It isn’t so much power because that’s cheap and easy. It’s the hardware processing the data. A DAC is what decides whether or not sound is clear at any given volume, and the cheaper ones have a tendency to distort or otherwise suck as volume increases
I mean, there’s a difference in DACs. Creating one is pretty universal afaik, but they’re not all created equal.
I have an old lgg7 that sounds great out of the box. My main phone, however, is a cheap oneplus, and it’s meh, but when I plug in an external DAC, the sound improves detectably, even to my old ears.
My kid’s phone is some random nokia and sounds like crap, even through my best headphones, at high volume. Plug in the DAC, clear.
It’s a thing. The on board DAC limits how volume affects sound quality for sure, and some don’t even need the volume up to start having audible breaks and distortion.
Now, some of that is android. Crappy devices benefit from a player that has its own audio processing. You fiddle around in poweramp in particular, and you can usually get things to where it’s clear enough to be bearable at high volume. But there’s still a limit if the DAC isn’t solid. But a device that has a great DAC won’t have the issue at all unless you go crazy with the eq, which is possible on any hardware or software.
My g7, maxed out, is clear as a bell at any volume, so long as the source file is good. Same with the external DAC. Both are true regardless of using the headphone jack or usbC for output, with headphones or a system (home or auto).
Is that a big concern in 2024? Devices are much more powerful and audio is cheap and easy.
You’d be surprised. Good quality compact DACs are very expensive unless the manufacturer engineers a better version.
Are they though?
This isn’t the 90’s. All it needs to do us produce an analog stream.
It depends entirely on the quality of the drivers in the headphones and the listener. Portable USB DACs for audiophiles run upwards of $200.
It isn’t so much power because that’s cheap and easy. It’s the hardware processing the data. A DAC is what decides whether or not sound is clear at any given volume, and the cheaper ones have a tendency to distort or otherwise suck as volume increases
That sounds like a dated idea. Modern hardware shouldn’t have any issues creating an audio stream.
I mean, there’s a difference in DACs. Creating one is pretty universal afaik, but they’re not all created equal.
I have an old lgg7 that sounds great out of the box. My main phone, however, is a cheap oneplus, and it’s meh, but when I plug in an external DAC, the sound improves detectably, even to my old ears.
My kid’s phone is some random nokia and sounds like crap, even through my best headphones, at high volume. Plug in the DAC, clear.
It’s a thing. The on board DAC limits how volume affects sound quality for sure, and some don’t even need the volume up to start having audible breaks and distortion.
Now, some of that is android. Crappy devices benefit from a player that has its own audio processing. You fiddle around in poweramp in particular, and you can usually get things to where it’s clear enough to be bearable at high volume. But there’s still a limit if the DAC isn’t solid. But a device that has a great DAC won’t have the issue at all unless you go crazy with the eq, which is possible on any hardware or software.
My g7, maxed out, is clear as a bell at any volume, so long as the source file is good. Same with the external DAC. Both are true regardless of using the headphone jack or usbC for output, with headphones or a system (home or auto).