Comparison DACs

- DAC. Actually, digital-to-analog converters in the original sense of the word are devices designed to convert digital audio transmitted via an optical, coaxial or USB interface into an analog line-level audio signal, usually in stereo format. Sometimes switching of a digital signal may also be provided (output unchanged to one or another digital output), rarely also reverse, analog-to-digital conversion and/or sound processing using built-in filters and regulators.

— DAC with amplifier. Digital-to-analog converters (see corresponding paragraph), complemented by a built-in headphone amplifier and headphone output. The use of this feature can vary: some devices use the “ears” to control the sound coming to the DAC outputs, while others are actually high-end compact headphone amplifiers that connect to the digital output of a PC, game console or other similar device.

The number of audio channels supported by the device.

The standard option for modern DACs is classic 2-channel stereo sound. However, in addition to this, there may be other options. Thus, there are multi-channel (up to 32 channels) devices; they are usually referred to as audio interfaces (see "Type") and are intended for mixing multiple sound sources - for example, a microphone and several instruments. The opposite option is single-channel converters; They are used mainly in hi-end audio systems on the “one per channel” principle and are intended for maximum channel separation (which, in turn, allows you to very accurately configure the operating parameters of each channel).

Sample rate of the digital-to-analogue converter used in the device.

DAC in this case means the “heart” of the device, the main circuit that directly provides the conversion of digital audio to analogue. And the sampling rate is initially one of the characteristics of digital sound. In this case, its meaning is as follows: the sampling rate of the DAC must not be lower than the corresponding indicator in the incoming audio signal, otherwise the device will not be able to effectively cope with the conversion.

The bit depth of the digital-to-analogue converter used in the device.

DAC in this case means the “heart” of the device, the main circuit that directly provides the conversion of digital audio to analogue. Bit depth is initially one of the characteristics of a digital audio signal. In this case, its meaning is as follows: the bit depth of the DAC must be no lower than the bit depth of the audio signal with which the converter is planned to be used, otherwise the device will not be able to effectively cope with the conversion.

The audio frequency range supported by the device. Most often, we are talking about the frequency range that the device can output in an analogue audio signal at the output.

In general, the wider the frequency range — the fuller the sound, the lower the likelihood that the transducer will “cut off” the upper or lower frequencies. However, note that the human ear is able to hear sounds at frequencies from 16 to 22,000 Hz, and the upper limit decreases with age. So from a practical point of view, it does not make sense to provide a wider range in audio technology. And the impressive numbers found in high-end devices (for example, 1 – 50,000 Hz) are more of a "side effect" of advanced electronic circuits and are given in the characteristics mainly for the purpose of advertising. Also recall that the overall sound quality is affected by many other factors, in addition to the frequency range.

The signal-to-noise ratio provided by the converter.

This parameter describes the ratio of the volume of the pure sound produced by the device to the volume of its own noise (which is inevitably created by any electronic device). Thus, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio, the clearer the sound, the less the DAC's own noise affects the audio signal. Indicators up to 80 dB can be considered acceptable, up to 100 dB — not bad, 100 – 120 dB — good, more than 120 dB — excellent. However, it is worth remembering that the overall sound quality is affected not only by this parameter, but also by many others.

Note that the signal-to-noise ratio is often associated with such a characteristic as the dynamic range (see above). They are similar in general meaning, both describe the difference between an extraneous background and a useful signal. However, the noise level in the calculations is taken differently: for the signal-to-noise ratio, the background of the converter “at idle” is taken into account, and for the dynamic range, the noise that occurs when a low-level signal is output. This is the reason for the difference in numbers.

The coefficient of harmonic distortion produced by the converter during operation.

The lower this indicator, the clearer the sound produced by the device is, the less distortion is introduced into the audio signal. It is impossible to completely avoid such distortions, but it is possible to reduce them to a level that is not perceived by a person. It is believed that the human ear does not hear harmonics, the level of which is 0.5% and below. However, in high-end audio applications, distortion rates can be much lower — 0.005%, 0.001% or even less. This makes quite a practical sense: the distortions from the individual components of the system are summed up, and the lower the harmonic coefficient of each component, the less distortion there will be in the audible sound as a result.

Support of the Bluetooth wireless technology by the device. The main application of this technology in the DAC is wireless transmission of sound from an external Bluetooth device (smartphone, laptop, etc.) to the converter. Initially, such transmission was associated with a loss of sound quality, but relatively recently the aptX format appeared, allowing audio to be transmitted via Bluetooth without loss in quality. So when choosing a converter with Bluetooth, it would be a good idea to clarify whether it supports aptX (and, of course, this standard must also be supported by the signal source).
In addition to audio transmission, there are other possible uses for Bluetooth, such as using an external gadget as a remote control. However, they are much less common.

Initially, the transmission of sound via Bluetooth involves quite strong signal compression, which can greatly spoil the impression when listening to music. To eliminate this drawback, various technologies are used (the most popular of which is the aptX codec, for Apple devices it is AAC). Of course, to use any of the technologies, it must be supported not only by the amplifier, but also by the Bluetooth device with which it is used.

— aptX. Bluetooth codec, created to significantly improve the quality of sound transmitted via Bluetooth. According to the creators, it allows you to achieve quality comparable to Audio CD (16-bit/44.1 kHz). The advantages of aptX are most noticeable when listening to high-quality content, but even on regular MP3 it can provide a noticeable improvement in sound.

— aptX HD. This codec is a further development and improvement of the original aptX technology, allowing to transmit sound in even higher quality — Hi-Res (24-bit/48kHz). According to the creators, this standard allows to achieve signal quality superior to AudioCD, and sound purity comparable to wired connection. The latter is often questioned, but it can be said that in general aptX HD provides very high sound quality. On the other hand, all the advantages of this technology become noticeable only on Hi-Res audio — with a quality of 24-bit/48kHz or higher; otherwise, the quality is limited not so much by the connection features as by the properties of the source files....

— aptX Low Latency. A specific variation of the aptX described above, designed not so much to improve sound quality as to reduce delays in signal transmission. Such delays inevitably occur when working via Bluetooth; they are not critical for listening to music, but when watching videos or playing games, a noticeable desynchronization between image and sound may occur. The aptX LL codec eliminates this phenomenon, reducing the delay to 32 ms — such a difference is imperceptible to human perception (although for serious tasks like studio work with sound, it is still too great).

— AAC. A codec used mainly in Apple portable equipment to improve the sound transmitted via Bluetooth. In this sense, it is similar to aptX (see the corresponding points), but is noticeably inferior to it in capabilities: if the sound of aptX is compared with Audio CD, then AAC is at the level of an MP3 file of average quality. However, for listening to the same MP3, this is quite enough, the difference becomes noticeable only on more advanced formats.

— LDAC. Sony's proprietary Bluetooth codec. In terms of bandwidth and potential sound quality, it even surpasses aptX HD, providing indicators at the level of Hi-Res sound 24-bit/96kHz; there is even an opinion that this is the maximum quality that makes sense to provide in wireless headphones — further improvement will simply be imperceptible to the human ear.