Many people are asking: What is a DAC? And Do I want one?

A great many people play music on their phones and computers. That's all well and good, but have you ever listened to the difference between the all digital sound you get from your computer and a dedicated analog stereo system? The difference is so real it's astonishing.

There is a good nuts and bolts technical reason why analog and digital sources sound so different. It is because of the nature and the difference of analog and digital signals.

Analog sound is a continuous signal that varies in amplitude. In a dedicated stereo, even when you play a CD, that digital signal is converted to an analog signal by an internal DAC which is a Digital to Analog Converter. Every CD player has one.

Digital sound is very different. At its core, it is zeros and ones. Instead of a continuous recording, digital sound consists of numerous samples. Thousands of samples are stitched together and what you hear coming out of your speakers sounds continuous, but something is lost in the mix.

DACs (Digital to Analog Converters) take that digital signal and convert it out into a nice, smooth analog wave form. The difference in the sound is astonishing.

There are many DACs on the market that run from about one hundred to thousands of dollars. There are numerous manufacturers and many chip sets, and it all gets very technical very fast. Let's cut to the chase:

Most users who are interested in DACs want that smooth analog sound from their digital sources. It's not hard to get but, you have to know your objective.

I wanted a DAC that would allow me to listen to the digital audio on my phone and computer in an analog format, have a headphone amp and be able to connect it to my stereo with ordinary RCA jacks. Ideally, I wanted a one box solution.

After doing some research, I found my best option was the iFi Zen 2 DAC.

This DAC connects to my computer via USB, provides a headphone amp and RCA jacks that plug right into my home stereo. It can do many other tricks, but it covers what I wanted to accomplish.

The difference in the sound quality before and after installing the DAC is spectacular. Especially if you have good headphones.

Many companies are in the DAC market. You can spend a lot on a high end DAC, but that's unnecessary. There are three companies that do an impressive job on the lower end of the price scale and are worth looking into.

Cambridge Audio's DACMagic 200 is a remarkable piece of technology, but at five hundred U$, out of my price range. It would have been my choice if I could make myself pay that much. It had a lot more capability.

Schitt Audio (no it's not a joke) has an excellent line of DACs and headphone amps. They are probably the best in the market. I would have gone their way, but they were having supply chain issues and I wanted to get this done.

iFi offered the best mix of features, a one box solution and price. Their Zen DAC is impressive.

Is anyone else using a DAC? What do you have and are you happy with it?

Oops: Another reason you might want a DAC is what it can do for streaming services like Spotify or Tidal. It adds to the sound and gives it the kind of tone you were looking for when you subscribed. I suggest you look carefully at the encoding used by the streaming service and any DAC you chose because the standards are evolving.