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New DAC comparison chart (we'd love your feedback)

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Koeitje

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This thread contains a performance overview for all the DACs that have been tested to date.

We plan to add more device types and measured values in future.

@pozz and I spend some time building a new tool to compare DAC performance. He worked through all the data and reorganised it, while I build this Tableau. We would really appreciate your feedback on it, because we plan to make similar charts for other electronic measurements. So let us know what you think.

And before anyone asks: a scatter plot based on price and SINAD just results in random dots because there isn't any correlation ;).

Filters
  • Brand
  • Model
  • Hardware type
  • Portable
  • DAC type (might not be available for all products)
  • DAC chip (might not be available for all products)
  • Tested input
  • Tested output
  • Measured by (for now only @amirm)
  • Release date (might not be available for all products)
  • Price
Coloring
  • Based on percentile score (per Input/output combination)
  • Based on recommendation
Sort
  • Model
  • Price
  • Recommendation
  • SINAD
Linking to review
  • Click on the chart and use the link to go to the review.

It can be found here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Audio_DAC_Performance_Index/
 
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Zek

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No most recently tested DACs?
 

Jarrett

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Thanks! My only thought was why are all filters chosen as default? I guess if none were default the page would load blank?
'
 
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PaulD

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That is really nice work Koeitje and pozz! Some good suggestions above too. My only wish is that when I command click a review link it opened in a new tab instead of always replacing the one just opened - it's trivial in the scheme of things. Many thanks again, that's super!
 
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pozz

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No most recently tested DACs?
Everything is in there minus the Cambridge Dacmagic 100, which I haven't had time to add.
 

pozz

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Maybe there is more data to be added. I don't see my little Fiio E10K, yet it was reviewed/compared here https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...dslabs-odac-rev-b-compared-to-fiio-e10k.2068/
Anything measured with Amir's old analyzer isn't added to the measurement database. Sorry. This is to keep the comparisons consistent.

Edit: I wanted to clarify that in very select cases I've included some old figures based on the AP2522: mostly headphone amp output impedance and I think power (once). Amir also briefly demoed the APx525 so there are a couple reviews using it. So that there's not confusion, in the database each measurement is referenced to a note about which analyzer is used as well.
 
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MZKM

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Interesting idea to split the coloring into quarters rather than SINAD values.

However, both still suffer from the fact that totally uninformed may believe that even if they are right next to each other in order, that if they are different colors that that indicates their performance is not similar. Now, my speaker charts have the same issue, and I’ve been researching to see if I can somehow use gradients.
 

Hugo9000

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Great work, thanks very much! :)


(@pozz Sorry, but I don't see the Topping E30 in there yet. Perhaps because it's not yet available commercially? I very much appreciate all the hard work you put in to enhance the site, by the way! :) )
 

pozz

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Great work, thanks very much! :)


(@pozz Sorry, but I don't see the Topping E30 in there yet. Perhaps because it's not yet available commercially?)
Oh, it didn't update since the last time I revised the data. Tableau servers are under heavy pressure because of COVID dashboard, so I'm getting booted out.
1585447598146.png

I'm about to head to bed, so maybe @Koeitje can get it to refresh the database when he gets up.
 

Tks

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This is crazy good, AND it's far more responsive than the prior system.

Idk if bossman is ever going to do the heat-generated over time thing anymore (seems like a metric being thrown out). Aside from that. Looks great.
 

Webninja

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Great job, and it works well enough in mobile, although the results table looked a bit sparse until I accidentally horizontally scrolled.
Agree with the comment about the price filter, hard to fine tune under $1k.
 

Jimbob54

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Good work, does about everything I need . As others have said, keeping current is going to be a chore for you and yes, opening links into a new tab is a bit of a must.
 
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Koeitje

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Thanks! My only thought was why are all filters chosen as default? I guess if none were default the page would load blank?
'
They are, just select them and the link is in the pop-up. I can make just selecting them go to the review, but that gets really annoying if you are selecting multiple items (for example to exclude things).

Thanks! My only thought was why are all filters chosen as default? I guess if none were default the page would load blank?
'
Yes, I see that portable is set to "no" by default, I'll change that to "yes".

That is really nice work Koeitje and pozz! Some good suggestions above too. My only wish is that when I command click a review link it opened in a new tab instead of always replacing the one just opened - it's trivial in the scheme of things. Many thanks again, that's super!
I don't think I can change this, but I'll take a look at it.

Can the price slider be made, I dunno, logarithmic or something? The vast majority of the DACs are crammed at the left edge.

(Also, thanks for setting it up)
Great job, and it works well enough in mobile, although the results table looked a bit sparse until I accidentally horizontally scrolled.
Agree with the comment about the price filter, hard to fine tune under $1k.

Just select the box and type it in. I might even drop the slider in its entirety. I already made it extra wide to make it a bit easier to use.

Interesting idea to split the coloring into quarters rather than SINAD values.

However, both still suffer from the fact that totally uninformed may believe that even if they are right next to each other in order, that if they are different colors that that indicates their performance is not similar. Now, my speaker charts have the same issue, and I’ve been researching to see if I can somehow use gradients.
It has always been like this, the old charts were also rated by percentile score. So I just copied that. The only difference is that in the old charts only the best values were shown, and right now I'm also showing values for other inputs/outputs when available. I agree that everything in blue and green probably sounds exactly the same if its a recommended product (might be other issues if its not).

Great work, thanks very much! :)


(@pozz Sorry, but I don't see the Topping E30 in there yet. Perhaps because it's not yet available commercially? I very much appreciate all the hard work you put in to enhance the site, by the way! :) )

It should auto-update every day, but as @pozz said Tableau public is getting hammered due to the COVID-19 lockdown (more people using it, dashboards to track it).
 

Zek

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Everything is in there minus the Cambridge Dacmagic 100, which I haven't had time to add.
I can't find reviews of Topping E30 and SMSL Sanskrit Mk II.
 
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