What are DAC'S ?

[NvidiaIntelfanboy]

Can anyone explain what are DAC's ,its purpose and how it is used and how it is used with AMP's

[Askew]

Digital to Analog Converter

 

In layman terms it takes digital signal and turns it into a line level (low volume) analog one, the amplifier takes that line level analog signal and makes it louder for the driving of speakers/headphones.

 

It is needed because audible sound is an analog signal, the way we store stuff ever since vinyl died out is digitally, the digitally stored recordings need to be decoded and once again become converted back to analog in order for us to hear them.

 

If you are playing a vinyl record then a DAC is not needed because vinyl is an analog medium, if you turn a turntable with the needle applied to a record with no power on, you will be able to hear the sound of the recording being emitted very quietly from the needle box.

 

DACs do not exist just for audio though, they exist for video signal too.

[NvidiaIntelfanboy]

It takes digital signal and turns it into a line level (low volume) analog one, the amplifier takes that line level analog signal and makes it louder for the driving of speakers/headphones.

just louder ? what about the other aspects of the audio like bass and treble 

[Intervalence]

just louder ? what about the other aspects of the audio like bass and treble 

I am in no way an audio expert, and save the complicated questions for @Askew, but from what I know it just increases volume... not quality or punch.

[NvidiaIntelfanboy]

@Intervalence So you're buying a 200 dollar amp and dac combo ,just make audio louder ?

[Askew]

just louder ? what about the other aspects of the audio like bass and treble 

 

I did say 'In layman terms' this means as simply as it is possible to explain, I recommend a bit of googling for you to get some better understanding.

 

Here are a couple of links to help you get started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_power_amplifier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital-to-analog_converter

[Intervalence]

@Intervalence So you're buying a 200 dollar amp and dac combo ,just make audio louder ?

From my knowledge an external higher quality dac will do a much better job at converting audio than your onboard dac or amp, and thus will result in a more cleaner and higher quality sound? See I thought the amp makes it louder, and the dac increases quality. Probably wrong, someone please correct me 

[Hikaru12]

A DAC's purpose is to convert the digital signals in your music found on your computer to analog, electrical signals that can be used by the speaker, mainly the coil. Everything that translates digital music to sound has a DAC in it including your phone and iPod. The problem is the quality of the DAC. Some produce distortions called jitter which is like electrical noise which can interfere with the sound quality. The best ones are the ones that keep things tight within spec below your hearing range so you can't hear any distortions. 

 

You either connect a USB or digital/coaxial cable to the device and it does all the conversion within the box and spits out electrical analog outputs to either 3.5mm connections for headphones or RCA or balanced XLR connections for speakers.

 

By pairing a DAC with an amp, you increase the volume and the power of the signal so that you can hear things louder. It also allows you to turn the volume down on your computer or have a single volume knob for all your sound which is more convenient.  

[Kaasgeelheid]

In the audio section of this forum (where this thread should be),

there is a pinned FAQ thread, where this gets explained in detail along with many other things.

I'd suggest checking that out.

[Lord Gaben]

it stands for Digital Analog Converter, it converts the digital signal from an output such as optical, to Analog which your headphones/speakers can interpret, the point of using a DAC thats not on your inbuilt audio is less interference

[ShearMe]

@Intervalence So you're buying a 200 dollar amp and dac combo ,just make audio louder ?

Some amps effect the sound differently than others, because audeejewfiles like to tinker with their music until it sounds "just right." Most of the regulars on the audio subforum think an amp shouldn't effect the sound at all for reproduction of an audio file., especially since the differences are minor compared to the EQing that goes on in a speaker/headphone.

[h264]

just louder ? what about the other aspects of the audio like bass and treble

The theoretical EE concept of an amplifier is that no change occurs to the signal except its amplitude (Volume in this case). In practice, it's almost impossible to perfectly achieve, but in audio when an engineer gets close enough we call it "audibly transparent", meaning it is so close our ears and brains won't be able to pick out any differences if we tried. There's more in the FAQ if you're still interested.

[NvidiaIntelfanboy]

THANKS for the awesome reply's guys