dac chip vs analog stage as to sonic impact


when buying a cd player or dac, which has more impact on the sound of the component, the dac chip or the analog stage ?

to what extent can a tube analog stage "offset" the effects of a dac chip ?

if one were to assign a percentage contribution to the dac and analog stage as to the affect upon the overall sound, what might the numbers look like ?
mrtennis
A DAC is an analog device. What do you think the "A" stands for. It is also a digital device, but the digital part is a go/nogo thing and not likely to affect sound quality. The analog output of a DAC chip is fast and accurate, but generally needs a buffering circuit to provide a low impedance signal for output to other parts of the audio system. I think that the question relates to the quality of this follow-on circuitry. In early CD players this is where manufacturers chose to cut corners, and many early CD players were significantly improved by replacement of this circuitry. This is still common practice by MOD shops, even going so far as to install tube stages. Few, if any, MODs involve new DAC chips.
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Tvad...Checking the APL website I notice that the DACs which they use for the update are AKM. That's what I have in my Behringer DAC2496 which may be why it sounds good.