“didn't see the obvious thought”
Please elaborate. I don’t hear anyone arguing the importance of the output section. Each DAC is the sum of its parts and design topology. You get the whole thing, which is why they sound different from each other.
Six DAC Comparison
I am in the middle of comparing the sound of six different DACs in my system. I own them all (I know weird) but one of them is still within a trial/return timeframe.
Not to share specific comparisons today, but a couple of observations so far are that first, they all definitely sound different from each other. On one hand, they all sound pretty good and play what is fed to them without significant flaws but on the other hand there are definite sonic differences that make it easy to understand how a person might like the sound of some of them while not liking others.
Second, raises the observation that most of them must be doing something to shape the sound in the manner the designer intended since one of the DACs, a Benchmark DAC3 HGA, was described by John Atkinson of Stereophile as providing "state-of-the-art measured performance." In the review, JA closed the measurements section by writing, "All I can say is "Wow!" I have also owned the Tambaqui (not in my current comparison), which also measured well ("The Mola Mola Tambaqui offers state-of-the-digital-art measured performance." - JA). The Benchmark reminds me sonically of the Tambaqui, both of which are excellent sounding DACs.
My point is that if the Benchmark is providing "state-of-the-art measured performance," then one could reasonably presume that the other five DACs, which sound different from the Benchmark, do not share similar ’state-of-the-art" measurements and are doing something to subtly or not so subtly alter the sound. Whether a person likes what they hear is a different issue.
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@coppy777 The analog output is a great way to get sound color if you're using a discrete circuit...R2R is another way....tubes another way. If you don't want sound color in the DAC though...using an OP amp is fine. That's what Benchmark is doing. If there is brightness in your system or room, the Benchmark isn't going to be a tone control...it won't add harmonic richness or dimensionality that's not there to begin with. I like Chord DACs...my room is treated and my amp is warm sounding...so in my situation I'm not looking for sound color in my DAC. If my amp was lean, something like the Border Patrol DAC would be on my short list. |
System My digital front end is described below. The analog portion of my system (after the DAC) can be seen on my virtual system page. My sole music source is digital and results from streaming Tidal or Qobuz, or from accessing stored digital music files that I have ripped from my CDs. I use Roon to control the music selections and as my user interface. I use a separate server and streamer with the server consisting of a SGC sonicTransporter i9 (Gen 4) that stores my music files on a SSD and runs Roon core. It is located in a “network” room, which also includes my cable modem and router. The i9 is connected to an optical switch as is my router and a 45-foot long fiber optic cable connecting my streamer. The Ethernet output from my router is isolated optically prior to arriving at the switch. The cable modem, router, switch and converters are all powered by linear power supplies and all of those items, plus the i9, are connected to a single, dedicated 20A line. My streamer is a Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical that runs Roon Ready and is located in the same room as my main system. It uses a fiber optic input (from the network room) and outputs via USB into a Singxer SU6 DDC. The SU6 is powered from a supercapacitor that is recharged by an outboard linear power supply. The SU6 offers a variety of (live) outputs allowing me to connect three or four DACs at the same time. All of the DACs utilize the same balanced analog outputs to my preamp. Digital cables include a Totaldac filtered USB cable or Network Acoustics Muon USB cable, S/PDIF cables by Oyaide (5N Silver) or Canare, and a TWL AES/EBU cable. None of the DACs compared accept an I2S input. |
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