[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by allan-of-ca I am talking about an outboard DAC like the Micro DAC. My understanding of an outboard DAC is that it is suppose to sound better than the DACs built into various digital audio devices - CD players, DVD players, computer audio adapters and so on. Allan

generally i'm kind to ignorance....but get off your horse till you get a little knowledge

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker If you take the G08 and run it through the Benchmark, the you might as well take a Corvette and put 82 octane in it.

Thats a little harsh, while I've heard neither they're just different sound signatures aren't they? While the G08 is 4 times the price both should be in the same league as far as sound quality

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Pak Thats a little harsh, while I've heard neither they're just different sound signatures aren't they? While the G08 is 4 times the price both should be in the same league as far as sound quality

Immtbiker actually owns the G08, and had many opportunities to listen to the DAC1, so I think his opinions are very valid.

 

[Beauregard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah generally i'm kind to ignorance....but get off your horse till you get a little knowledge

I share your sentiment about ignorance. So allow me to gently point out that the post you're referring to is a restatement of the OP's original question in response to a particularly unhelpful reply.

 

[elrod-tom]

I think that something that some folks are forgetting is the ANALOG in D(igital) A(nalog) C(onverter).

The biggest difference to be heard from most DAC's is IMHO due to the presentation of the now-converted digital signal by the analog stage. I've been told by folks who know that this is what makes the biggest difference in the quality of sound...there are a relatively few DAC chips, and the benefits of better analog staging and power supply have been well documented. THIS is what you get from a better DAC (although the technology used to convert the digital signal may be superior from one DAC to another).

BTW - I've used MSB and MF DACs for coming on 10 years now, and with excellent results. Jitter can be an issue, but there are products available to deal with this (see Monarchy Audio and G.W. Labs)...and some manufacturers have proprietary technology to deal with it rather nicely (e.g. MSB Network).

The long and short of this is that most folks can get a nice benefit by using an external DAC...not so much by improving the DIGITAL signal (though that's possible), but by improving the ANALOG stage.