Foxenfurter
Active Member
The first stand-alone DAC that I owned was an Audio Alchemy DAC-in-the-box. I was immensely pleased with this and decided to compare it to my old and free technics record deck, I was expecting to laugh at the awful sound coming from the record deck. Instead I was shocked at how massive the virtual soundstage was when playing vinyl when compared to playing CD through the DITB.
Several years later I replaced this DAC with an Audio Note DAC largely on the basis of it having a much bigger Soundstage. I know - uncontrolled listening conditions. I had forgotten all this, until yesterday I ended up watching some youtube reviews of DACS and heard all these "gurus" blathering on about soundstage and how this DAC had lots and this (cheaper one) had less.
So my question is this, why do some electronics apparently deliver a bigger (wider, taller, deeper) virtual soundstage then others? Is a bigger soundstage a characteristic of distortion e.g. tube coloration or better engineering. Are there any measurements which would be a better predictor of whether a component is likely to deliver a wider soundstage?
Clarifications
Several years later I replaced this DAC with an Audio Note DAC largely on the basis of it having a much bigger Soundstage. I know - uncontrolled listening conditions. I had forgotten all this, until yesterday I ended up watching some youtube reviews of DACS and heard all these "gurus" blathering on about soundstage and how this DAC had lots and this (cheaper one) had less.
So my question is this, why do some electronics apparently deliver a bigger (wider, taller, deeper) virtual soundstage then others? Is a bigger soundstage a characteristic of distortion e.g. tube coloration or better engineering. Are there any measurements which would be a better predictor of whether a component is likely to deliver a wider soundstage?
Clarifications
- My listening experience when changing electronics has only been that some components lock the image between the speakers and with others it appears to be wider than the speakers, this is what I am referring to.
- I haven't heard a significant difference in soundstage width in DACS that I have purchased in the last 10 years, so I suspect that the older ones may have been broken in this respect.
- After watching those knobs on youtube, really makes me appreciate measurements.
- I don't really know what I am talking about