Is the DAC the digital equivalent of a cartridge.

analogies are used in life, in education, to help those with no understanding develop one, if sometimes in only a rudimentary way... a basic understanding is better than none at all

in this respect, analogies are useful, but if one starts to dive into detail, analogies can fall apart, fall short in its explanatory power - but once again, a discussion of these shortfalls can be quite beneficial if one seeks a detailed, specific, complete understanding of a subject/concept

in that respect this thread is a good one

This thread is based on a “straw man” proposition, and therefore is of value to those who like a good pointless argument. Period. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I could not say it better....Especially after all the posts lost in this metaphor....

😁😉

The room and speakers are the instruments you hear from, but the DAC is how the signal gets created.

There are people who can hear through bad rooms and mediocre speaker selections but I sure can’t. While this is in a way a debate similar to "which would you rather have, a heart or a pair of lungs?" the room biases everything else.

mahgister, That's an interesting thought if the question was not what the question is.  For the question that is, the thought is irrelevant.

I am snooping alll the time. What the cartridge does with a record is similar to what the DAC does with the digital signal it recieves. What has schocked me is how important  the USB cable is. I have 5 DACs near my writing position. With a particular cable, one of them sounds nearly identical to another one using a different cable, If I switch the cables they are very different. The match between a cable and a DAC is more like romance than science!  You don't have to spend a fortune on a cable. My best cable (on my two best DACs, not all of them) cost only $149 from Zavfino in Canada. The improvement in "Transparency" and "depth" is immediately obvious. If you buy a used cable you save $$ and don't have to break it in.