[F208Frank]

I always wondered, how come in head fi world the popular dacs such as the holo mays, daves, rocknas, TTs, lampizator, denifrips etc are commonly mentioned (and of course they ARE great dacs) but in the 2 channel world, they seem to have a wider range of popular options and people aren't as focused on the main few popular choices.

For example, I am curious about the play back designs dac but in the headphone world it is rarely mentioned and I started wondering how come in our headphone world we have our "go to" dacs but in the 2 channel realms, they aren't as narrow with their choices.

My theory and guess would be perhaps in the headphone world, having too nice of a DAC would be pointless since our headphones are not capable to resolve at the DACS capabilities?

Hoping for some interesting discussions...

Side Note: I want to make it clear I have no interest whatsoever in 2 channel as I just do not have the room for it and since I have a new born, it would be not practical to be blasting music all day (something I enjoy doing with headphones)

I feel like I am one of those "headphones for life" kind of guys.

 

[Brainiac9000]

I just started to head down the speakers rabbit hole and have noticed that there are many more DAC options. Ultimately, I think it comes down to the age of the speakers hobby versus the headphones hobby, and it comes down to the companies that market to them. The speakers hobby is an older and more established one, so there are more legacy companies that cater to that specific segment of the audiophile market

 

[chesebert]

Because these other manufacturers have not paid their advertising fee.

 

[BournePerfect]

Because an ounce of room treatment or adjusting a speaker a tenth of an inch might make a more substantial difference than the latest fotm dac.

 

[helljudgement]

Marketing is a powerful tool plain and simple. Putting aside the scalability of headphones there are simply a lot more companies that focuses on 2ch setup when it comes to higher end audio. Doesn't matter how good your products are if nobody knows about you it's harder to get users to spend big dough on their products over more well known brands for headphone community like Holo or Chord products which have more user experiences and are generally known to work with headphone setups.

 

[iFi audio]

Because these other manufacturers have not paid their advertising fee.

Well, yes and no. Marketing gives manufacturers some exposure indeed, but at the end of the day the audience decides what's hot and what isn't

 

[chesebert]

Well, yes and no. Marketing gives manufacturers some exposure indeed, but at the end of the day the audience decides what's hot and what isn't

We are not so young, so simple or so naïve

 

[eskamobob1]

We are not so young, so simple or so naïve

You over estimate us. Marketing is massively effective and often even dumb easy to track its effectiveness. A large portion of any groups preference is simple exposure and marketing plays a large role there

 

[F208Frank]

Very interesting replies, thanks for the thoughtful discussions.

It is quite damn amazing how the DAVE has such a LARGE fan base in the headphone world. That thread is bonkers with activity.

Anyways, at the end of the day, I really love headphone set ups. They feel very intimate and personal and "funner and lighter in attitude" than the 2 channel world in general from my initial impressions. If I had a dedicated room myself I would be very very tempted to get a nice 2 channel.

 

[eskamobob1]

Very interesting replies, thanks for the thoughtful discussions.

It is quite damn amazing how the DAVE has such a LARGE fan base in the headphone world.

Again, marketing.....

I do think the saves signature helps a lot of headphones because of the forced seperation tbf, but yah. For the price I'd take weiss, meitner, maybe even holo (dispite some of my issues with it) over dave for my personal tastes and I haven't even tried all that many high end dacs

 

[number1sixerfan]

Well, yes and no. Marketing gives manufacturers some exposure indeed, but at the end of the day the audience decides what's hot and what isn't

Agree, and I think that's a huge factor here.

Also, one reason I think the popular units are the popular units is because as someone else mentioned there's a greater ceiling overall. Spending $30k on a DAC for headphones alone doesn't really seem smart or reasonable (unless you are just made of money). Obviously, if you have a killer 2 channel system for double use it makes total sense. But given that lower ceiling for most people, very, very few are going to spend above $10k. At that price point it's very easy to have a few that are the most popular or revered.

 

[F208Frank]

Again, marketing.....

I do think the saves signature helps a lot of headphones because of the forced seperation tbf, but yah. For the price I'd take weiss, meitner, maybe even holo (dispite some of my issues with it) over dave for my personal tastes and I haven't even tried all that many high end dacs

What were some of the issues you had with the holo if you do not mind sharing?

 

[F208Frank]

Agree, and I think that's a huge factor here.

Also, one reason I think the popular units are the popular units is because as someone else mentioned there's a greater ceiling overall. Spending $30k on a DAC for headphones alone doesn't really seem smart or reasonable (unless you are just made of money). Obviously, if you have a killer 2 channel system for double use it makes total sense. But given that lower ceiling for most people, very, very few are going to spend above $10k. At that price point it's very easy to have a few that are the most popular or revered.

Great response.

 

[eskamobob1]

What were some of the issues you had with the holo if you do not mind sharing?

So I've only heard the spring 3 and not the may, but my understanding is that the complaints I have largely apply to both. The big 2 for me are a lack of liquidity and so kuvh of a focus on density that it leads to lack of energy within the texture. My last complaint with spring is a slight softness to leading edge transients but some report may fixes that so it's kinda moot

 

[iFi audio]

Agree, and I think that's a huge factor here.

Also, one reason I think the popular units are the popular units is because as someone else mentioned there's a greater ceiling overall. Spending $30k on a DAC for headphones alone doesn't really seem smart or reasonable (unless you are just made of money). Obviously, if you have a killer 2 channel system for double use it makes total sense. But given that lower ceiling for most people, very, very few are going to spend above $10k. At that price point it's very easy to have a few that are the most popular or revered.

That's true, well said. As much as many of us here enjoy reading about Lambos, Bugattis and Porsches of the audio biz, we buy only stuff that we can afford.