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Is the digital to analog, or analog to digital conversion more critical to sound quality? Maybe another way to ask this question, which is more difficult to implement well, a DAC or ADC?
Follow Ups:
I think the A/D is more-critical, simply because unlike the D/A, you cannot fix a bad A/D- It's etched in stone on the media. The playback (D/A) is the one thing we can adjust.That said, I also think the D/A is much harder to execute effectively. In my opinion, the proportion of good recordings (A/D) is **far** greater than the proportion of good consumer D/A converters. Of all components used in building audio systems, I say the D/A section of digital playback, by and large, is easily the most-disappointing across-the-board. So much so that many have been discounting CD playback as inferior or overrated, thinking the medium itself isn't capable of producing audiophile-quality sound. But the small percentage ( < 5% ) of D/A converters that do get the playback right, the sound is satisfying to the point where the urge to go to high-resolution digital playback goes away, almost completely.
Not only the DA and AD section. The analog section is also very critical for sound reproduction. Low-cost players use opamps in this section while high-end equipments use matched transistors with a minimalist design. This means more components more noise.Zhaolu DAC is one of very well implemented DACs, particularly the DA section. One mod is to replace the analog output stage to make it a top-notch DAC. However, there are a million ways to design an analog section.
Both- Its a GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) world in all things of technology, but if it isn't there to be reproduced in the first place, it ain't gonna magically reappear anywhere down the chain...
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