this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2023
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Headphones

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Do DAC/Amp's sound different (alien.top)
submitted 1 year ago by Early-Hunt1052@alien.top to c/headphones@hi-fi.community
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My experience with this is I've had 3 different Dac Amps DAC x6 was the first one I had which I did not have any reference to before switching over to a Schiit Magni 3+ and Schiit Modi 3e (Both give plenty of volume). On the Hifiman Edition XS using the DAC x6 the sound was very claustrophobic and warm compared to using the Schiit stack which was much wider and neutral sounding, for me this was a huge upgrade. To add to this I also tried this on a portable DAC Amp which is the DC03 Pro which soundstage sounds closer on the side but a bit sounds warmer. What's your experience?

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[–] blargh4@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Examples of what I mean. Amplification types that have an associated sound: OPAMP's, NFCA's, Tube amp's, discrete topology amp's, Forward Feedback amp's, THX, non-negative feedback amp's, Class A amp's, Class A/B amp's, Class D amps, current mode amps (Questyle), etc. Amp differences are easiest to spot based on the shape of the soundstage and how well sounds/effect/instruments are separated and layered. Amp performance is reasonably easy to gauge on an audition.

Just because a low-level implementation detail differs doesn't mean it has a "sound". Your AAC audio doesn't sound different depending on whether it was encoded by an ARM or x86 processor.

[–] gabesxoxo@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I‘ve said it in my other comment but these people would really benefit from spending a weekend with a DAW just to see how hard it is to “widen the soundstage” and “improve the layering” when you’re actively trying to do that with tools specifically designed for this purpose and have the individual song stems at hand, let alone if you’re working with nothing but the final master.