The sound quality from DACs - is it all the same?

Audio science review is the antithesis of this forum. There people think the only thing that matters is the numbers--if it has the lowest THD and noise floor, it must sound best. Here people think all that matters is what they hear, even if their claims violate the laws of physics.

The answer is somewhere in between.

I think the DAC is very important to the sound in a modern digital system...I’ve sometimes said it is the most important component, but that is easy to say when you have the amp all dialed in...I will say that the DAC is the most expensive component in my system.

His claim about a $400 DAC shows that he isn't listening at a very high level.

Jerry

I prefer  not judge or accuse  a poster to be  a troll BEFORE he prove to be one sorry... Then i answered him without prejudice...

I prefer to appear naive or credulous than being injust...

All cheap Chinese DACs that I have heard are unadulterated C$*p.

The inbreeding has created so much retardation that they don't even understand that to run a commercial website you need sponsors and patrons.

Honestly who will advertise there? Fluke multi-meters?

I just spent two grand on fuses, yes fuses but Ted from SR pops in now and then and tells me I made a great decision.

Yeah fuses are different just ask ASR.

Sorry but price is not related in a direct way to S.Q.

Acoustic science is...

A minimalistic low cost design in dac can be very good... Mine is...

Assuming that brand name of gear and price determine sound quality is not better than measuring piece of gear without listening them...

In the 2 cases the most important factor is forgotten : acoustic methods...I prefer science to fetichisms of the gear brand name or of the measuring tools...

By the way even if my gear is low cost my hearing must be good because i tuned with success my room acoustic by ears only, adjusting more than one hundred Helmholtz devices by listenings to create a timbre experience, imaging, soundscape, dynamic, clear bass experience at the Schroeder dimension and LV/ASW right ratio...Is it not a listening at "very high level" on my side ? if you think the opposite try to tune your room by your ears alone you will understand what it ask for... 😁😊

And you will never attribute to your ears the quality borrowed from a costly audio system brand name reputation ...No acoustician or musician ever concluded they have good ears because their instrument and devices are costly... This is ridiculous at best...

Some people here with 500,000 audio system did not even know what a timbre perception is, they listen to the gear sound ALONE not to the speakers +room+ timbre sound, not knowing HOW to tune them AT WILL anyway ...They boast about their gear...And they attack some others who boast about their measuring tools... This is ridiculous battlefield between two erroneous positions...

Acoustic/psycho-acoustic CORRELATE in an ongoing process subjective and objective measures and devices which are more sometimes than only mere tool but essential parts of the room like an Helmholtz resonator is for example...

I prefer to promote acoustic training and experiments...And low cost well chosen piece of gear instead of non sense fetichism ...

My perspective is listening experiments through a room...

His claim about a $400 DAC shows that he isn’t listening at a very high level.