How easily can you distinguish between different DACs?

It is necessary to have the good audio gear to begin to hear differences in DACs easily. Common audio gear like Denon, Pioneer, etc do not have the resolution to bring out the differences that we can hear.

If music is background then common audio gear is sufficient for enjoyment of music and most DACs produce decent enough sound.

But if you are really into music and listen to music as a main activity (not doing anything else and focused on listening to music) then it is worth it to seek out better audio gear and better DACs.

@mapman - the A/B test I did was not from two vanilla $500 streamers.  The actual SOtM streamers were both SMS-200 neo SE ($1000) both connected to a Sean Jacobs DC3 dual-regulated PS ($2000). Both streamers connected to an SOtM sCLK-0CX10 ($4000) (it has 4 outputs) itself powered by a Farad Super3 PS ($700). So, if using $ as a measure of quality each streamer cost around $8000.  This is a good piece of streaming kit. It should be capable of discerning differences between an expensive and cheap DAC, if they exist. 

Well this appears to be going well? Is the OP satisfied yet? 
For me it’s easy…

Money

Magnitude

Margin

Synergy

PRAT

Soundstage

Timbre and tonality.

Significance

Value

Judgement,  mine or yours?

Cost

Logistical challenges

Connectivity

Implementation

Design

Materials

Parts

Components

Room

Nah there’s more

Lots more, but hopefully, you get the idea.

 

@duckworp  - Thanks for the streamer breakdown, now again what were the DACs?

@ghdprentice +1

@lalitk +1

@sudnh +1