@herman Here’s part of your prior response and the possible source of our disconnect…
The DAC is doing the exact same amount of processing whether the incoming signal has jitter or it doesn't. The DAC operates exactly the same either way. The DAC doesn't have a circuit that detects jitter or noise and then "does more work" when it detects it.
No it does not do the same amount of processing if it has to deal with a signal that has more jitter. By definition if a DAC receives a more poorly clocked signal it must work harder to clean up the signal than if it received a better signal. That is the DAC having to work harder. A DAC receiving a better signal by definition has less work to do to clean it up and can do it more effectively. Maybe it’s the term “work harder” that you’re having a hard time with, but if a DAC has a clock that can manage 98% of the jitter that comes into it and the incoming signal contains less jitter then the jitter left after it re-clocks that signal has less remaining jitter and the DAC sounds better for it. So maybe it’s just a matter of semantics and we can just agree that the less noise/jitter a DAC has to deal with the better it will sound, otherwise a DAC would sound the same regardless of the quality of the signal it receives, which you and I both have found is not the case. Frankly I’m just happy you and I had the openness to even try a DDC and that we were honest about that the thing actually did provide worthwhile improvements as opposed to some others who’d just rather bury their head in the sand in total denial/ignorance…
As for the dude saying adding a DDC is just adding another box so can’t possibly help and is just a way for a manufacturer to make more profit, well that’s just stupid and not even worthy of a response. Many, many people here have added a DDC and/or external clock and realized substantial sonic improvements, and while all else being equal I’d also prefer to have fewer boxes in the chain, all else is not always equal so sometimes the additional hardware and cables are well worth it. I’ll say again, anyone who has a DAC should at least try a DDC and external clock because IME they can be relatively speaking a very cost-effective way to realize significant improvements. Ok, I think this dead horse has been beat enough, so peace out.