Is there really no audible difference between different DACs?

[Wes]

Oh and my headphones are the beyerdynamics 880 600 ohm version
i bought them because i have heard they are very neutral headphones for the price

Do some level matched double blinded tests

I am not convinced that SINEAD captures every audible factor in different pre-amps or DACs, and every DAC unit is a also a pre-amp.

 

[mansr]

I am not convinced that SINEAD captures every audible factor in different pre-amps or DACs, and every DAC unit is a also a pre-amp.

If you manage a flat frequency response and, say, 110 dB SINAD at 1 kHz and full amplitude, any audible defects with other signals are likely deliberate.

 

[mhardy6647]

I am not convinced that SINEAD captures every audible factor in different pre-amps or DACs, and every DAC unit is a also a pre-amp.

[emphasis added]

Freudian slip, auto-correct, or wry commentary?

I mean, there's SINÉAD

and there's SINÉAD

(I do prefer the second one, FWIW)

FWIW, and on topic, I figure the difference between DAC (products) lies in the analog domain (i.e., the buffer and/or line-level analog output stage downstream of the DAC) -- and I further figure those differences might be (note the subjunctive) not insubstantial. But that's just me.

 

[hellboundlex]

[emphasis added]

Freudian slip, auto-correct, or wry commentary?

I mean, there's SINÉAD

and there's SINÉAD

(I do prefer the second one, FWIW)

FWIW, and on topic, I figure the difference between DAC (products) lies in the analog domain (i.e., the buffer and/or line-level analog output stage downstream of the DAC) -- and I further figure those differences might be (note the subjunctive) not insubstantial. But that's just me.

I wanted to make the same comment about the analog domain, and to say that all good DACs sound the same when level matched, but all bad DACs sound wrong in their own way...

Also, thanks for the music suggestion.

 

[Wes]

mea culpa


but what are some examples of bad DACs that sound wrong & how?

 

[hellboundlex]

mea culpa


but what are some examples of bad DACs that sound wrong & how?

PS Audio... And it's noise, distortion, and poor response at [strike]low volume[/strike] quieter points.

 

[ReaderZ]

Yeah, same happend to me when I sat in a hotel lobby and in the adjoing room a sax plaxer started to play. I went in to find a JBL Charge 3 playing

Well I just bought some $25 koss over the ear, plugged into my ipad and watching some youtube, when someone dropped something in the video off screen I really thought something in my room fall down!!!!

 

[CrankyRat]

His voice is inside my head between my ears but the sound of the guitar is comfortably outside of the earcups of my headphones
How does it sound like to other people here?

Using Hifiman Ananda headphones and a $100 DAC/AMP (Hidizs 8) everything is outside the ear cups except his voice.

 

[eyes-on-you]

I have also used



I am well aware that it is a swtiching power supply i have never said it was anything else

I did mention though that the ifi powers uses active noise cancellation

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...o-about-nothing-part-4-uploaded-and-complete/

Ifi done measurements themselves and shared them here is a link


Someone else on a different forum also did a couple measurements of power supplies one of them being the ipower

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?43277-iFi-iPower-for-Raspberry-PI&p=737514#post737514

Ipower

View attachment 40612

generic power supply

View attachment 40613


battery power supply

View attachment 40614

Which one is the best here?

Would you comment?

 

[flaviowolff]

just to add a little something: Listening with my HD 560S I can hear absolutely no difference between my well-measured Apple usb-c dongle and the headphone out (realtek) of my Lenovo Tiny M90Q office PC, which I'm positive would measure like sh't. Both also have about the same max volume.