Sqeeze Box DAC vs. Onkyo TX-NR708 DAC
- Thread starter heeman
- Start date
I am willing to bet $100 that in a truly fair blind test you would never in a million tries be able to tell any difference whatsoever.
Use the gear however it is most easy to setup and operate.
This gets to my point about speaker grilles. If you cannot hear to obvious and easily measured difference between a grille on or a grille off, then how on earth are you going to hear the extremely difficult to measure difference between two nearly perfect DACs?
Use the gear however it is most easy to setup and operate.
This gets to my point about speaker grilles. If you cannot hear to obvious and easily measured difference between a grille on or a grille off, then how on earth are you going to hear the extremely difficult to measure difference between two nearly perfect DACs?
soundhound
Well-Known Member
There are certainly measurable differences between different DACs, but none which would be audible to most people. Of greater concern is the analog circuitry which follows the digital to analog conversion; the current to voltage conversion, filtering and output driver. However almost no manufacturer is going to print specs on what specific analog parts and circuit configurations they use beyond vague marketing blather.
So the recommendation (not just to this question but to any) is that if you have the ability to try the variations, then try it.
Removing speaker grills is very easy.
Connecting the SB from the Digital Output vs Analog Output, easy if you have the Toslink Cable or the Digital Coax Cable.
The reason the question was asked here on this forum, is because when I was shopping for the AV Receiver a conversation took place about input sources. One Sales Guy (from a High End Shop) commented about the DAC in the SB being inferior to the DAC in most of the "better" AV Receivers.
I wanted input from you "experts" and maybe this could shed some light on us "not so experts" that love this hobby.
Removing speaker grills is very easy.
Connecting the SB from the Digital Output vs Analog Output, easy if you have the Toslink Cable or the Digital Coax Cable.
The reason the question was asked here on this forum, is because when I was shopping for the AV Receiver a conversation took place about input sources. One Sales Guy (from a High End Shop) commented about the DAC in the SB being inferior to the DAC in most of the "better" AV Receivers.
I wanted input from you "experts" and maybe this could shed some light on us "not so experts" that love this hobby.
There was a time, back in the day, when I could definitely tell the difference between the DAC in a basic CD player and a high-end external DAC. Those days ended a long time ago. The technology has been around so long that it is simply not expensive to make a decent DAC. It is damned near impossible to hear the difference between DACs these days.
Here's my take on stuff like DACs, speaker grills, horizontal MTM center channels and things of that nature. If you system is in your living room, set up where it best fits and operating without the benefit of acoustic treatments, most of the more subtle stuff is masked by room acoustics. I almost guaranty that room acoustics and less than perfect speaker placement have an enormous amount to do with the things that I don't hear.
Here's my take on stuff like DACs, speaker grills, horizontal MTM center channels and things of that nature. If you system is in your living room, set up where it best fits and operating without the benefit of acoustic treatments, most of the more subtle stuff is masked by room acoustics. I almost guaranty that room acoustics and less than perfect speaker placement have an enormous amount to do with the things that I don't hear.
I can hear the difference between my CD player's DACs and the DACs in my Denon 3803. I think the main reason why I do hear a difference is because my Denon upconverts the audio to 24 bit. The results are subtle at best mainly because it depends on the recording quality of the music itself. If the Denon did not have the Alpha 24 processor, I doubt I would hear anything different.
FWIW, I think that sales guy is full of shit and only said that because he more than likely doesn't carry the Squeezebox (IOW, can't make any money off it). Your best bet is to try both DACs and see which one you prefer.
FWIW, I think that sales guy is full of shit and only said that because he more than likely doesn't carry the Squeezebox (IOW, can't make any money off it). Your best bet is to try both DACs and see which one you prefer.
soundhound said:
That makes me wonder if the high end Transporter that Logitech has is worth considering over the much cheaper Duet setup for a dedicated 2 channel setup. I'm seriously considering one towards the end of the year as I get my 2 channel room going.
