To Dac or not to Dac?

[AJM1981]

The farthest I go with hifi is getting a decent amp / streamer and hooking it up to a pair of good loudspeakers with a decent cable.

There is something about the Dac world that keeps me from trying. Because it seems there is a big reference dilemma.

There are good and bad internal dacs. How do I know if the source I want to bypass is bad? And how do I know if the dac that is going to replace it is better? There is not really a list of equipment and advice

Example: assume that I want to use the Playstation 3 for music. An audience on the net writes that the Sony Ps3 definitely needs a dac. Another side writes that Sony, specialized in home audio used an excellent dac for the Ps3. A third person tested it only to find out that the audio via the external Dac sounded worse.

The rope has not been cut in the first place if the Ps3 has in fact a good, mediocre or bad Dac. Then a random dac is brought in and sounded worse. Question arises if it was a terrible dac or a good one that got still beaten by the internal dac of the Ps3.

I do believe that a dac can sometimes make a difference but I seriously get the idea it is all a big "we assume it needs a dac" and "lets try this one" approach.

Can someone enlighten me?

 

[shadders]

Hi,
If you read other forums, then the differences between DAC's is night and day. Yet, in reality, this is exaggerated and they will sound similar.

If you have a limited budget, then use ASR (audiosciencereview) to see which are the best DAC's based on performance. That is what i would do. There are some very good cheap DAC's that are cost effective. Alternatively, people on here can let you know what their preferences are for a specific price range,

Maybe audition a few if possible - use optical interface as this is optimal.

If you are happy with what you have at the moment, then perhaps, no need to change.

Regards,
Shadders.

 

[plastic penguin]

Really depends what you want a Dac to do. If it's flexibility then a Dac is a must. If it's just to improve on a internal Dac, based on my own experience, you need to spend big bucks.

A Dac provides so much but gives you little.

 

[ThisIsJimmy]

Adding to Shadders point it's worth considering on a console if you are connecting up to a surround sound system or not. Many of the better performing DACS put through ASR lack Dolby or DTS surround decoding.

 

[AJM1981]

I have a Yamaha Wxa50 amp. When I compare the sound of my Ps3 with Spotify to the amp's internal streamer by using my Evo4. 2 speakers it seems the Ps3 (or the Dac of the Ps3) gives a slightly warmer tone, a little wider stereo image and a bit more punch to its bass. Everything feels a percent bit more accentuated.

I would place a small bet on the fact Sony as an audio company cared about the Dac as much they cared about the PS3 being a mediacenter with great sound.

Little note: it's a second generation ps3, which is near silence. The first generation had design flaw heating problems and the internal fan would often be a vacuum cleaner in sound levels.