Does anybody use DACs?

Basswhore

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Joined
Aug 29, 2014
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Los Angeles
digital to analog converter headphone amp

If so how do you like the difference? Is it only useful from using on a computer?

Recommend specific brands? What is a budget you would look to spend on one for your 1st purchase?

I see they are priced between $50 - $3,000

Would you use a different product in place of this like an integrated DAC on a Mobo or separate device?

Thanks
 
A DAC is really only useful if you have a digital source (E.g. computer) with high quality audio files (48Khz+) on it and a very expensive, audiophile pair of headphones, like these.

http://www.amazon.com/Audeze-Lcd-3/...8&qid=1410444947&sr=8-1&keywords=audeze+lcd-3

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Not all DAC's are equal, and which one you want, depends what kind of sound you are looking for, some color the sound, some are transparent, some over-sample, some don't

Anyone who uses a computer to play music, is using a DAC already, audio interfaces and audio cards, are DA/AD's (DAC's), unless you are looking at a highend (eg Cranesong, SSL), then theres no point paying out extra money for one - get a pro-audio interface or card, and it will be transparent enough, if you are looking for something to plug into a CD player, well then just get one you like the sound of, coz they all sound a bit different (unless purely transparent)


one thing to look out for tho, is the amp, many of these DAC's are designed to boost the volume for headphones, this may or may not be a good thing, you get what you pay for...and mostly its unnesccary anyway, unless you are looking at high end "audiophile" gear
 
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What I was told is that the DACs in PCs are cheap components that have a weak filter in comparison to separate installation.


Im looking at these as a main pair of headphones later this year.

beyerdynamic custom one pro
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All my music is digital. Vinyl is all about collection for me. I use custom built computer hardware so a proper DAC might be a good tool with everything else.

Im not sure what 48Khz+ means. My friend told me about all that once. I just use 320 kbps mp3s and if I can get my hands on a WAV I get it. With 3000 songs and counting I get free mp3s all day long but not WAVs. Will they sound better as mp3s?

Thanks for both responses. Both useful.
 
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you will probably notice a difference between using standard inbuilt audio, and a DAC (can probly turn it up louder without distortion, that's about it), but maybe not, not all DAC's are equal, imo you will most likely get better sound from a hifi (from a listener perspective)

will you notice the difference between 320K MP3 and CD quality WAV?

probably not, unless you have exceptional ears (or spent years training them), which is possible...you certainly wont notice the difference between 44.1Khz (CD quality) and 48khz (Film Recording Standard, not a music standard), or even 96khz (music production standard)

....if you listen mostly on headphones, don't do any music production, and don't know or care why anyone would create a 48khz WAV instead of a 44.1khz wav, then you probably arnt going to really notice much difference between mp3 or wav. I would stil recommend WAV (but I don't see the point in using a non-standard format like 48khz, unless you buy a 48khz DAC, 48khz is used mainly for film/picture sound recordings)

imo you will get better quality sound from a cheap pro-audio interface with a headphone socket, than you will from a similarly priced "consumer" DAC or even one that is twice or more the price - with DAC's, theres cheap shit, more expensive shit, and pro/audiophile quality. imo
 
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I use a DAC with my headphones but that is only because I use those above mentioned headphones and it is a requirement for them to work properly. (Audeze LCD-2)

So I use this DAC
http://schiit.com/products/modi

Combined with this Amplifier
http://schiit.com/products/asgard-2

After much research this was determined to be a good combination and a slightly reasonable price... (After already spending way too much money on headphones lol)
 
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