Can someone explain why people buy DAC's when they have a perfectly good receiver?

[banhoagni]

I've been reading some reviews for some gear that I already own. Namely my Sony STR DH190 stereo receiver. I've seen more than one person mention adding a DAC to this receiver. Why? It already has one.
DAC's are just one of those things router login I've never really understood because people seem to add them unnecessarily. Especially the crazy expensive ones. It doesn't seem like the electronics in a DAC could ever really be worth that much. They're pretty straightforward.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd just say you have a better idea of the importance/relevance of a dac. It is a long solved science. I'd guess many "audiophiles" finally changing from old analog only gear to a digital interface might have gotten carried away/excited about new gear.....but some of these same folk can get carried away by a variety of gear that won't do what they think it will....amps, cables, various tweaks...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Because some people think they can hear a difference between THD+N of 0.0001% vs 0.01%, never mind the THD of the speakers and any other sounds from the soundtrack.

 

[shadyJ]

I've been reading some reviews for some gear that I already own. Namely my Sony STR DH190 stereo receiver. I've seen more than one person mention adding a DAC to this receiver. Why? It already has one.
DAC's are just one of those things I've never really understood because people seem to add them unnecessarily. Especially the crazy expensive ones. It doesn't seem like the electronics in a DAC could ever really be worth that much. They're pretty straightforward.

DACs can be good solutions for certain problems. Let's say you have a desktop PC system and want some decent desktop speakers. An AVR is just too big for many of those situations. Also, for dedicated two-channel rigs, an AVR is overkill when you could get a good DAC for a couple of hundred dollars. Furthermore, AVRs generally do not deal with balanced outputs unless you go high-end. DACs can allow better control over the signal chain. Some AVRs might have too much noise for high-sensitivity speakers too.

 

[mono-bloc]

Adding a DAC to an AVR or entry level Integrated amp offer no advantage what-so-ever. It's really completely pointless. However if your using a CD player as simply a transport or have a high end transport then a separate DAC is accentual. Some people claim that using the internal DAC in a CD player, add unwanted noise to the playback, That's debatable, but each to his own.

 

[Trell]

DACs can be good solutions for certain problems. Let's say you have a desktop PC system and want some decent desktop speakers. An AVR is just too big for many of those situations.

This is my situation for desktop having active monitors, but the DAC have headphone output as well that I use.

All of the external DACs I’ve had/have are either an audio interface or have headphone output for desktop use. The only exception is a HDMI extractor that I use for ripping but then TOSLINK is used.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Because when I'm listening to my original vinyl collection, I know that a great DAC makes all the difference in the world.

 

[fmw]

DAC's are just a chip with some circuitry to make it work and provide an analog signal and a power supply. The DAC chip in a receiver will do the same job as the one in a separate unit. Separate DAC's are something people want not something they need. I am a recovered high end audiophile. I used to spend money on these things and learned that they just don't matter. What matters are speakers and room acoustics.

 

[Hobbit]

Anymore I don't know why? There was a time when an external DAC offered a marked improvement over internal. Nowadays, there are excellent chips out there available at a price low enough that the OEMs can use them while not having to really change the cost of their product.

Now, having one is kind of a leftover from bygone years....

 

[MrBoat]

Most competitive name brand PCs oriented towards multimedia for the last decade or so, will have a competitive DAC and will have isolation from interference.

What these companies usually prey on, is nerds who can't ignore a good graph and are OCD about the math, and can manage to find gristle in a slice of bread. I still have my first CD player from when they first became available. It's a generic (multitech) that still works and I cannot believe how good it still sounds. If not for the fact that I have to take the cover off if I leave it unused for a day, to manually push the laser to 0, to get past the ERR code, I would not have replaced it.

Upgraded DACs and other trivial upgrades are usually for those who don't like neutral speakers and electronics as much as they were told they would. Look what most people used to do with a graphic EQ. It wasn't 'neutral' they were aiming for with that smiley face. This is what happens when you take the power of tone controls away from the people.

 

[highfigh]

DAC's are just a chip with some circuitry to make it work and provide an analog signal and a power supply. The DAC chip in a receiver will do the same job as the one in a separate unit. Separate DAC's are something people want not something they need. I am a recovered high end audiophile. I used to spend money on these things and learned that they just don't matter. What matters are speakers and room acoustics.

It's not just a chip- the signal has to pass through an analog section before it reaches the output jacks and we all know the jacks are the key to a better DAC.

 

[fmw]

It's not just a chip- the signal has to pass through an analog section before it reaches the output jacks and we all know the jacks are the key to a better DAC.

LOL

 

[TLS Guy]

I've been reading some reviews for some gear that I already own. Namely my Sony STR DH190 stereo receiver. I've seen more than one person mention adding a DAC to this receiver. Why? It already has one.
DAC's are just one of those things router login I've never really understood because people seem to add them unnecessarily. Especially the crazy expensive ones. It doesn't seem like the electronics in a DAC could ever really be worth that much. They're pretty straightforward.

Well, there are indications for external DACs. For audio editing, recording and mastering an external DAC is essential. My Digital Audio workstation has an DAC external to the computer. These types of DACs work hand in glove with professional recording programs, with a split monitor screen. I use Wave.Lab for recording and mastering, audio control is via an external RME 19" rack mounted DAC.

The DAW is in front of the swivel chair.

This is the split screen.

Wave.Lab on the left and the RME DAC on the right.

So there are some good reasons to have an external DAC.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Adding a DAC to an AVR or entry level Integrated amp offer no advantage what-so-ever. It's really completely pointless. However if your using a CD player as simply a transport or have a high end transport then a separate DAC is accentual. Some people claim that using the internal DAC in a CD player, add unwanted noise to the playback, That's debatable, but each to his own.

I actually agree.

 

[3db]

Well, there are indications for external DACs. For audio editing, recording and mastering an external DAC is essential. My Digital Audio workstation has an DAC external to the computer. These types of DACs work hand in glove with professional recording programs, with a split monitor screen. I use Wave.Lab for recording and mastering, audio control is via an external RME 19" rack mounted DAC.

The DAW is in front of the swivel chair.

This is the split screen.

Wave.Lab on the left and the RME DAC on the right.

So there are some good reasons to have an external DAC.

This makes sense for your application since you do editing of digital files.

 

[fmw]

Anymore I don't know why? There was a time when an external DAC offered a marked improvement over internal. Nowadays, there are excellent chips out there available at a price low enough that the OEMs can use them while not having to really change the cost of their product.

Now, having one is kind of a leftover from bygone years....

It was long ago, then. When we tested DAC's the Sony Walkman (a portable CD player) was indistinguishable from a thousand dollar external DAC. I still have the Walkman. The expensive external DAC belonged to someone else.

 

[sterling shoote]

The question seems to be where's the best place to insert the DAC? I like it in a pre-pro or receiver for a multitude of reasons. In my three systems, I have a DAC which resides in a Parasound P6 preamp, another in a Marantz NR1200 receiver, and one, actually two, in an OPPO-205 doing duty as a player, a DAC, and a preamp for stereo as well as 5.1. Although experimentation mostly suggests I cannot hear any difference between DACs, I still suspect Apple Music High Resolution from my iMac to Parasond's DAC sounds most life-like. I also have DACs in some of my older components, consisting of a CD Player, SACD/DVD Player, and a pair o DAT Recorders, which do not appear to be less listenable than when decoding their output to aforementioned modern DACs.