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

Audio magazines are there to sells new costly gear if possible...

Not one spoke about the primacy of acoustic...Acoustic is secondary addition for them... Anyway the reviewer change pieces of gear each week and cannot bent the room qualitatively adapted to ONE system anyway...His room is a changing show place and he likes change... We like music in a room designed to serve it , not "sonic" character changes...

If they did spoke about the primacy of acoustic instead of suggesting upgrading multiple times each audiophile would learned to direct his focus on other less costly acoustic solutions than electronic upgrades only ... There is many acoustic solutions even for living room...

Magazine will loose their share of publicity if they did otherwise...

All people are not in the obligation to create a dedicated "ugly" room like me, they can pay more for esthetical acoustic devices put at the right spot...

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Me i dont give a damn about my mad scientist ugly room... My money is counted anyway.... God is with me listening music in my room, he likes Nietszche few musical composed pieces, i dont know why... He listen him more than Bach... Know your enemy but love him, this is his motto, i think ... He love him a lot....I prefer Bach...

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[[ All DAC chips sound the same.]]

Probably true, but a DAC player has many more components than the DAC chip itself usually.  The power supply, the buffers, the different digital inputs, all are distinct from the actual DAC chip, and all can influence the way the device sounds.

The Border Patrol dac measured poorly, according to John Atkinson of Stereophile. However, upon listening to it, Herb Reichert gave it a glowing review. Lots of people own and love the Border Patrol dac, including myself.

The Musical Fidelity V90 dac is shockingly good @ only $299. I think it is now unavailable/discontinued. I thought it sounded so good, I bought two...I use one, the other is put away. It is considered a class A component according to Stereophile.

In my opinion, my short post covers the gamut of measuring, subjective listening, and price. Just looking at the 2 examples above, you can see that there is no rhyme or reason why something sounds good, weather it be a measurement or price.

@markahall I’d be very interested in your findings once you hear the mola mola, against the previous DACs mentioned. I too own the ARIES G2.1 and at some stage wish to upgrade from the internal dac of the Hegel H390, Chord and Mola Mola were on the list. While I had also considered the May KTE, in the end I’ve removed it as I’d prefer the peace of mind purchasing from a dealer gives you.

@chayro 

Exactly!