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Benefits of an external DAC

I need a sounding board from you folks.  I have a slightly upgraded Oppo 103 CD player that was a big SQ improvement over my Consonance tube CD player.  I need a DAC to take the stream from my iMac, turn into an analogue signal to my preamp.  Lots of folks rave about the benefits of an external DAC so, in progression, I got a Jolida tube DAC, a Schiit Gungnir, and a Channel Island Audio DAC.  I connect the Oppo to the CIA DAC with a coaxial cable.  I input the analogue signal from the Oppo into my preamp with RCA IC's.    

It is easy to switch between DAC in the path vs. the Oppo analogue signal straight into the preamp.  I tell ya, I have done the comparison between all three DAC's vs. the analogue signal run from the Oppo to the preamp and have been unable to discern any difference.   Zero, zip, nada.  I have done the comparison with lots of audio pals and nobody hears a wits worth of difference.

There clearly are lots of devotees using external DAC, but in my system (with a Don Sachs tube preamp, Pass Labs First Watt F5, and Spatial Audio M4 Turbo S speakers, with good cabling), I am perplexed as to why the use of an external DAC makes no difference in the SQ in my system. It sounds exactly the same.  

I am awaiting a demo of a Denafrips Ares DAC to see if this well-regarded DAC does something to the SQ -- one way or another.  So far, the employment of a DAC to improve the SQ of the signal from my Oppo has been an utter waste of time.  What am I missing?
whitestix
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
They should sound extremely close if everything is working properly. Especially if the electronics is all built and tested to a high standard. You might need to invest more to get a subtle difference.

Try a Benchmark DAC3 straight into the balanced input of your power amp. You can return it if you don't find an improvement.
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Back in the Stone Age Peter Aczel (The Audio Critic) did a comparison test between a Sony Discman and Mike Moffat's Theta DAC. Pre and power amp were Boulder driving Quad 63's. He reported hearing no discernable difference! He postulated that as long as all the CD Redbook criteria were met then ALL Digital to Analog conversion sounds the same - no matter whether the DAC's were multibit or single bit! This is certainly something to ponder, considering today's proliferation of DAC's - some of which are very pricey indeed (Chord's Dave and the Nagra)! After all, present-day DAC's meet the Redbook standards and measure equally well! So if their are differences, what could the X factor be? Jitter, rise time, slew rate, filter anomalies (phase shift)? God (Nyquist) knows!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
I bought my first CD player in 1992 because I thought that previous iterations were inadequate compared to good LP playback. I still remain unconvinced of Digital's vaunted superiority over Analog - even though I have listened to many CD's! But I am curious to try out some of today's touted DAC's (DCS, Shiit, Lampizator ... ) to hear if there is any difference compared to a good one-box player.
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