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Should I get a better DAC or headphone Amp? Would this be a noticeable upgrade over what I have? Current setup: Drop x grace standard DAC Schiit Magni 3+ headphone amp Drop x Sennheiser hd6xx
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keyboard_arrow_downallsmilesb
116
Aug 16, 2022
The objective improvement in most dacs and amps are how little it distorts the audio signal which for the past 4 years reached to numbers to which you can't subjectively discern. The brand of chips used ,chip designs, analog vs chip base design vs tube vs tube hybrid and power delivery have had more subjective impact to in terms of better. Better does not one amp or DAC is not an objective upgrade rather what flavor meets your needs subjective which you will only know truly with experimenting. In short if you like your current setup their nothing subjectively missing in sound your looking from your DAC and amp then no you do not need to per say upgrade but knowing what better suited for you will take experimenting. Now is experimenting a journey you want to venture is all on you.
I have had three amps the drop O2,one liner and 789. For me I liked them all but when I a/b compared with the same dac/headphones I found the one liner and 789 were pretty much subjectively the same so between them vs the 02 I preferred the one/789. The 02 for me wasn't as dynamic or as fast which doesn't mean more is better it's just ("that I") subjectively enjoy a more dynamic and faster sound signature.
(Edited)
dm94aq7
0
Aug 15, 2022
Digital audio is a fully solved problem, there are no audible differences between modern dacs and amps, unless you buy something so bad it intentionally distorts the sound (like a tube amp). There will be 0% audible difference between your setup and an "upgraded" dac or amp.
dm94aq7
0
Jan 3, 2023
> You can't tell me a Holo May sounds the same as a Topping D90
I sure can, and all you need to do to prove me wrong is get a friend to help record you doing a blind test proving you can blindly distinguish the level matched DACs against each other. Until then you're just a liar 🙂
(Edited)
ErickMuller
2
Jul 12, 2023
dm94aq7The differences between dacs are very, very subtle, I tested this recently with my magni heresy and a modi+ and the dac from a fiio k7, the modi+ is more musical and punchy but the dac in the fiio k7 is more resolving and gives a greater sense of separation and soundstage, but the differences are subtle, like some reviewers would say, they're audiophile differences, I prefer the modi+ btw paired with my magni heresy compare to the fiio k7 all by itself, looking for a pure tube amp now to pair it with.
Tbh it's preferable to look for a new set of headphones than trying to solve issues in your source chain, next in line would be an amp, this is the next step in your source equipment that it's going to make the biggest difference, specially if you go for something different like a class A amp or specially a tube amp, and then it would be your DAC, but unless you're connecting it directly from your pc, you're not going to notice the difference, probably getting higher quality music with flac/lossless files instead of streaming directly from spotify is going to mark the biggest difference in the audio quality than the DAC itself, like the baseline is still the modi+ imho and with just that, you're more than set up to have a great audio experience.
What you have to actually look in a DAC is what features you want from it, if MQA rendering and/or decoding is important to you, then this DAC is an excellent bang for your buck, and also if you want to go balance in your source chain, the remote is also a good bonus, how the DAC looks would also be another feature, if it matches your setup is another thing to keep in mind, if you care for it of course, if you don't need or don't care about any of these features, then just go for a modi+ and save some cash for better headphones, you're not going to noticed the difference.
(Edited)
danny87
556
Aug 15, 2022
I think you're fine with your current setup. The SMSL SU-8S definitely has more features than a basic DAC, but if you're looking for improvement in sound quality, I don't think it's worth to upgrade.
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