Every DAC has one signature soundNo they don't. If a DACs noise and distortion is so low it's beyond human audible threshold it's considered transparent. I've heard quite a few DACs over the years and when sight was removed from the equation I couldn't tell one from the other as long as were not DESIGNED to have a signature sound.
Does a Tube Dac make sense?
I’m in the market for a dac since I bought a Musical Paradise MP701MKII Tube Preamp few months back, does it make sense to buy a tube dac? The seller Garry is suggesting to get the Musical Paradise MP D2 MKIII which is a tube dac with a AK4490 but can be upgraded to AK4499 but I’m leaning towards the RME ADI2 which is almost the same price as the MP tube dac. I’m finding it hard to justify a $1k dac but I have read a lot of forums that suggests the RME or the SMSL M400 and Denafrips Ares II but I’m a sucker for vu meters and spectrum analyzers but if the MP tube dac is a good match for my MP tube preamp I’m willing to give it a go.
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Understood, Some listeners will say they can not hear a difference, with the same DACs other listeners can easily perceive sonic differences. This shouldn’t be surprising as a fairly wide spectrum exists as to what people are able to detect and distinguish. Measurements at this stage of development can't account for all that the ear-brain neurologic pathway can decipher and process. Charles |
charles1dad7,711 posts04-26-2021 1:47pmUnderstood, As djones51 pointed out, there are a class of DACs, the majority, that are designed to not have a "sound". From fairly low cost to super expensive, they won't have a significantly significant sound signature. You will move through levels of refinement, but that refinement hits asymptotic diminishing returns early. Lots of people on this website will claim they could easily hear a difference. Those who have done recent blind testing will know just how hard that is if not impossible. This was not always the case, but has been for quite some time. The price point where these types of DACs can be easily (or at all) told apart keeps dropping. Then there is a whole class of products intentionally having a "sound". Many products even have setting to give them a sound. NOS DACs have a sound, DACs with different filter implementations have a sound, DACs with low feedback tube output stages have a sound. These can be pretty readily told apart, and from the aforementioned ones that don't have a "sound". Not only can the be readily told apart, but significant differences show up in measurements. Measurements at this stage of development can't account for all that the ear-brain neurologic pathway can decipher and process. Unfortunately this statement is conjecture. It is not the 70's-80's any more. That whole only looking at THD thing is well in the past. We can't fully interpret what measurements mean, but we can certainly measure to a level beyond audible difference. |
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