Marantz HD DAC1 vs Soundblaster Z

[sunToxx]

I just picked up a Marantz HD DAC1 and listen to it with a DT1770 Pro. The sound is quite nice, the only problem is, neither my girlfriend nor I  can make out a difference to my Soundblaster Z.
 
The headphone is burned in and sounds very nice. Very clear and powerfull. Changing back and forth between soundcard and amp, makes really no difference. I even downloaded some flacs and subscribed to qobuz in Hifi mode. If my life dependet on hearing which of the 2 deviced is used for playback, my chance of survival would be 50%, lol.
 
The settings and everything are fine. The DAC is connected via 96khz Optical and 192khz USB. In windows I set the sampling rate of the soundcard to it's maximum 24bit 96khz. It sounds fine, the bass is earthshattering, everything is quite clear and crisp. Rock, Pop and EDM sound the same on both, the Marantz and the soundcard.
 
I am a bit baffled. Even listening to a short 20 second part with diverse and complicated sounds over and over again, reveals no difference. Did my old HFI780 make me deaf, lol? My girlfriend who always complains about the volume of my music and TV, was not able to distinguish between the 2 devices either in a blind test.
 
I suspect, if I want really better sound, I need to upgrade the headphone.

 

[Hooster]

  I just picked up a Marantz HD DAC1 and listen to it with a DT1770 Pro. The sound is quite nice, the only problem is, neither my girlfriend nor I  can make out a difference to my Soundblaster Z.
 
The headphone is burned in and sounds very nice. Very clear and powerfull. Changing back and forth between soundcard and amp, makes really no difference. I even downloaded some flacs and subscribed to qobuz in Hifi mode. If my life dependet on hearing which of the 2 deviced is used for playback, my chance of survival would be 50%, lol.
 
The settings and everything are fine. The DAC is connected via 96khz Optical and 192khz USB. In windows I set the sampling rate of the soundcard to it's maximum 24bit 96khz. It sounds fine, the bass is earthshattering, everything is quite clear and crisp. Rock, Pop and EDM sound the same on both, the Marantz and the soundcard.
 
I am a bit baffled. Even listening to a short 20 second part with diverse and complicated sounds over and over again, reveals no difference. Did my old HFI780 make me deaf, lol? My girlfriend who always complains about the volume of my music and TV, was not able to distinguish between the 2 devices either in a blind test.
 
I suspect, if I want really better sound, I need to upgrade the headphone.

 
Just try to do what everyone else does. Just imagine that there is in fact a difference, more layers, space between instruments, less fatiguing treble, more bass authority, etc. 

 

[nvfan]

HD-DAC1 looks really nice. But at the $800-1k price range you would expect something like balanced pre-outs, or a balanced headphone input like the Pioneer U-5 or Oppo Ha-1.

 

[sunToxx]

The Pioneer looks really nice, I might give it a go. For now I ordered the Denon AH D7200 and an Ifi Micro Ican SE for testing.

 

[watchdog507]

  HD-DAC1 looks really nice. But at the $800-1k price range you would expect something like balanced pre-outs, or a balanced headphone input like the Pioneer U-5 or Oppo Ha-1.

Not all manufacturers feel that balanced operation and connections are essential.  My Woo WA5-LE has balanced connections, but it's mode of operation is single-ended.  The Mcintosh Headphone amp is single ended out also.  I have the Mytek Brooklyn and I own the HD-DAC1 and the Marantz holds it's own with substantial resolution, details and frequency range.  Good Bass and great treble.  See if your source cables are good.  I use Lavricables Silver USB the dual cable version and I like them.  Your idea about the Headphones may be spot on.  Try another set. Other than that I'm baffled as to why you can't discern the difference.  I went from Audeze EL-8's to Hifiman Edition X's and that was a world of difference.

 

[sunToxx]

  Not all manufacturers feel that balanced operation and connections are essential.  My Woo WA5-LE has balanced connections, but it's mode of operation is single-ended.  The Mcintosh Headphone amp is single ended out also.  I have the Mytek Brooklyn and I own the HD-DAC1 and the Marantz holds it's own with substantial resolution, details and frequency range.  Good Bass and great treble.  See if your source cables are good.  I use Lavricables Silver USB the dual cable version and I like them.  Your idea about the Headphones may be spot on.  Try another set. Other than that I'm baffled as to why you can't discern the difference.  I went from Audeze EL-8's to Hifiman Edition X's and that was a world of difference.

I use a standard USB cable and a Toslink cable (96khz optical connection). Those 2 make no difference. The Marantz does sound great, but what suprised me is, that the 70 bucks Soundblaster Z (retail with EM shield, but not even the most expensive version of the card) has an identical resolution, dynamics and literally exactly the same sound on the DT1770Pro as the Marantz DAC1. We could not make out any difference.
 
I do have a decent Asus Motherboard though inside the PC and the best Bequiet powersupply type (a Dark Power Pro 650,~160€). Powersupplies in general can make quite a difference soundwise I read and that one is as packed with high tech as they currently come. I suppose the Soundblaster will not necessarily perform as well in every other PC.

 

[sunToxx]

The soundblaster is new too, btw. I just replaced my old Auzentech XiFi Forte 7.1 with it a week ago. Although that used to be a 200€ card and featured better hardware than the Creative cards back in the day, the new 70€ Soundblaster Z and the 750€ Marantz CAD1 both (obviously, as they both sound the same) beat the Auzentech on the DT1770 (although not by a large margin).