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| Do You Need A DAC? |
First of all you must know what DAC stands for and it is an acronym
that stands for Digital to
analogue converter. Yes from the name you can easily identify that DAC is
used to convert the digital signal into analog signal. If you want to listen to
any digital audio signal (say for example MP3 or any audio from digital
video) via an analog output(say for
example wired headphones or speakers),
then you must definitely need a DAC in order to convert the source of a
digital signal into to analog signal at the point of connection. In fact the mobile phones, laptops, MP3
players, and of course the televisions have the built-in DACs.
Table of Contents
Why Do You Need An External DAC?
Most of the devices have the
built-in DACs and so you might have a question then why the external or
separate one is needed. The answer is most of the manufacturers of mobile
phones or laptops do not pay much attention to accurately converting the
digital to analog signal. So the output audio would be as cheap or small as
possible that will not sure be the exact or the accurate reproduction of the
original audio and this is the main reason why you need a DAC.
You will definitely require an
external or separate DAC, unless you are using a high-fidelity digital audio
player and sometimes you will need a DAC even if you are using it. In order to use a DAC, you have to connect
the source (mobile phone, computer or any other digital audio source) to the
DAC directly, and then you have to connect the DAC to an amp that connects to
the headphones and it gives you great music experience.
The Most Common Dacs:
The most common DACs are:
- Headphone DAC/ AMP combo
- Stand-alone DACs
Headphone DAC/
AMP combo: Since the built-in DACs in the laptop or the mobile phones might
not provide the high fidelity audio output, the DAC that has been built into
the headphone amplifier will provide the high performance and definitely it
will also be a huge upgrade over that which has been built into the common
devices. Buying an amplifier with a built-in DAC is the awesome choice because
you may require a separate amplifier to get the correct voltage for your
headphones and also having the two units together will save your money and
space. Even some units are designed especially for portability powered by a
rechargeable battery with the high fidelity amplifier and DAC, in a size that
fits in your pocket.
Stand-alone DACs: The alternative
choice of headphone DAC/AMP combo is a stand-alone DAC, which could be the best
option when you want to swap out the components for other purposes. Here you
can connect the source with the stand-alone DAC, which is connected to an amplifier and the amplifier is again
connected to the output device (headphones). Of course, this could be a best
choice if you want the higher quality output.
