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I don't hear a difference between different DACs????


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I currently use the HD 600's. I just don't notice difference in sound between amps (solid-states) and DAC's. I done A/Bing and other tests to see if I could hear minor changes in sound. I just don't notice a difference from most onboard DAC's to my own Phone DAC to my FiiO e07K and Schiit Modi... I have some pretty trained ears, I notice things in sound others cannot notice and ect.

 

I plan on upgrading to the Gungnir from my Modi but I'm worried its not going to make any difference....

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I currently use the HD 600's. I just don't notice difference in sound between amps (solid-states) and DAC's. I done A/Bing and other tests to see if I could hear minor changes in sound. I just don't notice a difference from most onboard DAC's to my own Phone DAC to my FiiO e07K and Schiit Modi... I have some pretty trained ears, I notice things in sound others cannot notice and ect.

 

I plan on upgrading to the Gungnir from my Modi but I'm worried its not going to make any difference....

 

Either your ears aren't as well trained as you wish to believe, or perhaps you are using poor source material ?

You could also try auditioning the iFi-Audio Nano-iDSD PCM/DSD/DXD 32bit/384kHz HD USB DAC Portable Decoder to see how that sounds too.

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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Either your ears aren't as well trained as you wish to believe, or perhaps you are using poor source material ?

You could also try auditioning the iFi-Audio Nano-iDSD PCM/DSD/DXD 32bit/384kHz HD USB DAC Portable Decoder to see how that sounds too.

Headphones still maintain same sound signature. I do not notice any change in bass, treble or sound staging at all. Some On board DAC's do sound different.

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Your first post didn't explain what you could and could not hear, and you haven't fully described your system. HD600s come with a pretty bad cable; it's a 1/8" cable with a 1/4" adapter; that alone favors the (typically 1/8") telephone connection. Also the high impedance of the Senns is a voltage challenge for all of the devices. The Modi has no headphone amp. How do you adjust volume? When you say "some onboard DACs sound different," what component are these DACs onboard?

 

Most electronic problems arise from mechanical problems, so I suggest you eliminate any of those first. You could try a different set of phones and cables. If you know someone with a good system try to compare you sources there. You might not have the headphone output levels matched correctly, and that's a big factor. Ok, let's get to the first problem: how good *do* the headphones sound? Do they give a thrilling performance?

 

Most importantly, have confidence that you will solve the problem.

Good luck!

Mac Mini 2012 with 2.3 GHz i5 CPU and 16GB RAM running newest OS10.9x and Signalyst HQ Player software (occasionally JRMC), ethernet to Cisco SG100-08 GigE switch, ethernet to SOtM SMS100 Miniserver in audio room, sending via short 1/2 meter AQ Cinnamon USB to Oppo 105D, feeding balanced outputs to 2x Bel Canto S300 amps which vertically biamp ATC SCM20SL speakers, 2x Velodyne DD12+ subs. Each side is mounted vertically on 3-tiered Sound Anchor ADJ2 stands: ATC (top), amp (middle), sub (bottom), Mogami, Koala, Nordost, Mosaic cables, split at the preamp outputs with splitters. All transducers are thoroughly and lovingly time aligned for the listening position.

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That will save you a lot of money which you can use to buy albums and songs.

Dedicated Line DSD/DXD | Audirvana+ | iFi iDSD Nano | SET Tube Amp | Totem Mites

Surround: VLC | M-Audio FastTrack Pro | Mac Opt | Panasonic SA-HE100 | Logitech Z623

DIY: SET Tube Amp | Low-Noise Linear Regulated Power Supply | USB, Power, Speaker Cables | Speaker Stands | Acoustic Panels

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I currently use the HD 600's. I just don't notice difference in sound between amps (solid-states) and DAC's. I done A/Bing and other tests to see if I could hear minor changes in sound. I just don't notice a difference from most onboard DAC's to my own Phone DAC to my FiiO e07K and Schiit Modi... I have some pretty trained ears, I notice things in sound others cannot notice and ect.

 

I plan on upgrading to the Gungnir from my Modi but I'm worried its not going to make any difference....

 

I wont feel so worried about that.

See here for a pretty well staged and independent test of DACs.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-pc-audio,3733.html

The test participants heard just as much as you. And personally I dont hear >90% of those differences that people report on various forums.

 

It is of course a good idea to make sure you are using a very good recording with lots of details to test. And check the whole playback chain again. Starting with the mediaplayer. Make sure your amps are powerful enough for such relatively high impedance HPs. And so on.

But even if you set all those things perfectly, dont expect night and day differences. As you said, HPs do usually maintain the sound signature and some are not influenced much by the playback chain. Although HD600 is supposed to be.

Good luck.

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I currently use the HD 600's. I just don't notice difference in sound between amps (solid-states) and DAC's. I done A/Bing and other tests to see if I could hear minor changes in sound. I just don't notice a difference from most onboard DAC's to my own Phone DAC to my FiiO e07K and Schiit Modi... I have some pretty trained ears, I notice things in sound others cannot notice and ect.

 

I plan on upgrading to the Gungnir from my Modi but I'm worried its not going to make any difference....

 

Used to hear the same thing in the 80's from people who had bought more expensive turntable cartridges. It generally turned out that they had put their expensive cartridge on a cheap turntable. More than likely you have weaknesses in the source gear feeding your DAC... GIGO.

Regards,

Dave

 

Audio system

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I currently use the HD 600's. I just don't notice difference in sound between amps (solid-states) and DAC's. I done A/Bing and other tests to see if I could hear minor changes in sound. I just don't notice a difference from most onboard DAC's to my own Phone DAC to my FiiO e07K and Schiit Modi... I have some pretty trained ears, I notice things in sound others cannot notice and ect.

 

I plan on upgrading to the Gungnir from my Modi but I'm worried its not going to make any difference....

 

The usual litany of blaming the OP's ears, budget, q-tips, etc...

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I currently use the HD 600's. I just don't notice difference in sound between amps (solid-states) and DAC's. I done A/Bing and other tests to see if I could hear minor changes in sound. I just don't notice a difference from most onboard DAC's to my own Phone DAC to my FiiO e07K and Schiit Modi... I have some pretty trained ears, I notice things in sound others cannot notice and ect.

 

I plan on upgrading to the Gungnir from my Modi but I'm worried its not going to make any difference....

 

Don't worry be happy, you belong to the 33% can't listen to differences, you would find a lot of welcomes here and going to believe this is most because this 33% participate twice the rest.

 

I suggested in some other thread to ingest Magnesium, but you should find a very assimilable one, like Chelated Magnesium or Magnesium L-Threonate (Magtein®). Please, never ingest Milk of Magnesia or Magnesium Trithionate® at least you are constipated. Have worked miracles on me, I can still hear my former wife yelling 35 miles away and I'm 92.

 

Cheers!

 

Roch

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If you want to still your curiosity I suggest go to a HiFi store to listen to a few rigs to see what is out there, and if it makes a difference to your ears. Bring your headphones with.

 

There are just too many possibilities of changing the sound to determine anything by reading. The most important is what sounds good to you.

 

I would not worry about it. If you like your current setup, enjoy!

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What really is important isn't so much what the objective facts are, but how you personally and subjectively feel about it.

 

I know I have all sorts of subjective feelings and opinions. All the time. Like everyone else.

For me howerver that is one more reason to trust the much more objective 'opinion' of blind tests and such. And to actively seek it.

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Well, I decided to test my dads GMC Yukon's receiver thing that is in between the two front seats and holds CD's. There was a Difference my Asgard 2 (Sorry forgot to mention my amp). It sounded really lifeless, lacked bass and was very bright and aggressive. I did feel like there was more micro detail and background details but I dont know if that's placebo or anything. After listening for about 25 minutes, I went back to my Asgard 2 and Modi and there was a day and night difference. It sounded fully, had way more punch to bass then what was in my car, and the highs where less edgy and bright.

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One could make a reasonable argument that all non-defective DACs should sound very similar if not the same, and that the most significant differences ought to be a result of how the analogue stage is implemented. But there seems to be surprising variation (surprising at least to me).

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You will all probably find this amusing coming from me, but my experience has been that other than transducers, the DAC makes the most difference in SQ.

Vinyl is a hugely overpriced way to get flawed sound. Digital is an inexpensive way to get less flawed (though flawed nonetheless) sound.

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Could it just be perhaps the FiiO E07K and Schiit Modi are both entry level DAC's that are really hard for me to tell a difference from other DAC's such as the ones in my computer and phone since newer integrated DAC's are becoming a lot better and that if I move on to higher end DAC's I'll notice differences from moderate to higher?

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You will all probably find this amusing coming from me, but my experience has been that other than transducers, the DAC makes the most difference in SQ.

 

Unexpected, perhaps, but no reason to find it amusing. :)

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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In a way, I'm not very surprised. Being just a casual audiophile, I'm not really sure what function of headphone amp/DAC generates the "biggest differences" in sound quality. I can say from personal experience which is totally unscientific and obviously heavily subjective (and I may have no real idea what I'm talking about), I think the frequency response of the headphone makes the biggest difference. Since HD600 has high impedance and all OP's DAC/amp have relatively low impedance (possibly with the exception of the GMB Yukon), the frequency response of the HD600 is probably the same with all your DAC/amps. I have found with lower impedance headphones, the changes in DAC/amps seem to matter more, which for me is where synergy matters. I think the next big thing about headphone amp is how loud people listen to them. I'm guessing OP doesn't crank up the music too much so the music never clips. I suspect some of the headphone amps OP has contain more juice but if one never drives the phone headphone amp to clipping, probably everything will sound fairly similar. For me, the next thing that determines whether music is natural and whether bass is punchy/natural is jitter. This is where I find DACs really make a difference for me. But I have seen many people at the audio stores not noticing the differences between a DAC that I find super natural and a DAC which I find harsh. Of course, I'm assuming their differences is attributable to jitter instead of power supply issues or analog stage. So I think some people are more sensitive to jitter and others are not. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if all of OP's DACs have similar jitter performance. It is definitely possible as others pointed out that cable differences, lack of high fidelity in the source material or other power supply issues or signal issues are diminishing the differences that should have been heard amongst the various DACs. But I have often found that those aspects affect the sound in much subtler ways, if at all to my ears.

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