Do I need a headphone or speaker to appreciate high-end DACs?
This is a common opinion I hear on forums:
That to appreciate TOTL DACs you need a very resolving transducer.
My question is, to appreciate such quality, do I need speakers, or will headphones be enough?
Typical TOTL DACs i hear are from dcs, Chord, Mola Mola, Holo, Lampizator, MSB, Rockna, Weiss etc. To enjoy that level of fidelity, do I need speakers?
When I say "enjoy", I dont mean subjectively feeling good. I am asking about the differences being big enough to spot on in blind A/B testing, compared to say, a 200$ Schiit or JDS.
Right! But i dislike all headphones and it is a miracle that i stumble on one almost perfect but after 6 months of studying how to optimize it right... There is no easy road without study and experiments in audio... or pay a fortune and buy a bad one million bucks system in some case... But who will dare to say that a million bucks system is bad?
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Your first response is spot-on and exactly the right advice. Many DACs (other gear for that matter) can present well/similarly but only the better ones can offer greater soundstage depth and spacial cues. Utilizing headphones only gets you the sound signature but does nothing to demonstrate the aforementioned attributes, which for me are equally as important! |
@boostedis the other attributes for the most part can be obtained by the RAAL SR1a earphones. That is why some people have sold their speakers and went just with the RAALs. I know 2 people who sold their Magico speakers and went with the simpler phones. This was about 4 years ago and do not know if they are still speaker-less. |
Thank you all for for the responses, it was helpful. @mulveling Yeah, that is the general opinion I am seeing everywhere. That while headphones are enough, speakers are better. |
