[radmanhs]

I have a pair of vanatoo transparent one's.  I know they alreadyy have their built in "phsudo" dac, but would it sound any better/different if I pick up a decent dedicated dac?

 

[v2guy]

The Transparent One amplifier is a direct digital amplifier which means its inputs accept only digital data. So when you send a digital music file to one of the digital inputs on the T1 your music stays in the digital domain from your source all the way through the T1's DSP and amplifier. The music isn't converted to analog until the point just before it is sent to the actual drivers. As such if you send an analog signal (like the output of a DAC) to the T1, the first thing the T1 does is convert the analog signal to a digital signal via its high resolution ADC which it then passes on to the direct digital amplifier.  Therefore when you insert an external DAC between your digital music source and the T1 you are adding unnecessary DAC / ADC conversion. For this reason we do not recommend adding a DAC in the signal path if your music source is already digital.
Full disclosure, I'm one of the Vanatoo guys.