Hello,
First: Is your volume all the way up on the DAC or in fixed mode. Sometimes when you attenuate the volume on a DAC or streamer you will lose some of that great sound. Second: sometimes some preamps do not sound great with some amps. See if you can borrow another brand of preamp from a friend or store or maybe see if you can find something on the forums to let you know what works and what does not. Last but not least: Try a thicker gauge power cord. It can be an inexpensive $50 cord but try get up to 14 or even better 12 gauge. Maybe you have a friend or a store that will let you borrow or demo one. I have tested this several times. You will need about three days of it being plugged in. This is because you need to charge the capacitors and let it settle plus have time to do some critical listening. So try to leave it powered on during that period of time. Please do not plug it in and right away do your listening test. If you are in the Chicagoland area this store I frequently buy from lets you demo or try before you buy. https://holmaudio.com/
Not just cables but all gear except turntables. I hope this helped.
First: Is your volume all the way up on the DAC or in fixed mode. Sometimes when you attenuate the volume on a DAC or streamer you will lose some of that great sound. Second: sometimes some preamps do not sound great with some amps. See if you can borrow another brand of preamp from a friend or store or maybe see if you can find something on the forums to let you know what works and what does not. Last but not least: Try a thicker gauge power cord. It can be an inexpensive $50 cord but try get up to 14 or even better 12 gauge. Maybe you have a friend or a store that will let you borrow or demo one. I have tested this several times. You will need about three days of it being plugged in. This is because you need to charge the capacitors and let it settle plus have time to do some critical listening. So try to leave it powered on during that period of time. Please do not plug it in and right away do your listening test. If you are in the Chicagoland area this store I frequently buy from lets you demo or try before you buy. https://holmaudio.com/
Not just cables but all gear except turntables. I hope this helped.