Analyzing DACs
As I am new to the hifi hobby, reading various product reviews and noting the details of the test environment have made me very confused. I understand Stereophile is the hifi bible. In the publication’s DAC published tests the reviewers almost always tested the DAC connected directly to the amplifier. I think I understand why—nothing in the chain influencing the DAC sound. Is that the correct assumption? If that’s the case why incorporate a preamp if the DAC has a preamp section that is a common feature even on high end DACs? I’m in the market for a new DAC. I’m trying to avoid unnecessary components if possible. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
When you use the DAC as a digital volume control directly into an amp the DAC is lowering the bit depth and therefore taking resolution out of the bit stream. If you want less boxes then go with an integrated amp, I'm thinking you would very much like to have the volume control in the analog world. Go forth and listen, then listen some more and then even more. Talk is cheap. Trust you ears. They won't lie to you. Regards, barts
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You cannot pick a components by measurements alone. Price has nothing to do with sound quality. You have not mentioned what type of sound you prefer so every recommendation here is completely useless. Do you like a tube sound or SS sound and do you know why they sound different?
As far as a DAC without a preamp, I would suggest that method until you find a preamp that helps your system sound better to your own ears. You do not mention a price range. So without that, I cannot assist you.
Happy Listening. |
Glad to see this statement in the first sentence to advise newbies more. A few years back I followed ASR tests, bought (and later returned) a highly praised DAC, with 125-128db signal to noise ratio, and all of these great measuring parameters. Then, later to discover all of the different type dac connections were not tested and reported, and after playing the dac for a while it was one of the most sterile and boring sounding dac units I’ve ever tried or owned. The dac got returned for a full refund, thankfully. Agree, you cannot pick a component by measurements alone if you care about how it sounds too. |
I sense the preamp is an afterthought for some of these low end DAC/preamps. Super high end ones may warrant a discussion however. I read the MSB select manual; the OEM suggests direct to amp connection. I'm not playing in that league. A high quality DAC in the 3k-5k range is ideal. Holo Audio and Exasound DACs are interesting. And maybe the Qutest. |
as dacs go it is a bit of an older model now, but my beloved msb analog dac functions not only as a streaming dac (with lan card) but also has an extra set of analog inputs (for a phono stage for example)... it works brilliantly going into power amps - with both rca and xlr outputs, and a terrific remote control |
