Signal degradation in stack compared to integrated DAC/AMP? e.g.: Topping DX5 vs. E50/L50

[JEntwistle]

Sorry for the odd title - I can't think of a good articulation of this question.

I'm curious about the impact of cords and connectors between a DAC and a headphone amp on signal quality - specifically SINAD. I think what I am really wondering is if the cables cause more signal degradation than a circuit board trace in an integrated DAC/AMP.

In thinking about this, I think Amir's measurements take into account the use of a cable to connect a separate DAC and AMP, because he is using an external device to measure.
Could that mean that the SINAD of the DAC portion of an integrated DAC/AMP is being penalized, however slightly?

For example, Amir's SINAD measurement of the Topping DX5 is 122 db. Does that mean the internal SINAD between the DAC and AMP (i.e.: what the amp receives from the DAC) could actually be a bit higher? How much of an impact could something like this have? Would it be something like a fraction of 1 db, perhaps?

I know the differences are not meaningful or audible. I'm just curious from the technical standpoint

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Sorry for the odd title - I can't think of a good articulation of this question.

I'm curious about the impact of cords and connectors between a DAC and a headphone amp on signal quality - specifically SINAD. I think what I am really wondering is if the cables cause more signal degradation than a circuit board trace in an integrated DAC/AMP.

In thinking about this, I think Amir's measurements take into account the use of a cable to connect a separate DAC and AMP, because he is using an external device to measure.
Could that mean that the SINAD of the DAC portion of an integrated DAC/AMP is being penalized, however slightly?

For example, Amir's SINAD measurement of the Topping DX5 is 122 db. Does that mean the internal SINAD between the DAC and AMP (i.e.: what the amp receives from the DAC) could actually be a bit higher? How much of an impact could something like this have? Would it be something like a fraction of 1 db, perhaps?

I know the differences are not meaningful or audible. I'm just curious from the technical standpoint

It depends on the design, but normally any differences are so small that they're inaudible.

Clearly, if I'm designing two separates, I've got to build an output stage in the DAC and an input stage in the headphone amplifier, which I don't need to build in a single device. This conversion circuitry may add noise and distortion. But well designed solutions will be inaudible.

 

[staticV3]

Cables carrying line level signals, unless severely broken, will have an immeasurable impact on SINAD.

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[Dunring]

The cables don't affect it, but the two DX5s we have are great for perfect channel matching. Also it works as a superb DAC if you decide to add Ampzilla to it later for more powah.

 

[JEntwistle]

The cables don't affect it, but the two DX5s we have are great for perfect channel matching. Also it works as a superb DAC if you decide to add Ampzilla to it later for more powa

Can you elaborate on this? Are you using one DAC per channel in a two-channel setup?

Good to know the DAC portion performs well when bypassing the amp portion.