Is there any such thing as a bad sounding DAC these days?


I think the problem of DAC for quality audio has been pretty much universally solved.  Not to say all DACs are equal, they aren’t, but do any that really matter these days not sound “good”?

mapman

Most likely the OP’s question misses the more important question and reality for us Audiophiles. Couple of things to consider. First, a dac cannot play music in your home all by itself as it is part of a complete audio system. Second, what sounds good is very subjective and influenced by system synergy and personal sonic preferences. I have listened to current production dacs that are well reviewed and priced up to $3000 (Benchmark) that just sounded awful to my ears in my system. At the same time I have heard current $1200 dacs (MHDT Lab) that I felt sounded good to my ears and in my system.
My point is this, not all modern day dacs will sound good to all people in all systems. Too many preferences and variables at play making it just impossible. So a modern dac can indeed sound bad in a given situation. To another person in another system my dac findings may be opposite of his. Crazy reality of this passion/hobby.

was surprised how good my Cambridge CXN V2 streamer sounds with internal DAC, was going to be a temporary, but decided to keep it...

I am not strictly an ASR measurement guy—I value the listening experience much more than the measurements.  However, for an (R2R) DAC that measures as poorly as any I’ve ever seen and yet sounds good in your system, I would say there is no single DAC on the market that sounds bad.

I think I get your point. In comparison to ten or twenty years ago, most DACs sound much better. There were some truly hideous sounding DACs back then.

Now, each level up sounds better... absolutely. Every step in increased price in major DAC lines nets much better sound.

Then there is a question of does the sound characteristics match your tastes. Like for me, a Benchmark or dCS DAC is not even close to a sound I want for music and however Audio Research or Berkely is. But I can’t really say any of them are bad.

I can’t believe there are not some really inexpensive DACs that don’t still sound bad. But I don’t have any now, and can’t think of any reason I would audition any.

You might be surprised by hearing some very nice sounding DACs / players from long ago. They will absolutely measure like dog crap compared to modern. But our ear-brains do not process information via Fast Fourier Transform!

I tried an RME ADI-2 Pro "Black Edition" and hated it. Measures great. I hated the Benchmark DAC-1 too, back 20 years ago when that was all the rage - great measurements for its time, and was being dubbed "best DAC at any price" etc. Have a 30 year old Meridian 566 DAC. A real dinosaur. Very rich, warm, vibrant and natural tonality. Musical. More like my vinyl playback, in these aspects. Not as refined nor detailed as great vinyl, or modern digital. But probably more enjoyable (to me) than most modern digital. I had a R2R DAC too (Yggdrasil) and it didn’t have this quality, at all.

The technical progression of DACs over the past fews decades, from a mathematical and engineering standpoint, has been immense. But when metered as enjoyable listening devices - the progression has been far from linear, and not always in the "right" direction. There have been gems and dogs in every era.