Do all dacs sound the same, NO, obviously they don't, a DAC is a digital to Analogue converter, the key word is CONVERTER, just like any converter you would expect them to be accurate all the time, there are however some really poorly designed dacs that add distortion to the input signal some of them add enough distortion that their addition is actually audible. Some manufacturers/reviewers/influencers and even forum contributors might anthropomorphise distortion ,you often read that a particular component adds 'life' or makes the performance more 'real', bringing the performers right into your living room what a load of tosh.
If you want live then go to a concert all we can do is attempt to reproduce the record/file/CD as accurately as possible. The file is the only artefact we have.
Worth remembering that distortion has to actually be audible before we could, for example differentiate between two products one 'audibly transparent' and one that adds audible distortion.
Distortion is anything that is not in the original input signal but added by the component.
Distortion, every component adds it but if it is at a level that is below the ear's threshold
to differentiate it then it just doesn't matter because we can't hear it.
What is a digital signal?
A digital signal ( ie from your computer/streamer to your dac ) is simply a variable voltage which is either above or below a designated threshold, thats all it does carry midrange lushness, more or less bass, or a wider, deeper soundstage.
So when you read someone who states that a streamer has these attributes you can dismiss
them instantly as a fool.
If a streamer isn't adding audible distortion then it is 'audibly transparent' and as good as anything at any price, whatever the marketeers would you have believe.
What is an analogue signal, ( ie the signal from your amplifier to your loudspeakers)
Amazingly an analogue signal is simply a voltage ( sounds familiar ) which has amplitude and phase.
Amplitude and time OR amplitude and frequency completely determine a signal.
So when you read that one particular component is adding bass, widening soundstage ( its always soundstage) its just complete ill-informed tosh.
Don't be taken in.
What does this all mean when you come to choose a new component?
If we consider Dacs and streamers, if you choose a properly engineered product which doesn't add audible distortion then that is good as it gets, in real terms it means that the latest Wadax/DCS monstrosity is objectively no better than any properly engineered but inexpensive dac, you are never going to read that in a magazine of course because that would be career ending for the journalist and a immediate withdrawal of advertising from the manufacturer.
The only places where you can really read the unvarnished truth are the handful of 'measurement led' sites, foremost of which is Audio Science Review, Amir's reviews are not sugar coated!
Buy properly engineered products, these will be evident from their measurements, learn what measurements mean and exactly how they correlate to the sound we hear.
A properly designed dac will not benefit from an external linear power supply a properly engineered streamer will not be improved by an external dac, you might make it worse of course.
Buy a well designed amplifier that is audibly transparent and is capable of driving your loudspeakers, that will give you the most accurate reproduction possible Hi-Fidelity in fact!
If you yo really want objective, tangible and measurable improvements buy a microphone and download REW (Roon EQ Wizard) measurement software.
Hi-Fi isn't about constantly churning through increasingly equipment in search of that just out of reach audio nirvana, just buy really decent measuring loudspeakers, which are really completely full-range so you can hear everything on the record, maybe implementing a few EQ filters to eradicate any standing wave induced 'boomy' bass, neutral speakers adjusted to your room with transparent electronics are as good as it gets.
Sit back, listen to the music.
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