The difference a DAC makes

[lwschwartz]

I have been trying to determine the importance of the actual DAC chip in what we hear compared to the implementation. I would appreciate any advice or help that any of our AA friends can offer.
We all know that the same music sounds different when played through different components. Vinyl has characteristics not found in digital. The higher def the digital, the better it sounds.
Well, I think that every now and then something comes along that makes such a profound change in the way we do things that it should be recognized accordingly. The overwhelming reason we have reached 7 billion people on the planet is antibiotics. I think that listening to digital music has been profoundly changed by the improvement in timing implemented by the guys who designed the ESS 7018 chip. The MCD500 was so much better than its predecessors because of the switch from Burr Brown to Sabre. I never got a MEN220 because it digitized your analog signal processed it and converted it back to analog. The DACs in it are no where near the ones in the MCD1100. The MCD500 has an earlier version of the Sabre chip but it was leaps and bounds above its predecessors. Now to the next question, what role does the chip itself play. The Oppo 95 uses the same chip as the MCD1100. Audiolabs MDAC and 8200CDQ use the same chip. If we have enough guys interested, we can compare components and determine the degree of difference is in implementations of the ESS 9018 chip. I believe the end result will be that even though the transport and rest of the circuits are important, the chip because of its drastic improvement in timing is the main factor and therefore we should encourage future development at MAC to go that way. The replacement for the MX151 could implement them and make it the best processor yet to be built. Thoughts?

[LordoftheRingsEE]

Not only you need to be set up for listening to various DACs only (very though to do, but some guru people do), but everyone has different preferences on sound characteristics (goes with personal emotions and our own particular set of ears).

* You can find online some special places where they analyse just various DACs only (nothing else), by listening to them and their variances according to the listener's taste.

Just like that it is impossible to answer your question.
But I do know that a quad-differential balanced DAC implementation usually sounds best.
Then dual-differential balanced (dos DACs per channel).

Good DACs:
The one you just mentioned above, - ESS ES9018 Sabre 32-bit/192kHz DAC.
- Burr-Brown PCM-1704k (K grade is the very best, the highest grade). ...24/96
- Burr-Brown TI PCM-1792. ...24/192 (Or DSD-1792)
...Among some of the best between many more.

And use two, or four DACs per channel in a differential fully balanced implementation for the very best results with the lowest noise floor. ...Pitch Dark background.

[Puma Cat]

I used to think it was the DAC chipset itself that was key and have been a fan of the ESS Sabre series, both the 9016 and 9018, but having owned and very much liked a Schiit Bifrost, I think the AKM chipset can sound very good, too. Also, the analog output end of a DAC component has a LOT to do with the final overall sound.

[LordoftheRingsEE]

AKM (Asahi Kasei Microdevices) DACs I like too; they are revealing (detailed) and with tight & full bass.

WM (Wolfson Microelectronics) DACs; some of them are also pretty good sounding (in general 'smooth').

And there is the Ring DAC (Arcam, dCS Paganini - Puccini, Meridian, ...). ...A very nice high-end one.

[Face]

The chip itself, along with the analog and power supply sections are all equally important when it comes to the overall sound of the unit.

[MyPal]

Originally Posted by Face

The chip itself, along with the analog and power supply sections are all equally important when it comes to the overall sound of the unit.

+1. But if you have the best DAC array to begin with... Accuphase have just done ESS ES9018 in an octet mono configuration x2 per channel in their new SACD transport/processor. That's equivalent to 16 DACs!!

I would love to see McIntosh do this in their next MX. See the MX160 thread & vote!

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by Face

The chip itself, along with the analog and power supply sections are all equally important when it comes to the overall sound of the unit.

Do not forget the digital interface.

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by Face

The chip itself, along with the analog and power supply sections are all equally important when it comes to the overall sound of the unit.

Do not forget the digital interface.

[tsv_1]

also component placement, trace routing, shielding, supply rail decoupling, and overall board layout

[ronenash]

I have found the analog amplification circuits following the DAC have just as much eefect on the overall sound quality as the DAC itself. Up-sampling and filters also have a big influence on the DAC quality. Bottom line the sound is determined by the DAC as a whole and not by the DAC chip alone in my experience.