Focus SE
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- Joined
- Jul 31, 2023
- Messages
- 56
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- 35
This is my first post on this forum. I will start by saying i have always loved a great sounding stereo to listen to great music. I am new to the hobby of building a system for consuming audio for entertainment. For ten years I have dreamed of the day when I could get a system that wowed me. My path is much different from most. I started with my End game speakers and have been working back to supply them with quality electronics to feed them. I am rapidly becoming aware of complexities of what happens on the inside of our equipment. I have zero professional experience in audio equipment. My only real life qualification is to be fortunate enough to by nice equipment to do what I love, and that is listen.
My question is about understanding DAC’s and their place in a system. I understand what they do and my question is not about how they do it but rather how do all the DAC’s within a system work together? Here is my limited understanding of the process. A DAC takes in an electrical signal and outputs it as an analog signal I can hear. Great here is my problem conceptually, it you take a bad photograph and take a great digital picture of it you will see the flaws very easily. So when you have a system that includes maybe a streamer, avr, cd player, or any other processor along the way you are effectively chaining all the internal DAC’s together. (The weak link problem in my mind) my understanding is that every component that electrical signal passes through gets run through another DAC. It seems to me that the “choke point” of quality would be in your weakest equipment. That being said would a DAC be the last piece of equipment you should buy because no matter how good a DAC you have if your source supplying or receiving the signal form the DAC will be limited by its own quality. Thus the output can only be as good as that last DAC pass through. Is this where the argument for getting all separates has validity? Again I’m not an audiophile and not even sure I want to get to that level. I just want expand my knowledge and to maximize my spending and enjoyment. Thanks
My question is about understanding DAC’s and their place in a system. I understand what they do and my question is not about how they do it but rather how do all the DAC’s within a system work together? Here is my limited understanding of the process. A DAC takes in an electrical signal and outputs it as an analog signal I can hear. Great here is my problem conceptually, it you take a bad photograph and take a great digital picture of it you will see the flaws very easily. So when you have a system that includes maybe a streamer, avr, cd player, or any other processor along the way you are effectively chaining all the internal DAC’s together. (The weak link problem in my mind) my understanding is that every component that electrical signal passes through gets run through another DAC. It seems to me that the “choke point” of quality would be in your weakest equipment. That being said would a DAC be the last piece of equipment you should buy because no matter how good a DAC you have if your source supplying or receiving the signal form the DAC will be limited by its own quality. Thus the output can only be as good as that last DAC pass through. Is this where the argument for getting all separates has validity? Again I’m not an audiophile and not even sure I want to get to that level. I just want expand my knowledge and to maximize my spending and enjoyment. Thanks