[ChevyMonsenhor]

Sometimes i can tell clearly, like between my xDuoo and my Meridian from 2013, they are wine and water.
But sometimes, say something with an AK4490 vs something with an AK4493, i'll have a hard time telling them appart.

 

[bigshot]

Sometimes i can tell clearly

Try a blind test and I bet you won’t be able to.

 

[ChevyMonsenhor]

Try a blind test and I bet you won’t be able to.

Very possible, bias plays a big part in these experiments.
Usually girls are better at detecting differences, a friend of mine could clearly tell between FLAC and MP3 320kbps in blind testing, she who was not at all and audiophile.

 

[bigshot]

I like it when audiophiles say, "Night and day difference! Even my wife can hear it!"

 

[redrol]

Thing is a DAC and the actual headphone amplification circuit are 2 separate things but are included in a lot of one-box devices. Headphone amps can certainly sound very different.

 

[bigshot]

Headphone amps can sound different if they are used with headphones they weren’t designed to be used with. IEMs can be the pickiest about not working well with some amps. But if you properly match amp and transducer, it is going to be audibly transparent by design. If there is a mismatch, it’s user error, the amp isn’t to blame.

 

[xand]

For what it's worth, I woul

I have had a cheap, 15$ ADX microphone with a "headphone out"-jack and a 680$ Aune S6 Pro DAC/amp.

I assume the adx microphone headphone out isn't great.

The Aune doesn't measure particularly well, but who knows if the difference is audible.

HD560s are relatively easy to drive I think.

Maybe try headphones known to scale, and at least compare against something which measures well.

If you still can't hear any difference - great!

By the way, whether you do it blind/double blind or not, the question is always going to be - are you going to knowingly buy it...

 

[bigshot]

If you still can't hear any difference - great!By the way, whether you do it blind/double blind or not, the question is always going to be - are you going to knowingly buy it...

That depends on how much money sound you can't even hear is worth to you.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

The majority when talking about DAC instantly thinks about the type of chip used and then that's where it end when the most interesting part is after that... the analog side. The analog side is where you can hear everything. If you can't hear any difference from a $20 dac from a $500 dac then there's something wrong with that $500 dac and something is so right with the $20 dac

 

[bigshot]

People assume that a higher price tag and better measurements must mean better sound quality. But human hearing is finite. You can only hear what you can hear. Nothing else matters.

 

[xand]

That depends on how much money sound you can't even hear is worth to you.

Well you also look at the stuff.. I've paid many multiples of my entire personal audio spend on a watch (which I don't even use to tell the time - because I have a bunch of them and I don't use a winder).

You know, kinda like jewelry?

 

[old tech]

The majority when talking about DAC instantly thinks about the type of chip used and then that's where it end when the most interesting part is after that... the analog side. The analog side is where you can hear everything. If you can't hear any difference from a $20 dac from a $500 dac then there's something wrong with that $500 dac and something is so right with the $20 dac

I've heard this argument before. It seems intuitive on the surface but the question is... DACs are a mature technology and their design is pretty much commoditised. So what differences can one expect in the DAC's analog circuits that would make much of a difference to sound quality? In other words, purely from a sound quality perspective (ie excluding other non-sound quality related features) what does $500 buy in terms of circuits compared to say $100, or for that matter, between $2,000 and $500? If circuit design is fairly generic, I suppose better quality electronic components could be better than real cheap stuff, but again, how much more expensive are good quality resistors or other electronic components these days?

 

[bigshot]

Analog stage improvements are generally up sell arguments. There might be cheap import phones with lousy sounding headphone outs, but anything halfway decent should be able to put out a clean audio out. My $35 Walmart DVD player has clean analog outputs. Sometimes people misdiagnose mismatch between non standard IEMs and headphone outputs on the analog stage, but that isn’t the real problem.

 

[redrol]

Lets say you have an IEM with an impedance of 6ohm. It's going to be non-trivial to find an amp device with a low enough OI. So maybe it is a real problem! I would argue its a huge problem because not only is the OI spec sometimes hard to find before purchase but also because people just don't realize it needs to be addressed.

Would you say the best advice is get an amp that has as low an output impedance as possible for maximum flexibility driving headphones and IEMs?

 

[xand]

... not only is the OI spec sometimes hard to find before purchase but also because people just don't realize it needs to be addressed.

I don't think it's actually easier to find after purchase - many manuals don't list it.

Would you say the best advice is get an amp that has as low an output impedance as possible for maximum flexibility driving headphones and IEMs?

I'd think so!

What i find ridiculous is that there are amps out there, meant for headphones, which have very high output impedences.

For example:

https://www.audioconcierge.co.uk/portfolio/ta-ha200/

8 ohms to 80 ohms... Maybe it does well with their Solitaire headphones.. *shrug*