DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend

@jjss49  Thanks for sharing your approach. It's one I have used in the past but am cautious with now.

Why the caution? The conundrum(s) posed by optimization... and the resulting false negatives.

With an optimized reference system:

- if the exchanged component (like a DAC in the above posts) outperforms your "reference" DAC...the approach works.

however,

- if the exchanged component (like a DAC in the above posts) under-performs your "reference" DAC...the approach may yield a true negative OR a false negative.

For example, had you optimized your reference system around that "rejected" DAC...could you be certain of the outcome in that now optimized system with your current reference DAC. Maybe yes, maybe no.

@david_ten

your points are well taken and valid

please note that the process i set forth is meant to understand differences (as did scott’s), and not to immediately make value judgements on whether a piece of gear is good or bad in said reference set up (i purposely did not mention establishing superiority or inferiority in my a/b process description)

one needs to understand the differences first, then, based on that understanding, think about how best to integrate a new piece into the system, or decide not to, given what may be needed as next steps

sometimes upon comparison, overall quality differences are obvious, but when one reaches a certain level of gear, it’s more about differences and nuances in presentation than straight ’a is better than b’... such as your query about soundstage differences among dacs

happy holidays to you!

@david_ten  We are not talking about optimization and I think a big part of that stems from the fact that "optimal" is personal and there is no objective truth.  With people I talk to, there is a split between folks who want an image/soundstage laid out in front of them and others who want an immersive experience.  

The choices you make to achieve this in terms of system building are very different and optimization down to room treatments, cable choice, etc... is quite specific.  At a root level, none of these DACs is inherently "better" than the other.  One may be a better choice based on it's sonic characteristics vs another for a particular problem you are trying to solve.    

@jjss49 +1 A solid perspective, for sure. Thanks for the additional clarification.

I should have expressed that last para in my previous post better via: " had one..." instead of ’had you’ which I meant to be universal...

Restated:

For example, had one optimized their reference system around that "rejected" DAC...could they be certain of the outcome in that now optimized system with their current reference DAC. Maybe yes, maybe no.

I know a lot of folks have been asking about tube DACs.  I have a new Canor DAC 2.10 arriving in January which uses four 6922s in the output stage and will retail at $4k.  I will get added here once it arrives.