Joined Apr 2013
L3: Novice
Forum Thread
DAC + Amp vs an Integrated Reciever
March 10, 2024 at
06:56 AM
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I am looking for a solution to use in two scenarios:
1) Home theater
2) Music playback (where I typically download music and play it from my computer)
I've recently started watching the CheapAudioMan videos on YouTube and if I understand him correctly I can generally get better results (sound quality per dollar spent) if I output playback audio to a DAC (digital to analog converter) which then goes into an amp which connects to speakers.
QUESTIONS:
Is the above assumption accurate? Am I missing something?
Will there be a noticeable difference when listening to downloaded music or is the quality of downloaded music typically so low/compressed that a good pair of computer speakers will be just as good?
I do understand that different people can hear different frequencies and that there is a lot of "personal taste" involved, but I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations regarding equipment suggestions.
Potential 1st Build:
SMSL SU1 DAC [amazon.com]
FOSI BT20A Pro [amazon.com]
1) Home theater
2) Music playback (where I typically download music and play it from my computer)
I've recently started watching the CheapAudioMan videos on YouTube and if I understand him correctly I can generally get better results (sound quality per dollar spent) if I output playback audio to a DAC (digital to analog converter) which then goes into an amp which connects to speakers.
QUESTIONS:
Is the above assumption accurate? Am I missing something?
Will there be a noticeable difference when listening to downloaded music or is the quality of downloaded music typically so low/compressed that a good pair of computer speakers will be just as good?
I do understand that different people can hear different frequencies and that there is a lot of "personal taste" involved, but I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations regarding equipment suggestions.
Potential 1st Build:
SMSL SU1 DAC [amazon.com]
FOSI BT20A Pro [amazon.com]
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4 Comments
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good luck!
The funny part is when I sold stereo equipment many many years ago people would always be surprised that when I set up expensive speakers and moderate ones they tended to like the moderate ones.
I sold a lot of less expensive speakers for sure. I was right near MIT and it was amazing how many nerds would come in with all the math but did not know that most ears do not want a perfect response speaker!
Save your money for just more music.
Take some high quality music you have and save it in different formats and compressions then see if you can tell much of a difference between them.
Nothing wrong with your potential first build, especially since you can easily return it if you don't like it. It's what I would refer to as a low budget setup. But you neglected to reference any speakers. This is where you should put the vast majority of your money. It's also the speakers that will mostly determine what sort of sound you get, whether it be 'bright' or 'warm' or whatever. All speakers are somewhat unique in that sense. Again, the better your speakers, the more critical you're going to be of the quality of your music source. I feel like it's night-and-day on my systems and I have what I would consider to be 'mid-level,' certainly nothing extravagant.
Also, you mentioned home theater use. For this, the AVRs are a nice solution, as they will automatically dial your system in for you to account for room dynamics, speaker distances, etc. This can be a big deal when dealing with surround sound (not so much for 2-channel music). You can dial your system in manually and it can be done even with separates, but the software built into the AVRs is one of their shining points.
Edit to add - you mention 'sound quality per dollar spent.' This may be true to some extent with regards to separates but certainly not at the price point you're currently at. And it's also exactly why you should put your money into speakers, that's where you're really going to get the best sound quality per dollar spent and it will be custom tailored to what your ears prefer.
With your insights I'm going to start with a Sony - STRDH190 and pair it with good tower speakers and see how we like it in our living room setup. If we love it, I'll convert that into my music system in my office and then look for a decent AVR.
Thank you again for your insights and time to post them