Headphones

i don't think it makes a huge difference, i listen to a ton of different sources and headphones and speakers and amps need the juice to drive the speakers/headphones. I usually EQ anything to taste though.

DACs are more snake oily, but I don't try a lot of DACs so who knows. Apple makes an $8 DAC (the iphone 1/8 adapter dongle) that doesn't seem to do anything to the sound of any of my headphones I use it on.

I would strongly urge you to take this energy about Amps and DACs and redirect it into researching new kinds of music. Listening to music instead of your amp/dac combo is a hell of a lot more fun.

What you’re hearing is either a case of louder=better or placebo

Yes but you shouldn't loose sleep over it. A lot of people have not branched out of one performance group, have noise/dirty power and sometimes have something specific to their hearing. I still remember when I got into audio and hearing how nothing made a difference, and then asking for someone to explain the difference between amplification types (D, A, A/B, etc) and basically no one could. Ironic.

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.

On DAC's I am usually surprised when people can't hear a difference in some. There are the obvious outliers like Chord DAC's or any FPGA DAC really (like Sony's TAZH1ES) and of course R2R or Multibit DACs, chip based DAC's are usually much more similar. The difference in DAC's is easiest to spot based on tonality. If you hear a cymbal does it sound glassy? If you hear clapping in an audience does it sound like clapping in a room or a clap track from 90's tv? Does a violin sound like an actual violin? Does a saxophone sound the same as a trumpet? DAC performance is hard to gauge on an audition alone.

I have no desire to change anyone's mind about any of this, but to answer your question, yeah, I mean they do often sound different if you're not only buying mid-tier and below and chi-fi or stuff from just one brand. Don't expect major differences though if nothing noteworthy in the topology changed (power, galvanic isolation, design, etc). There may be differences still but generally, I wouldn't be surprised to find that a D70 Octo sounds like a cleaner D30 Pro, but very little like a Pro iDSD Signature. Just what I have experienced first hand over the past 15 years since I got into headphones.

The most honest answer is "not really, no." Obviously tubes and R2R stuff exist, but overall, modern amps and DACs all sound the same.

Some amps will distort when pushed too hard, or even exhibit weird nonlinear behavior with very low impedance loads, so having a bit of headroom is helpful.

But this is all outlier edge cases. You likely wouldn't run into it.

I've never heard of the DC03 or the DAC X6, so I can't say if you're running into those issues. But if you aren't, it's likely just in your head. Simply knowing what gear you're listening to will affect your perception of what you're hearing.

...not this shit again

Some people say yes, while others say no. Personally I think they do but it’s definitely not a huge difference and it depends heavily on what headphones are being used. My advice for anybody in this community is to first try something before coming to conclusions

they can make a drastic positive or negative impact on the sound, or not do much. Very dependant on setup

Wouldnt buy headphones, dacs, or amps without trying multiple combinations

I have about 23 different dacs and amps sitting on my desk at the moment. Everything is functional and most connected to line switchers to be used with each other. I have a legend on my sticky notes app to tell me what goes where on the switchers.

TLDR: I haven't consolidated or sold stuff off as there are differences between most of my stuff and some have better synergy with certain headphones over others. I guess you could say that it's a terrible way to EQ, lol.

do a blind test... personally, I enjoy more cheap, slightly warm dacs and transparent, powerful amplifiers

amp and dacs are resolved topics full of snake oil (just like everything related to this topic)

The healthy thing would be to have a variety of obviously different equipment without spending too much and use them to better fit the music you listen to or just for the fun of changing equipment

Solid state, anything over $200, it is highly unlikely to hear a difference, I mean even comparing a $200 to a $2000 combo. Tube-wise it’s a different story

I have four main DAC/amps and they all sound very different. BTR5 is v-shaped and energetic, RU6 is warm and romantic, RU7 is detailed and seamless, and the DX240 is all of those things.

I don't think my ears are special or it's serendipity, I think the companies engineered these devices to sound a certain way and succeeded.

Honestly if you want a hobby where you can play around with sources for a difference in sound get into vinyl ;)

Most difference in tonal balance would be caused by difference in output impedance. Ideally your amp has low enough output impedance that it wouldn't affect the damping on your headphones, but not all amps are built the same. Other than that, all good amps should sound the same.

Yes and no. The DAC X6 has roll-off in the bass and treble, altering the frequency response. It might also not have the power headroom to fully reproduce the total dynamic range of the music. The performance might also decrease as current output goes up. That's not uncommon.

DACs today are pretty much all "perfect" so that's a non issue unless we get into R2R stuff. But amps can have deficiencies. Some present problems or traits that are more or less apparent depending on the characteristics of the headphone or IEM you plug into them.

Also, it's very hard to properly compare source gear, because not having a perfect volume match will significantly skew your impressions. And confirmation bias is always a factor in our perceptions.