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DAC vs outputs

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Posted on April 3, 2017 at 17:32:34
Lou S
Audiophile

Posts: 3164
Location: Ohio
Joined: February 26, 2001
I have a little SMSL DAC that I bought for under $70. I have COMPLETELY changed how it sounds multiple times just by changing the opamp in it. How much of what we hear when we are comparing DACs is actually the DAC, and how much is the output driver circuitry? As an aside, I have a Schiit Uber Multi DAC coming, does anyone know if it's got a socketed opamp? A photo of the board looks like it does. I asked a little about the internals of their $700 tube preamp and they didn't want to tell me squat, so I didn't bother asking about the DAC...
Best Regards,

Lou

 

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RE: DAC vs outputs, posted on April 4, 2017 at 11:32:19
JKT
Audiophile

Posts: 608
Location: Midwest
Joined: November 26, 2002



Or you could eliminate the OP amp entirely. My DIY DAC/line stage takes the balanced current output from a PCM1794 DAC chip and uses two pairs of resistors to accomplish the I/V conversion. The resultant signal is fed directly to the grids of the differential line stage.


"It is better to remain silent and thought a fool, then speak and remove all doubt." A. Lincoln

 

RE: DAC vs outputs, posted on April 4, 2017 at 14:06:53
Lou S
Audiophile

Posts: 3164
Location: Ohio
Joined: February 26, 2001
Nice, I just wonder if you were to use another DAC which has equivalent ability, whether it would sound different. I think it would, just as different opamps do, but it would be great to prove or disprove it, and I doubt that the conversion changes the sound, I suspect that the DAC's output makes the difference.
Best Regards,

Lou

 

RE: DAC vs outputs, posted on April 4, 2017 at 22:14:06
JKT
Audiophile

Posts: 608
Location: Midwest
Joined: November 26, 2002
Dave Davenport and Kevin Carter of Raleigh Audio and K&K Audio auditioned several different DAC chips before they settled on the Burr Brown PCM1794 for Dave's DAC kit.


"It is better to remain silent and thought a fool, then speak and remove all doubt." A. Lincoln

 

RE: DAC vs outputs, posted on April 5, 2017 at 03:21:04
Lou S
Audiophile

Posts: 3164
Location: Ohio
Joined: February 26, 2001
I don't doubt that, but as I said, all things being equal, 1's and 0's are 1's and 0's. I think that the output stage makes them different, though I certainly could be wrong!
Best Regards,

Lou

 

RE: DAC vs outputs, posted on April 5, 2017 at 16:33:24
ahendler
Audiophile

Posts: 5151
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Joined: January 24, 2003
" 1's and 0's are 1's and 0's."
As been discussed here many times that statement is simply not true.
Timing errors are a major problem in digital playback. Also Delta Sigma chips handle the 1's and 0's completely different from ladder chips and they sound very different.
Alan

 

RE: DAC vs outputs, posted on April 5, 2017 at 16:45:33
Lou S
Audiophile

Posts: 3164
Location: Ohio
Joined: February 26, 2001
Tweakers' Asylum
In context, meaning that I have recently admitted a difference between asynchronous and ladder DACs, and clearly stated that I was speaking of similar DACs, the asynchronous vs ladder DAC statement is a strawman argument. As for the argument that how 1's and 0's get to analog being central vs the output ckt being central, the only way either theory could be proven, as far as I know, would require swapping the digital and outputs between DACs, which as far as I know isn't going to happen.


Best Regards,

Lou
Best Regards,

Lou

 

RE: DAC vs outputs, posted on April 5, 2017 at 18:29:11
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
Both are equally important.

 

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