7 mistakes to avoid with a DAC

[What Hi-Fi?]

Seven things to consider that could help you choose the right DAC or get more out of the one you already own…

7 mistakes to avoid with a DAC : Read more

 

[DanielRuben]

I just do not see the point of external DAC units. A DAC has one job and due to how digital audio works it's very very difficult to get it wrong. Meaning that whatever inbuilt DAC your device already comes with is more than sufficient for anyone's needs. Just seems like a massive scam to me, you literally may as well flush your money down the toilet. Any alleged improvement in sound would have to come from audio signal processing (no!) and not from the conversion process itself. And don't get me started on fancy HiRes formats. There's excellent reasons 16-bit 44.1 kHz was originally chosen as the CD standard. You just don't need "more", in fact higher formats are only likely to introduce unwanted artefacts. Do your research before you shell out your hard-earned cash on an expensive but useless DAC.

 

[Gadusmorhua]

I just do not see the point of external DAC units. A DAC has one job and due to how digital audio works it's very very difficult to get it wrong. Meaning that whatever inbuilt DAC your device already comes with is more than sufficient for anyone's needs. Just seems like a massive scam to me, you literally may as well flush your money down the toilet. Any alleged improvement in sound would have to come from audio signal processing (no!) and not from the conversion process itself. And don't get me started on fancy HiRes formats. There's excellent reasons 16-bit 44.1 kHz was originally chosen as the CD standard. You just don't need "more", in fact higher formats are only likely to introduce unwanted artefacts. Do your research before you shell out your hard-earned cash on an expensive but useless DAC.

You're on your own there, and if you used your ears you would realise you are plainly wrong.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

You're on your own there, and if you used your ears you would realise you are plainly wrong.

Please don't make personal comments - disagreement is welcome, but not in this way. There's also little point in replying to a post made 18 months ago by someone who hasn't been here in the best part of a year.

 

[Ferdy Bossy]

The first mainframe computer could be placed in a room if it was large enough. Today's smartphone beats this computer on every front. Digital is almost the same as analog, sounds absurd but digital takes several recordings while analog takes one recording during the time the stop button is not pressed. The LP sounds magnificent provided that every link is truly High End, which makes the amount of money that has to be paid for it truly gigantic. The LP has one major disadvantage, if the €15,000 Moving Coil element passes over a speck of dust or fingerprint, you will be shocked by the loud sound of the speakers. By the way, CDs also need to be handled with care. They started with 44,100 samples per second, so more than enough, produce 22.05kHz (you cannot hear the 22.05kHz tone). Although with a complex signal the difference is still heard. Recommend to try this yourself, by the way why, try speaker manufacturers go out of their way, to reproduce above the hearing threshold? The number of samples per second that can be recorded is currently gigantic The number of samples per second that can be recorded is currently enormous, as is the number of bits. Now per second 768 kHz a sample with 32 Bit. These numbers only have more value in the recording studio, which means that editing can produce absolutely no distortion. The dynamics are from -192dB to 0dB and there is no living being that can hear these frequencies. The number of samples is therefore almost constant, making the comparison with analogue (almost) a fact. An external DAC is definitely not nonsense, a lot of computing power is needed to deal with the enormous number of zeros and ones (digitally). Just like the combustion engine, there are differences in design. A Ferrari or Trabant both have a combustion engine! By the way, the switching power supply performs much less than a linear power supply, The differences can be compared to a transistor or tube amplifier. Anyone who assumes I'm talking nonsense needs to listen up. The weakest link determines the sound reproduction quality. The current installation is capable of 3D effects, the musicians, the singer and/or choir in the living room. Yes sounds absolutely the same!