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

This is a strange thread as there are plenty of reviews, testimonials, and technical descriptions of differences between DACs.  Even units using the same model DAC chips sound different after implementation.  

+1. A DAC designer I know said implementation is everything 

I spoke for people like me with very limited budget...

@mahgister , A lower cost dac will benefit a lot from certain types of tweaks, vibe isolation, usb filters (IFI, audioquest, etc), ethernet filters, better power supply, power filters, cables, dedicated power lines and so on....If your overall system infrastructure tweaks are up to a certain certain standard, you can narrow the gap a lot between lower priced dacs and higher priced dacs. The higher priced dacs don’t benefit that much from above such tweaks perceptibly. If you understand circuit design/and are handy, you could tinker with some components in the output stage and so on...

Reviewers exaggerate differences they heard between dacs at different price brackets. It is a lot more subtle than what these guys claim. Guys in untreated spaces with poor or restricted setups (no distance between speakers/frontwalls, listener/backwall, etc) have already nullified most benefits of higher end dacs...might as well work with the room, i.e., get other fundamentals right before coming to the dac.

😊I think exactly the same as you... You said it well...

My two different main dac are relatively low cost but i optimized everything around them and especially put them where the synergy is good and upgrading is meaningless for me , it will be marginal and very costly... I do0nt even dream it because it appear meaningless acoustically ...

I own a Nos TDA 1543 dac , and an Hidizs dac ; each one with battery internal...The NOS one with my active speakers, the most analytical one with my headphone...All is perfect...

@mahgister , A lower cost dac will benefit a lot from certain types of tweaks, vibe isolation, usb filters (IFI, audioquest, etc), ethernet filters, better power supply, power filters, cables, dedicated power lines and so on....If your overall system infrastructure tweaks are up to a certain certain standard, you can narrow the gap a lot between lower priced dacs and higher priced dacs. The higher priced dacs don’t benefit that much from above such tweaks perceptibly. If you understand circuit design/and are handy, you could tinker with some components in the output stage and so on...

Reviewers exaggerate differences they heard between dacs at different price brackets. It is a lot more subtle than what these guys claim. Guys in untreated spaces with poor or restricted setups (no distance between speakers/frontwalls, listener/backwall, etc) have already nullified most benefits of higher end dacs...might as well work with the room, i.e., get other fundamentals right before coming to the dac.

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Cousins.