[groucho69]

Which will sound better IYO: newer entry level DAC ( SMSL Sanskit 10th, iFi Audio Zen) or older higher end DAC ( Emotiva XDA-1, Maverick Audio D2 Magic Tube, Teac UD-H01-S)?

 

[Aurosonic]

DAC technology has progressed immensely over the past five years, to the point where sub-$500 DAC's are measuring as audibly transparent. The biggest advancements have been in power supplies and USB implementation. Ultra-low noise across the board. Any competently designed modern DAC should be immune to audible noise and jitter issues. The newer DAC is also likely to have a greater feature set and be more versatile.

As to whether these modern DAC's sound better than older TOTL DAC's is not as clear. I'd venture the modern DAC's measure much better, but measurements don't guarantee great sound. The older TOTL DAC may be technically inferior, but may sound more natural and organic. In outright resolution I bet cheaper modern DAC's are superior.

Given how DAC technology is constantly and increasingly improving, I would be hesitant to spend more than $2000 on one right now. Digital is the final frontier in audio, but great strides have been made to alleviate the limitations of DAC's.

 

[groucho69]

DAC technology has progressed immensely over the past five years, to the point where sub-$500 DAC's are measuring as audibly transparent. The biggest advancements have been in power supplies and USB implementation. Ultra-low noise across the board. Any competently designed modern DAC should be immune to audible noise and jitter issues. The newer DAC is also likely to have a greater feature set and be more versatile.

As to whether these modern DAC's sound better than older TOTL DAC's is not as clear. I'd venture the modern DAC's measure much better, but measurements don't guarantee great sound. The older TOTL DAC may be technically inferior, but may sound more natural and organic. In outright resolution I bet cheaper modern DAC's are superior.

Given how DAC technology is constantly and increasingly improving, I would be hesitant to spend more than $2000 on one right now. Digital is the final frontier in audio, but great strides have been made to alleviate the limitations of DAC's.

Excellent insight. Thanks. Do you think the final link, headphones vs speakers, makes a difference in your choice?

 

[Aurosonic]

I believe the DAC should be transparent. Its job should be to convert a digital signal to an analog signal as discretely as possible. The rest of the system is then responsible for achieving a desired sound. Given my expectations of a DAC, having a speaker system vs headphone system would not make a difference in my choice. An audibly transparent DAC should perform equally well in either system.

If you have differing ideology, a DAC that colors the sound in a way that complements the rest of the system may be preferred to an audibly transparent DAC.

 

[groucho69]

So you don't agree with those telling me that some DACs sound great with phones but so so with speakers?

 

[hodgjy]

DAC technology has progressed immensely over the past five years, to the point where sub-$500 DAC's are measuring as audibly transparent. The biggest advancements have been in power supplies and USB implementation. Ultra-low noise across the board. Any competently designed modern DAC should be immune to audible noise and jitter issues. The newer DAC is also likely to have a greater feature set and be more versatile.

As to whether these modern DAC's sound better than older TOTL DAC's is not as clear. I'd venture the modern DAC's measure much better, but measurements don't guarantee great sound. The older TOTL DAC may be technically inferior, but may sound more natural and organic. In outright resolution I bet cheaper modern DAC's are superior.

Given how DAC technology is constantly and increasingly improving, I would be hesitant to spend more than $2000 on one right now. Digital is the final frontier in audio, but great strides have been made to alleviate the limitations of DAC's.

I agree and disagree. Prices have come way down, but the technology hasn't really improved much. Newer DACs aren't really all that different than older DACs. Sure, they have more "modern" chips, but the delta-sigma conversion process is essentially the same now as it ever was despite how many bits they claim are in the chips. Newer DACs may be tuned differently, so they sound different, but it's not necessarily better. They're just different. Many people, including myself, prefer the older multibit and advanced segment hybrid approach over the newer, cheaper, delta-sigma modulation.

 

[hodgjy]

So you don't agree with those telling me that some DACs sound great with phones but so so with speakers?

It's been my experience that the differences between DACs are more noticeable in speaker systems when compared to headphone systems. But, there are plenty of cases where a DAC may sound great in a speaker system and not so much in a headphone rig, and vice versa. For example, there are some people on another forum that think the Bifrost multibit is terrible in a headphone system but excels in a speaker system.

 

[TonyTripleA]

It's been my experience that the differences between DACs are more noticeable in speaker systems when compared to headphone systems. But, there are plenty of cases where a DAC may sound great in a speaker system and not so much in a headphone rig, and vice versa. For example, there are some people on another forum that think the Bifrost multibit is terrible in a headphone system but excels in a speaker system.

My experience exactly hodgly, I bought the tt2 for my headphones and thought 10 percent better than my Hugo 2, I plugged it into my speakers to try it and went wow… it hasn’t moved since… double wow…

T

 

[groucho69]

Emotiva XDR-1 with my NAD C 720BEE and Maverick Audio Tube Magic D2 with my set up of various 70's receivers. Quite satisfied.