On DACs

[maverickronin]

I usually am listening to music while spending time here....

Plus, if you're posting here, you're not really listening.

There is a difference, IMHO, between listening to music and music is playing.

LOL...I can chew gum at the same time, too....multi tasking.

I used to be able to do that when I was younger but have since lost the ability to do that kind of multitasking.

 

[honn]

1. Depends on the rest of your chain and possibly recordings.

2. The DACs listed should sound different from each other, but its going to vary in degree, possibly hair-splitting. Every DAC implementation will sound different. Sometimes noticeably and sometimes extremely hard to distinguish. Again a lot of that relies on how resolving your transducers and amplifiers are. It won't matter if the rest of your gear can't resolve.

3. I buy DACs based on how they sound and how they work in my system. I'm a purist in that I rather have a dedicated DAC with no features. Usually if digital volume controls are implemented, they will hamper a DAC's performance (see Emotiva DC-1).

If you get two DACs, and you can't hear any difference between the two, then just buy based on the features you want and/or lowest price.

Thank you for your answers. I've learned more and more in the forum, and based on that I think DACs, if they're provably transparent, even the $9 dongle from Apple, will sound indistinguishable one from another. In a proper blind testing, you're likely won't be able to pass the test. You may think that you hear a difference, but it's very likely your psychological biases playing tricks on your perception.

 

[Harmonie]

Not me.

I'm either listening to nothing (like right now, too early) or listening to test tones.

I don't like engaging in rational discussion when I listen to music.

Plus, if you're posting here, you're not really listening.

There is a difference, IMHO, between listening to music and music is playing.

+1
Can't agree more,

@Chrispy
You maybe hear music while doing something else, but certainly not listen to it.
Would you attend a concert and opera and do something else ?
I think that multitasking ends here.

 

[Harmonie]

I didn't feel too ashamed failing a few DAC ABX tests.

It was the one time I failed a cartridge ABX test that I was truly humiliated.

There is a dedicated thread for such humbling moments

 

[watchnerd]

There is a dedicated thread for such humbling moments

Yes, already posted a different humbling moment there.

I don't want to hog all the embarassment.

 

[raif71]

Thank you for your answers. I've learned more and more in the forum, and based on that I think DACs, if they're provably transparent, even the $9 dongle from Apple, will sound indistinguishable one from another. In a proper blind testing, you're likely won't be able to pass the test. You may think that you hear a difference, but it's very likely your psychological biases playing tricks on your perception.

I agree with you on this but suppose I couldn't distinguish between DACs after testing them under blind and level matching, I discover that the Apple dongle needed more volume for the amp to be the same level of that other DAC, I would then be bias to choose the other DAC for future practical purposes

 

[Killingbeans]

That's not really bias, is it? It's just a practical consideration.

 

[raif71]

That's not really bias, is it? It's just a practical consideration.

Yup, true

 

[M00ndancer]

Edited: 03:07 UTC+1 Thanks for the laughs!

The reel to reel deck, maybe.
With the current Devialet, there isn't much to gaze at.

Stop, my body can't handle it!

(Or continue to keep me laughing...)

 

[BDWoody]

With the current Devialet, there isn't much to gaze at.

I fondle the remote...

 

[Chrispy]

+1
Can't agree more,

@Chrispy
You maybe hear music while doing something else, but certainly not listen to it.
Would you attend a concert and opera and do something else ?
I think that multitasking ends here.

Well likely you do do other things at some types of concerts. Usually at a classical concert I simply fall asleep, no way I'm going to opera again. Some can multitask and still enjoy the music I guess (dancing comes to mind)

 

[M00ndancer]

Well likely you do do other things at some types of concerts. Usually at a classical concert I simply fall asleep, no way I'm going to opera again. Some can multitask and still enjoy the music I guess (dancing comes to mind)

Prove it!
That's only subjective opinions.

Good Morning ASR.

 

[half_dog]

I was curious about my Galaxy S9 audio performance. So I did some measurements with my old TASCAM US-366. From others measurements I thought I had hit US-336 maximum THD capacity (ignore its high noise floor) with a Sonata HD Pro, D10s, E30... And at first S9 performed very bad when I realized its UHQ upscale was turned on...
Edit: I do not know if I have done something different but I can not reproduce this numbers again but the S9 stills oscillating around -108dB of THD with the third harmonic dominating.

 

[MattHooper]

Yes to all three points

That's why DACs are no fun.