Headphones

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time I designed my own DAC. PCM1704 with ultra low jitter crystals and state of the art low noise linear regulation. It used a discrete floating JFET IV stage using now discontinued but much lauded transistors. It was battery powered so there could be no power line noise.

It was. Joy. Such a fantastically wide soundstage. Highly detailed. Great dynamics. A magnificent experience. Like nothing I had ever experienced.

Then I realized that the RCAs going to my amp were still plugged into my soundcard and the ones coming out of the DAC were just dangling.

I’ll say with complete honesty that the DAC changed my life, just not with its audio quality.