Best DAC for my situation...Read on!

@uberwaltz    

Check out this plot (Fig 13) why you should always run line level preamp devices north of 12 oclock (when playing loud) and why you should not string multiple preamps together. 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-dac3-hgc-da-preamplifier-headphone-amplifier-measureme...

The measurements from JA indicate to me that the DAC3 is an excellent preamp (better than your C48) and that it is best to use this DAC directly into a power amplifier using the balanced outputs and with a jumper pad precision resistor attenuation setting at a level such that you are listening with the volume between 10 and 3 oclock.

Reasoning vs listening. The only way to know what you prefer is to listen for yourself.

Dave

Dave,

I agree. Reasoning is a guide only on how to approach something. Reasoning can get you out of a lot of rabbit holes -

For example, why do some DACs sound terrible with one digital cable but better with another. Is it the cable? Is it the DAC? Reasoning says that bit perfect data into a jitter immune DAC should not be affected by the cable unless the DAC has build and design issues.

However, what sound is preferred is a personal judgement that the listener must make.

So I propose Reasoning AND Listening is the only way to know. Without both you can get stuck in a silly rabbit hole of mediocrity with a bunch of unecessary band aids trying to resolve equipment component issues and living in denial that a high $$$$$ item MUST work perfectly because the king of audio design built it (appeal to authority rather than reasoning).

Completely agree shadorne. :) The plethora of gizmos to address issues with USB transmission is a glaring example of adding band aids in an attempt to address endemic weaknesses of the technology as well as in component design/implementation, but I think there is more to digital cable influence than that.

Re: the influence of different digital cables on sound quality, as I think you have said before, this has a lot to do with the quality of the particular component’s input design and the clock implementation. Perhaps most sensitive is the component’s USB input design/implementation (vs S/PDIF or AES/EBU) as there are more potential demons to conquer with USB data transmission. Overcoming potential noise issues with USB’s unique use of the 5V power lead in the same cable/connector interface is a challenge with USB and also that most USB designs are asynchronous, thus depending on the data transmission integrity of the source and the cable to avoid data loss that impedes the DAC’s analog reconstruction process. Maybe completely jitter related as you say a lot but I am not convinced that there is not more to it than jitter. Things like impedance match/mismatch, RF/EMI rejection and signal isolation to eliminate noise riding on the signal, etc.

Anyway, very nice to agree on a balance of reasoning and listening as the superior path to better results.

Dave