Most new DACs are good and closer to sounding similar than in the past but surely not all sound the same. Good sounding ones are a dime a dozen though these days. Almost hard to find a bad sounding DAC anymore. Good times for music lovers.
The sound quality from DACs - is it all the same?
I've been talking to my cousin brother about sound quality. He is a self-proclaimed expert audiophile. He says that Audio Science Review has all of the answers I will need regarding audio products.
In particular, he says an inexpensive DAC from any Chinese company will do better than the expensive stuff. He says fancy audio gear is a waste of money because the data is already bit-perfect. All DAC chips sound the same. Am I being mislead?
He also said that any DAC over $400 is a waste of money. Convincing marketing is at play here, he says.
He currently owns a Topping L30 headphone amplifier and D30 Pro DAC. He uses Sennheiser HD 569 headphones to listen to music. I'm not sure what to think of them. I will report my findings after listening one day! (likely soon, once I get some free time)
- Jack
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Is it possible that if we all listened really close to the speakers that we would want perfect measurements but once we get beyond a certain distance away, that's where components can sound different from one another? In other words, sound waves close to the source look similar or even identical, as confirmed by ASR measurements, but the better sounding gear is designed around sounding better at a certain listening position and in a certain environment? That's why something can sound great at a dealer but not in one's own house and vice versa? The "trick" the component designer is getting paid to implement is making it sound better in room than close to the source, sometimes to the detriment of sound at the source. Maybe the only way to make it sound good in room is to make it look or sound bad at the source, i.e., up close measurements? I really have no idea but just a thought. I think @mahgister understands this more than anyone else on this thread as he is doing the component designer's job in the room, rather than paying the designer to do it for him. |
You are very kind with me thanks...
In my room the two position sound good... But they sound very different... One is more like an headphone but better than all my headphone because all is 3D out of my head with depth... 3 feet from the speakers position.... But i must be clear, all my acoustic treatment and control improved greatly the S.Q. even so close to the direct wavefront ... ¸Why? Because the speed of sound and my small room of 13 feet make the sound cross my room 13 times each seconds... Then some reflected sound play a big role too for the imaging depth creation ...
In my regular position at 8 feet, the soundscape is different completely not better but different... It is more natural life like sound , less detailed but more natural, more bass, more dynamic, an intimate sensation with the sound too which is surprizing for me...I cannot choose between these positions... I go half the time in one or the other... I like my room very much.... For sure it look like a mad house laboratory of a dement or mad scientist with hundred of tubes but i dont give a damn... It is better that than paying 60,000 bucks for an acoustician to do it if not more higher price and had all my tubes hidden in wall... Anyway almost no one did what i did... Almost no one use 30 Helmholtz diffusers for example and most audiophile dont know what it is and confuse it with a resonators of the same name... I know because i read that nowhere in any audio articles in the last 10 years... It is the reason why people "taste" gear without paying attention to the acoustic...They think the sound come from a cable... Read me right here no cables sound the same, but it is monir differences compare to the ocean of changes coming from acoustic control especially... 😁😊 My deepest respect for your kindness toward me...
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