it been shown to be anything but neutral? The manufacturers provide extensive measurements, echoed by third-party tests. Seeing as the Essence STX also measures neutral except for the output impedance, it stands to reason that if the two sound the same but other DACs don't, those DACs are colored. Again, would you supply information on your preferred DAC, that suggests otherwise?

I do not have a preferred DAC at the moment, though the DAC I am currently using is the Audiolab M-DAC. And just how is neutrality measured for both the ST/STX, and DAC1? Frequency response graphs? What third-party tests? Stereophile? Paid reviews? UPDATE: See M-DAC vs. MH 25.3 vs. W4S DAC-2?

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamlau 

I do not have a preferred DAC at the moment, though the DAC I am currently using is the Audiolab M-DAC. And just how is neutrality measured for both the ST/STX, and DAC1? Frequency response graphs? What third-party tests? Stereophile? Paid reviews? 

Stereophile has measured both, yes. If you think the reviews were purchased, you might want to e-mail them about it. Though I doubt ASUS would get their money's worth considering the stereotypical audiophile is going to shy away from computer gear. NwAvGuy has measured his Benchmark DAC1. Numerous computer hardware websites have measured the Essence STX, though understandably their tests are less in-depth and often with only Rightmark.

That's the cop-out answer; basically "no you can't actually know or demonstrate or support any claim unless you have a subjective view of it and if your view is different than mine it's because you are biophysically inferior to or less experienced than me and therefore you're wrong." If you buy into it, that's fine, but it inherently rejects the scientific method.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7Karma 

you mean like I just pretty much have to try them out firsthand instead of reading reviews and stuff?

 

When I did my DAC testing I used my m903's amp stage and three different DAC units.  I was a bit surprised that they all sounded so close if not exactly the same.  A few of them appeared to have more noise than the others, but other than that they sounded the same.  I found filtering on the amp side of things, while conducting amp tests in a similar manor, to be a bigger factor in coloring the sound.  Of course in the end it is a combination of 5 things.

1.)  Clean power and noise

2.)  Source Material

3.)  DAC

4.)  Amp

5.)  Headphones

I should probably add ears because my hearing is far worse than my wife's and I am sure music sounds almost completely different to her.  I do tend to favor a respectable and highly regarded DAC manufacturer more than an off-brand primarily for quality in the build.  For those of us using integrated devices with a DAC and amp stage ran in series it is really hard to separate the two properly.  That is why I ran the DACs through just the amp stage of the m903.

By the way, DAC chip CS4398 alone easily drive my 600 ohm headphones - 250 ohm too but with some difficulities with stronger dumping factor - I need current buffers :(.

I have done yesterday some changes in cables to be able to plug headphones (DT150, K240 Sextett) in ballanced way directly to four pins of CS4398 DAC chip. Sounds way better than before, with op-amps involved (I have tried many op-amps without satisfying results).

This delta-sigma DAC isn't so bad after all, but hasn't the power, life and space of typical multibit. Too much incaccurate digital processing.