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Expensive DAC/AMP makes no difference

Jz1
By Jz1
in Audio
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Go to solution Solved by Dackzy,

A lot of this comes down to how trained your ears are, for someone like me where I have trained them a lot and spend a lot of days listening for the very very small details in recordings a higher end DAC and amp makes sense (at least if it is a good unit or good units), because it allows me to more easily hear the smallest of things that if we are honest nobody else will hear it when they are just listening to the song. Plus in my case my unit is extremely clean, so overall the music just sounds cleaner than if I used onboard or like the schiit stack or some Ifi BL product or really anything else like that.

 

Another factor will be the quality of the master of a given song, if its poor or mediorce, then chances are that it will sound about the same out of most DACs and amps, though a benefit of having a headphone amp is the output impedance, in your case your laptop has a output impedance in the 20's (at least that is what the new macbooks have), which is quite high and can give some dampening issues and therefor be the course of some issues with some lower impedance headphones.

 

I also think that people firstly notice the cleanness of something, so if a given unit or units aren't the cleanest, but more detailed, then the difference between it and some other unit will seem smaller than it in reality is.

 

Lasty it comes down to your headphones/speakers, not all are equal, some will be more sensitive to chain changes.

 

I tend to agree with you to some degree. I think a higher end DAC and amp doesn't make sense for a lot of people, but it does for some of the people that really sit down and listen closely and have speakers or headphones that really can show even the tinniest of differences in recordings. I would never recommend to your average guy to go out and buy the unit I have or anything close to that. ofc there are some that just buy the best of the best because they can or because they want to brag, but that's the case for basically any hobby.

 

At the end of the day this all comes down to the individual and if it doesn't make a difference for you then yeah return it. Though I do think that your title is very clickbait and seem to be something you would call a thread to get a lot of angry responses from people, generally very split the waters title. I do like topics like this where there are different views on things :) 

Posted

Hi, I purchased the iFi Micro iDSD BL for $850 AUD and I have it connected to my laptop via USB. I cannot seem to tell the difference in audio quality compared to connecting directly to my MacBook Pro 15 2018. I have tried all 3 different power modes. I have been using TIDAL to stream on MASTER sound quality with MQA and I still cannot tell the difference. With that being said, I also would like to mention that I use the HD6XX which benefits and scales with a good AMP/DAC. Upon reading the manual and visiting FAQ from iFi Audio, no drivers are required for macOS. I'm not sure what else I can try to make sure I am doing everything correctly, but so far it seems like I will be returning the unit. But before I do that, I want to be certain that theres something I'm doing wrong, and I really hope there is. If anyone can offer some advice, that would be great, Thanks ?

 

EDIT: I think the problem is my choice in headphones, and not the AMP/DAC.

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Onboard DAC is getting good right now.

Post Creative soundblaster, even on pc the motherboard audio is just great.

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These audiophile things are all subjective. Maybe you can't tell he difference, or maybe the on board dac on your system ain't too bad. Also, in my opinion, higher quality components are harder to distinguish with headphones (unless it is drastically different like a tube amp)

 

So yeah... return it. Save the money. 

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Honestly, a lot of dac stuff is more about having pride in the design quality and peace of mind rather than real practical differences.

 

In general, I do like headphone amps for open headphones, since they can help with damping. And the physical volume control is convenient.

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  • Solution

A lot of this comes down to how trained your ears are, for someone like me where I have trained them a lot and spend a lot of days listening for the very very small details in recordings a higher end DAC and amp makes sense (at least if it is a good unit or good units), because it allows me to more easily hear the smallest of things that if we are honest nobody else will hear it when they are just listening to the song. Plus in my case my unit is extremely clean, so overall the music just sounds cleaner than if I used onboard or like the schiit stack or some Ifi BL product or really anything else like that.

 

Another factor will be the quality of the master of a given song, if its poor or mediorce, then chances are that it will sound about the same out of most DACs and amps, though a benefit of having a headphone amp is the output impedance, in your case your laptop has a output impedance in the 20's (at least that is what the new macbooks have), which is quite high and can give some dampening issues and therefor be the course of some issues with some lower impedance headphones.

 

I also think that people firstly notice the cleanness of something, so if a given unit or units aren't the cleanest, but more detailed, then the difference between it and some other unit will seem smaller than it in reality is.

 

Lasty it comes down to your headphones/speakers, not all are equal, some will be more sensitive to chain changes.

 

I tend to agree with you to some degree. I think a higher end DAC and amp doesn't make sense for a lot of people, but it does for some of the people that really sit down and listen closely and have speakers or headphones that really can show even the tinniest of differences in recordings. I would never recommend to your average guy to go out and buy the unit I have or anything close to that. ofc there are some that just buy the best of the best because they can or because they want to brag, but that's the case for basically any hobby.

 

At the end of the day this all comes down to the individual and if it doesn't make a difference for you then yeah return it. Though I do think that your title is very clickbait and seem to be something you would call a thread to get a lot of angry responses from people, generally very split the waters title. I do like topics like this where there are different views on things :) 

Before you buy amp and dac.  My thoughts on the M50x  Ultimate Ears Reference monitor review I might have a thing for audio...

My main Headphones and IEMs:  K612 pro, HD 25 and Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor, HD 580 with HD 600 grills

DAC and AMP: RME ADI 2 DAC

Speakers: Genelec 8040, System Audio SA205

Receiver: Denon AVR-1612

Desktop: R7 1700, GTX 1080  RX 580 8GB and other stuff

Laptop: ThinkPad P50: i7 6820HQ, M2000M. ThinkPad T420s: i7 2640M, NVS 4200M

Feel free to pm me if you have a question for me or quote me. If you want to hear what I have to say about something just tag me.

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