After listening to probably 10 different DAC's on and off through the same system - Forget the list for now but its wide with new and old thrown in- and trying to judge to my own taste what I like and the criteria I am choosing, not just that it sounds "good" or "bad" to me but what exactly is it that am I hearing that I may like or dislike?
I actually found this really difficult to pin down?
My own preference in a DAC came down eventually to three things:
1) What I call a "dark" background quiet or very quiet and music can emanate very vibrantly from that "darkness" and vanish back into it (Probably referring to dynamic range doubt I am hearing a noise floor?)
2) The ability to handle extremely complex sounds such as some classical with around 20 or more instruments playing together clearly without it sounding like a random wall of noise (I found many I heard fall flat on their face here) with only a few "types" of DAC chip handing it - to my ears at least - subjective
3) The ability to play very low frequencies whilst still maintaining perfect clarity of other much softer higher frequency sounds in the background
This is just my 2 cents what I listen for and found that the sound of a DAC can range from painful and annoying to just perfect and sublime, how do other forum members evaluate a DAC, what do you actually look for in a "good" DAC?
I actually found this really difficult to pin down?
My own preference in a DAC came down eventually to three things:
1) What I call a "dark" background quiet or very quiet and music can emanate very vibrantly from that "darkness" and vanish back into it (Probably referring to dynamic range doubt I am hearing a noise floor?)
2) The ability to handle extremely complex sounds such as some classical with around 20 or more instruments playing together clearly without it sounding like a random wall of noise (I found many I heard fall flat on their face here) with only a few "types" of DAC chip handing it - to my ears at least - subjective
3) The ability to play very low frequencies whilst still maintaining perfect clarity of other much softer higher frequency sounds in the background
This is just my 2 cents what I listen for and found that the sound of a DAC can range from painful and annoying to just perfect and sublime, how do other forum members evaluate a DAC, what do you actually look for in a "good" DAC?
