[552388]

Hi All,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year first...
Recently I have some spare money to spent, maximum $500. But as I see some good reviews here, I begin to ask a question,
Will the DAC within $500 have a great improvement towards the ones within $300 (I saw some really good reviews on iFi units here)? My definition on "great improvement" is that you can immediately hear the improvements, as from a 48kbps MP3 to a 24Bit/192KHz source file.
Any thoughts?
 
Best Wishes

 

[Amish]

DACs can sound different. That said a good neutral DAC will sound about the same at just about any price. If it colors the sound any though you will hear the differences. Depends on what you want really.
 
I mean digital is digital is digital...but some DACs do color the sound and better DAC's do offer more features, and the more neutral sound that I go for.
 
$300-$500 I don't think you will hear much of a difference. I think you will be happy with most DACs within that price range.
 
IMO headphones make the biggest difference, followed by the amp and then DAC. I run a hybrid tube DAC and it is very neutral but not quite as transparent as my OMZ dac. A ref. dac for sure, but the most transparent DAC I own is the Oritek OMZ. This thing is none existent in any system which is a big plus in my book.

 

[552388]

Thank you very much for your answer and share your opinion with me
 
Quote:

  DACs can sound different. That said a good neutral DAC will sound about the same at just about any price. If it colors the sound any though you will hear the differences. Depends on what you want really.
 
I mean digital is digital is digital...but some DACs do color the sound and better DAC's do offer more features, and the more neutral sound that I go for.
 
$300-$500 I don't think you will hear much of a difference. I think you will be happy with most DACs within that price range.
 
IMO headphones make the biggest difference, followed by the amp and then DAC. I run a hybrid tube DAC and it is very neutral but not quite as transparent as my OMZ dac. A ref. dac for sure, but the most transparent DAC I own is the Oritek OMZ. This thing is none existent in any system which is a big plus in my book.