How much does the DAC chip influence the sound?

audio.bill said:
This may seem obvious to many but to be clear each of these parameters are not determined by the DAC selection alone, as they are further impacted by power supply factors, analog stage implementation, clock accuracy, etc.
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Yes. As I wrote above, external factors can degrade or don't use advantages of DAC chip.

It's like dilemma "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?"

Good DAC chip with bad environment may be worse bad DAC chip with good environment :)
 
Many years ago I owned a pair of Klipschorns powered by a McIntosh 1700 receiver, a cheap Garrard SL72b, Shure V15 III. The cartridge is too extravagant for the turntable and I still have them, but unused. Due to moving issues I sold out and ordered some bookshelf speakers from a mfg. in Carrollton, TX to get by.
 
Finally pulled the trigger for the Aurender music server.
After reading reports that my dac performs best via its usb B-port input fed by a dedicated music server, I had to bring one home to hear it for myself.

Went down to the local dealer's and listened to the N10 on demo. It was good but not quite a God-speaking moment.
Asked for a home demo but the guy was reluctant. Then I saw the N100H on passive display and got to bring that home instead.

Back home, it was indeed a God-speaking moment. The N100H was stunning, sounding way better than the N10 in the showroom. When I inserted the iFi USB3.0, which I have been using upstairs for my headphone rig, in the pathway, SQ was up again to another level.

The dealer has not got to hear how much better the N100H can sound but I get to hear how much better my dac can sound fed by the N100H.

Which brings us to Elberoth's point - the dac chip contribution is 10%, which is just about right.

I guess dac's live and die by their digital inputs and analog outputs.

J. :)
 
j2020 said:
Finally pulled the trigger for the Aurender music server.
After reading reports that my dac performs best via its usb input fed by a dedicated music server, I had to bring one home to hear it for myself.

Went down to the local dealer's and listened to the N10 on demo. It was good but not quite a God-speaking moment.
Asked for a home demo but the guy was reluctant. Then I saw the N100H on passive display and got to bring that home instead.

Back home, it was indeed a God-speaking moment. The N100H was stunning, sounding way better than the N10 in the showroom. When I inserted the iFi USB3.0, which I have been using upstairs for my headphone rig, in the pathway, SQ was up again to another level.

The dealer has not got to hear how much better the N100H can sound but I get to hear how much better my dac can sound fed by the N100H.

Which brings us to Elberoth's point - the dac chip contribution is 10%, which is just about right.

I guess dac's live and die by their digital inputs and analog outputs.

J. :)
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Congrats J! Great choice!!


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Mike,

Can't thank you enough again for pointing me in the direction of the Aurender N100H.

The N100H via its internal storage and 120G RAM cache for playback into my dac's usb input has transformed the sound of the dac considerably. I had no idea a music server could contribute so much to the SQ of a dac.


J. :) :) :)
 
j2020 said:
Mike,

Can't thank you enough again for pointing me in the direction of the Aurender N100H.

The N100H via its internal storage and 120G RAM cache for playback into my dac's usb input has transformed the sound of the dac considerably. I had no idea a music server could contribute so much to the SQ of a dac.


J. :) :) :)
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You're very welcome. Hope your Singapore dealer was helpful.


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Mike said:
You're very welcome. Hope your Singapore dealer was helpful.


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No worries there.
Anyway, I was so very happy with the N100H that I did not want for more (and pay more) for the N10.

As for dealer's support, it wasn't really needed as transferring files from PC to the internal storage via the network was a breeze.
Initially, I played music from a thumbdrive ported to the rear but once I listened to music stored internally, there is no turning back!

I happily note here too that with this set-up, the gap between redbook and hires is narrowed considerably and at times to imperceptible with many redbook albums!

Cheers!
 
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