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dcha12
461
Nov 19, 2018
Technically speaking, you already have both right there on your phone/laptop/desktop. Those components are already built onto the circuit boards. It's important to understand the components as individuals so that you can make a better judgment call. I'll briefly try to go for cliffnotes version. A digital-to-analogue converter, shortened to DAC, is a device that can take a digital signal (think a bunch of 1s and 0s) and turn it into an analogue signal (which looks like a wave). The better quality and better implemented a DAC chip is, the better your output signal. An amplifier does exactly what the name implies; it amplifies the signal by applying what is known as "gain." Now, there are nuances to both that really take more research to really understand. For example, an amp should, in theory, only amplify the signal, but tube amps in particular can add a little distortion to the sound (sometimes called color or colour) that some people find pleasing to the ears. To get back to your question, are they absolutely necessary to have together? Yes, you need both in order to hear a sound out of your headphones/speakers. The question really is, "what is more important to you?" There is no real "wrong" way to start in this hobby. I personally started out using my stone age laptop and my phone with an Audio Technica ATH-M40x, then added an amp, then added a DAC. In my experience, the medium of sound (headphones/speakers) make the single largest impact on sound quality, followed by the amp, then the DAC. Source quality also matters a lot, as it has progressively larger impact the better your system becomes. While the Schiit Fulla 2 is not a bad place to start, if you're planning on getting some harder to drive headphones later it will quickly become a weak link. If that's a concern start with just an amp like the Magni 3 (I personally own one of these and it pretty much had me clear house of amps under $1000). tl;dr, there is no "right" start, the Fulla 2 is a good choice, if you want the flexibility down the line get the Magni 3.
ProfessorPat
380
Nov 21, 2018
dcha12Just to clarify. All amplifiers add distortion to the signal. There is no such thing as a perfect amplifier. The amount may be ridiculously small depending on the design, but all amps add distortion, and to someone that doesn't know any better, the phrasing could be taken as saying only tube amps impart distortion. Tubes tend to have more, and a lot of SS amps don't have the second order harmonic focus that a lot of tube gear has, so it's a different sounding distortion, but that's probably more complex than anyone that needs that clarification is really interested in. As for the Magni 3. It's certainly a good place to look, and it should sufficiently power most things you throw at it, but - and this is why I said try things and find out what you like in my other comment - I don't really like Schiit's tonal choices. Good gear, but not for me.
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