Taketheflame
Member
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2020
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- 33
Hey all,
So from reading I've done on here (and elsewhere) about DACs, there seems to be a general consensus that DACs are among the more transparent components in audio, and there shouldn't be much, if any audible difference in audio quality between a $30 USB DAC, and DACs well past $1K in price (and some of them even measure pretty poorly compared to inexpensive options thought to be a good value on the market).
But there do seem to be differences in things like build quality, features (i.e filter options, remotes, # of inputs/outputs, power supply type, etc.). And there seems to be mixed thoughts on how these may or may not effect performance.
I guess I'm just curious - what's the general "threshold" for what is considered acceptable money to spend on a DAC, if sound quality is generally the same with nearly all of them? Does it just depend on what features one wants? I've seen quite a few DACs recommended on here across a wide range of price points, and it's mainly the ones that don't measure well that seem to get the "avoid" stamp (especially if they're expensive, understandably).
I only ask, because I've considered changing DACs, or adding one to my roster (current DAC is a Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus) but not because of audio performance (it sounds good to me) - more to have things like a remote and maybe some more filters to play around with. I'm also curious about reliability of cheaper wall wart vs linear power supplies? There seem to be arguments for and against both types...
So from reading I've done on here (and elsewhere) about DACs, there seems to be a general consensus that DACs are among the more transparent components in audio, and there shouldn't be much, if any audible difference in audio quality between a $30 USB DAC, and DACs well past $1K in price (and some of them even measure pretty poorly compared to inexpensive options thought to be a good value on the market).
But there do seem to be differences in things like build quality, features (i.e filter options, remotes, # of inputs/outputs, power supply type, etc.). And there seems to be mixed thoughts on how these may or may not effect performance.
I guess I'm just curious - what's the general "threshold" for what is considered acceptable money to spend on a DAC, if sound quality is generally the same with nearly all of them? Does it just depend on what features one wants? I've seen quite a few DACs recommended on here across a wide range of price points, and it's mainly the ones that don't measure well that seem to get the "avoid" stamp (especially if they're expensive, understandably).
I only ask, because I've considered changing DACs, or adding one to my roster (current DAC is a Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus) but not because of audio performance (it sounds good to me) - more to have things like a remote and maybe some more filters to play around with. I'm also curious about reliability of cheaper wall wart vs linear power supplies? There seem to be arguments for and against both types...