DAC/streamers do influence sound. Tested in home and in a recording studio. It's not your imagination.

[Somafunk]

I can certainly hear a difference between such items, but then again I also hear a difference when the ambient temperature is raised/lowered, or when it’s raining/sunny outside, or when I’m absolutely blissed out with a joint or a fresh dose of Botox in my spasmodic muscles, or when I have had a few hours sleep or when it’s a full moon/saturn is in retrograde with a conflicting incursion by little green men , or when I appeal to an authority on any issues troubling me…etc…etc..etc.

 

[Zgrado1970]

Anyway this is just food for thought.

You can see from the responses that it is not.

 

[Drakon]

Nothing wrong with your observation or experience, but you are essentially saying that listeners perceived differences between two devices therefore DACs and streamers in general are audibly different in a reliably detectable way. That is similar to saying you tasted two bottled waters and perceived a difference, therefore water chemistry measurements are irrelevant. Your perception may absolutely be genuine, but the issue is the leap from a specific listening experience to a broad technical conclusion about all DACs and streamers. Tiny level mismatches, filter behavior, output stage differences, downstream interactions, or expectation effects can all contribute without disproving the idea that many competently designed DACs operate transparently within normal listening conditions.

I'm just saying the machines themselves color the sound. Kinda obvious to many yet still unbelievable and unacceptable to some.

 

[Drakon]

You can see from the responses that it is not.

Prove it scientifically.

 

[DSJR]

I'm just saying the machines themselves color the sound. Kinda obvious to many yet still unbelievable and unacceptable to some.

Which machines (again?) please?

 

[Drakon]

The responses were coming in faster than I could close but I did want to address them.

So again email or message me if you have a serious or interesting thought. See my comment above regarding monitoring. I appreciate the thoughtful responses received.

Adieu.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I'm just saying the machines themselves color the sound

They don't.

Kinda obvious to many yet still unbelievable and unacceptable to some.

It's NOT obvious to this Electronic Engineer.

You have made a silly claim and used poor experimental technique to back it up. Do a better job!

 

[Mart68]

'm just saying the machines themselves color the sound. Kinda obvious to many

It's not at all obvious to anyone with even a basic understanding which is why people are reluctant to take this seriously. The null hypothesis is 'no difference in controlled conditions' so you need to document the whole test properly if you want anyone to consider your result to be valid or at least worthy of attention.

I don't understand why you'd go to the extent of paying for studio time to do this test and then writing it up in a 'Wife also heard it from the kitchen' style.

If you won't show your workings does suggest that you're not confident in your methodology or the conclusion.

 

[Ruediger]

I'm just saying the machines themselves color the sound. Kinda obvious to many yet still unbelievable and unacceptable to some.

The machine's software has potential to color the sound. Did you learn all options of these streamers beforehand or did you go with a factory reset? What filters were the dac chips running default? I can think of a handful other things in 5s (a dozen in some minutes), all with rather small to huge potential. Nothing accounted for, just assumed identical - this is no way to conduct such a test. Streamers are complex software machines, not equal-design-hardware.

 

[Redacted]

Might be time to let people on their merry way.
If they are happy, leave 'em be - there's a shortage of being happy in the world.
I'm off to put some buckshot into some pesky elves.

 

[G|force]

I scrolled down to see the measurements and found none. Over 1700 words, but nothing that can be reproduced.
No rigor, no cookie.

 

[Ruhled]

Show us a copy of the bill you had to pay for studio time.

He can't. It's all bullshit.

 

[kemmler3D]

Guys, he MATCHED THE DECIBELS. What more do you want? This is hard science. This is Galileo. This is Einstein. This is a revolution. You just need to see the obvious. C'mon!

 

[Redacted]

A revolution?
I hope I can play with a guillotine.

 

[Tell]

So many words, but not a single measurement. Next!

 

[GroeneLeeuw]

I´m totally convinced
I´ll take the Eversolo as I mistrust "science"

 

[Jim Taylor]

There really is quite a difference between something rigorous and something anecdotal:

rigorous(adj.)
early 15c., of persons, "strict, exacting, harsh, stern;" of laws, actions, etc., "marked by inflexibility, severe, exacting," hence "unmitigated, merciless;" from Old French rigorous (13c., Modern French rigoureux), from Medieval Latin rigorosus, from Latin rigor "stiffness, firmness" (see rigor). The meaning "scrupulously accurate, precise" is from 1650s.

anecdote(n.)
1670s, "secret or private stories," from French anecdote (17c.) Procopius' 6c. Anecdota, unpublished memoirs of Emperor Justinian full of court gossip, gave the word a sense of "revelation of secrets," which decayed in English to "brief, amusing story" (1761).

 

[Apesbrain]

My second test would be to record the gain-matched analogue signals through an ADC.

Exactly. Then they could be made available to ABX with foobar2000.

 

[voodooless]

Exactly. Then they could be made available to ABX with foobar2000.

If the OP was indeed in a studio, it would have been the perfect environment to trivially measure the different sources, and compare them. A few simple recorded sweeps would be enough to see what is going on. And some music could be sent though DeltaWave to see the actual differences. So much wasted opportunity

 

[Redacted]

Exactly. Then they could be made available to ABX with foobar2000.

Being sad, I actually do this quite often! And I do the bit compare test with duplicate files sometimes.
It helps me prove or disprove the arrival of senility or madness.