The sound quality from DACs - is it all the same?

All DACs sound the same, a cactus needle works as well as a moving coil stylus, all turntables go around and around, all amplifiers sound the same, tube preamps are just the same as solid state, and Bose makes the best speakers. Have I missed anything?

Yes you missed something, sound does not exist, only abstract wave numbers exist...

And even that does not exist ....

When we die it is finished ...

Anyway we are all deaf...

Between the nothingness where we come from and the nothingness where we go, happily our measuring tool work well even for the deaf people...

We only need eyes for the dial reading but tomorrow we will need only A.I.

😁😊

«Humans are very overestimated »-Anonymus historian of technology and evolution which wrote many booksellers

«I never overestimated my public enough »-Groucho Marx 🤓

«We dont need ears to evaluate sound, a sharp knife is sharp but not necessarily a "knife"»- Anonymus sophist

«Most clowns are not clown»-Harpo Marx

What were those characters in Ibsen's Peer Gynt called again?

What were those characters in Ibsen's Peer Gynt called again?

"What is the difference between troll and man?"

None which is measurable......

I saw advice in this thread and agree with it. Go to a dealer, compare and listen for yourself.

Given that DACs contain an analog section, it's pretty clear that they can indeed sound quite different, if that's the intent of the designer. I mean you can tweak, or even omit, the reconstruction filter if you like the way out of band aliasing sounds.Wouldn't be the first time.

The question is, do you want one that *has* a distinct sound of it's own? Or one with the most accurate reproduction? The former will be a form of fixed tone control you may not want if you're an equipment junkie and change components frequently. Maybe it fits with the next gear iteration, maybe not. This type of "voicing" is one likely culprit for what I consider to be the "system synergy" canard.

Whichever floats your boat.