Firstly, thank you all (MarkHotchkiss, arnyk, and mcnarus) for the detailed and informative replies. I learn something new every day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss /forum/post/21863886
I think the reason is that S/PDIF (both optical and coax) only supports lossless-formats for stereo (PCM), and supports multi-channel in lossy-formats (DD5.1, DTS). Why would you spend for a DAC in order to hear lossy audio?
Don't people listen to MP3s, even CD's are limited in their output to 44.1 / 48khz through digital? Although, I have heard that a DAC becomes more important with higher encodes (96khz / 24-bit and the sort)
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss /forum/post/21863886
A multi-channel DAC would need to use HDMI as its digital input, as only HDMI has the bandwidth for lossless multi-channel.
That makes a lot of sense, it would probably create a lot of complexities with syncing and HDMI revisions that would make DAC's obsolete as fast as an AVR. Wait, isn't that a gold mine business opportunity?
Quote:
Originally Posted by arnyk /forum/post/21863892
Right.
At this point, a DAC that does not alter the sound is the baseline. There are measured differences in the technical performance of DACs, but their audible significance is small enough to be effectively vanishing.
This is what I assumed was the case when I first heard about DAC's
(ie. if they don't sell them as a regular commodity anymore, have they not evolved to a point where they're all quite capable and pretty much the same, like your average calculator). But then I started reading and have come across several users that promote their use. I'd even see it promoted on AVRs, like "such and such AVR has Burr Brown DACs, its better than ....".
Lastly, I went to buy a used centre channel a few weeks ago and the gentleman selling it invited me to listen to his new sound system, which was composed of a Logitech Squeezebox streaming system, tube amplifier, and
(can't remember the brand name) DAC. I mentioned that I also had several squeezebox duets setup at home and asked why the need for the external DAC when the Squeezebox has analog outs. He then demonstrated the sound with and without the DAC and I could hear an audible difference. Thankfully, my wife was there too, who isn't an audio buff and hoped she would say she didn't hear any difference. However, she felt the same way too
(I like getting her opinion as she's not into electronics like I am, which helps dispel a lot of hype for me....... oh and I guess because I value my wife's opinion on everything too
) so that didn't help.
I couldn't really explain the findings and I also didn't get to listen to music I was familiar with, so its one of those situations where you're very curious but don't want to spend a lot of money (he mentioned the DAC he was using was approx $500 used) to find out the truth, at least from your own perspective.
So when I got home I searched online and found a few of them, but all around that price range. I also saw that Emotiva sells one for $250 and know that they're a reputable name when it comes to amplifiers.... but I'm still left guessing as to whether its benefits are practical or not. Part of you feels like "Well, if a reputable company sells them, they must have some value" but another is telling me to be skeptical.
Quote:
Originally Posted by arnyk /forum/post/21863892
Today, virtually all surround DACs are sold as subcomponents of AVRs. Of course high end products by people like Lexicon are still being sold in small quantities.
So why do you think AVR companies bother advertising the DAC used? I mean, I don't see calculators advertising whether their CPU is made by one company or the other, we all assume they'll be fast and accurate enough. It seems to add more confusion to the entire affair. Maybe that's the goal, red herring.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnarus /forum/post/21864594
Every multichannel receiver has a DAC built in, so most consumers have no use for a freestanding DAC. Two-channel receivers and amps generally don't have a DAC (with a growing number of exceptions recently), so there was at least a plausible reason for the existence of freestanding two-channel DACs.
That would also help explain why they're more popular in 2ch applications rather than multi-channel.