Ntropic
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 16, 2009
- Posts
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- 13
I recently purchased an iBasso D2 Boa, and I feel underwhelmed by its performance. Everybody that I've spoken to who have bought sound cards claimed the difference in sound quality from before and after was "night and day". One of them even owned a pair of HD555s, and got an Audigy 2ZS.
So when I got my D2 (shiny.), and plugged it in, I was a bit disappointed to find that my ears didn't explode in some sort of audiogasm. In fact, a bit of testing told me cymbals got sharper, bass is more separated, and mids I can't bother to figure out if they got better, but it's not night and day. On the other hand, surely a $200 MSRP DAC/amp must have better components than an Audigy 2ZS. The Wolfson DAC surely isn't a slouch (WM8740), nor is the PCM2706. My music is all 320kbps MP3 or FLAC.
What is the problem here? Is high end audio already giving me diminishing returns with my first DAC/amp? What if I were to buy a Pico? Would I still be underwhelmed?
Another possible explanation is equipment limitations, but 'night and day' on HD555s and the Audigy not happening on my A700s (or SF3s) and D2 doesn't seem to follow?
I wish there was another meet around here... That'd be the cheapest way to find out where I want to go with this hobby.
So when I got my D2 (shiny.), and plugged it in, I was a bit disappointed to find that my ears didn't explode in some sort of audiogasm. In fact, a bit of testing told me cymbals got sharper, bass is more separated, and mids I can't bother to figure out if they got better, but it's not night and day. On the other hand, surely a $200 MSRP DAC/amp must have better components than an Audigy 2ZS. The Wolfson DAC surely isn't a slouch (WM8740), nor is the PCM2706. My music is all 320kbps MP3 or FLAC.
What is the problem here? Is high end audio already giving me diminishing returns with my first DAC/amp? What if I were to buy a Pico? Would I still be underwhelmed?
Another possible explanation is equipment limitations, but 'night and day' on HD555s and the Audigy not happening on my A700s (or SF3s) and D2 doesn't seem to follow?
I wish there was another meet around here... That'd be the cheapest way to find out where I want to go with this hobby.