[Hogcryat]

Noob question. I have a TEAC HA-501 amp, which is supposed to be neutral, therefore can I conclude that it will output the same but better-amplified sound signature of what the headphone out of a DAC/AMP all-in-one will output?

P.S. How much does interconnect matter? Will I get a merely different sound or worse sound (i.e. Losing some details and dynamic range) if I get a pair of 10 dollar XLR cables from Amazon instead of expensive audiophile cables (e.g. Audioquest)?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Buy your cables here.
https://www.monoprice.com/search/index?keyword=xlr cable&rows=100

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Noob question. I have a TEAC HA-501 amp, which is supposed to be neutral, therefore can I conclude that it will output the same but better-amplified sound signature of what the headphone out of a DAC/AMP all-in-one will output?

That depends. Its max output level is 1400mW at 32ohms, 0.002% THD and 135mW at 600ohms, with 0.01% THD, and 110dB SNR with a 2v input.

By comparison, the AudioGD NFB-28 with a built in DAC has 8,000mW at 40ohms and 600mW at 600ohms, with 0.0005% THD at 0dBV output (distortion at the rated output levels would likely be higher, but likely still lower than the Teac's), with an SNR of over 120dB, and you don't have to worry about how much voltage the input signal to the amp is since that was likely measured using its own DAC.

P.S. How much does interconnect matter? Will I get a merely different sound or worse sound (i.e. Losing some details and dynamic range) if I get a pair of 10 dollar XLR cables from Amazon instead of expensive audiophile cables (e.g. Audioquest)?

Just get one that isn't dubious cheap stuff or dubious overpriced audiophile stuff. Some sellers on Amazon/eBay as well as BlueJeansCable just cut from a spool of Belden cables or any of their competitors, and then solder on some quality plugs like Amphenol or Neutrik. I'd get these over any audiophile cable, but you won't really see me using cables bundled with, say, a video disc player.

That said, when it comes to USB, I don't mind using what came with my laptop cooler, which inexplicably for its intended use, actually came with a piece of ferrite at either end, as well as well built plugs.

 

[Hogcryat]

That depends. Its max output level is 1400mW at 32ohms, 0.002% THD and 135mW at 600ohms, with 0.01% THD, and 110dB SNR with a 2v input.

By comparison, the AudioGD NFB-28 with a built in DAC has 8,000mW at 40ohms and 600mW at 600ohms, with 0.0005% THD at 0dBV output (distortion at the rated output levels would likely be higher, but likely still lower than the Teac's), with an SNR of over 120dB, and you don't have to worry about how much voltage the input signal to the amp is since that was likely measured using its own DAC.




Just get one that isn't dubious cheap stuff or dubious overpriced audiophile stuff. Some sellers on Amazon/eBay as well as BlueJeansCable just cut from a spool of Belden cables or any of their competitors, and then solder on some quality plugs like Amphenol or Neutrik. I'd get these over any audiophile cable, but you won't really see me using cables bundled with, say, a video disc player.

That said, when it comes to USB, I don't mind using what came with my laptop cooler, which inexplicably for its intended use, actually came with a piece of ferrite at either end, as well as well built plugs.

Thank you for your reply. But I am still curious to know if a neutral amp would preserve the sound signature of the DAC or will still somehow alter it. And also what exactly am I losing (usually) in terms of sound when using really cheap interconnects?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thank you for your reply. But I am still curious to know if a neutral amp would preserve the sound signature of the DAC or will still somehow alter it.

You see those THD figures? Unless it's absolute 0%, then it alters it. The question is whether you can hear that. Some will argue anything under 1% is inaudible, others argue that isn't always the case, testing it at home is flawed, but some blind tests aren't perfect either (ie you might equalize the output at 1000hz, which is the most common flaw of non scientific testing; THD % only shows you the %, without a graph you can't see how one amp distorts differently or similarly enough with another amp, so in some tests drastically different distortion can make two amps relatively easier to distinguish in a blind test, but similar distortion patterns make that impossible).

And also what exactly am I losing (usually) in terms of sound when using really cheap interconnects?

If you mean the cables that come bundled with a WalMart BluRay player that you can buy at the electonics shelf of a hardware store, well, enough. I used those first and the low end response sounded hollow, the top end was sharp but not really detailed despite that (ie wherever the system was made sharper it was smearing frequencies around it and affecting weaker response frequencies playing notes that are lower in amplitude in the recording).

That said, blowing $500 on the cables doesn't make a lot of sense either, as most don't sound any different from a decent quality pro audio cable (Belden, Canare, etc) splice off a large spool with plugs that, including a short run of Mundorf Silver Solder, cost about $25 or lesss in parts (assuming you can buy 1m runs of the cables). Note that even pro cables aren't the same - I used one kind of Klotz mic cable in my car before and somehow it ended up having hollow-sounding percussion and vocals; thought it was just the impedance due to the length, so when I went for a cheaper Quantum mic cable in the car, I salvaged the Klotz for 1m runs in my home system, and it still sucked. If each product line is color coded, avoid the yellow Klotz cable.