[fuseboxx]

Simple question: Based on your experience (and/or what you might have read), what characteristics of sound do amps usually enhance and what do DACs usually enhance? Are there certain characteristics that are usually attributed to either component or do their effects on audio overlap?

 

[Uncle Erik]

For me a DAC is all about not getting in the way. Every component lends a sound signature, but with a DAC, you want something that has as little of one as possible. It should be faithful to the recording as much as possible. Accuracy is more important than coloration. Amps are a little different. Each amp has a unique power output curve and impedance curve. Power and impedance vary depending on the signal. Headphones also vary in impedance and power handling. You'll see headphones with a single figure for impedance. That isn't quite accurate as impedance varies depending on input. You can find their impedance curves at Headroom. So there's a complicated interaction between the amp and headphones - power received by the headphones will vary depending on how the amp's impedance curve interacts with the impedance curve of the headphones. This is why (I think) amps sound different depending on what's plugged into them.

 

[fuseboxx]

That was interesting to read, but I felt like it didn't quite answer the question: Do DAC's usually contribute an improvement in certain characteristics and do amps usually contribute an improvement in different characteristics? Or do their effects overlap?
 
Like, in terms of soundstage, headroom, warmth, etc etc etc...