o0genesis0o t1_j6gpu24 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 4:50 AM

>I was under the impression that an amp/dac should not change the sound significantly. Yet the changes I am hearing are significant.

Oh they do sound different, sometimes drastically. I used to repeat after other people that "all of them sound the same", but by chance, I have access to quite a bit more to listen and A/B tests to review and now I have to take back the "they all sound the same" statement.

The thing is we are dealing with imperfect analog devices. Moreover, some manufacturers intentionally make the sound different. For example, some Shanling devices, such as the M6 Ultra (my review), are deliberately tuned for a thicker low-end, which happens to intensify the sense of depth in the soundstage. Some Fiio devices such as KA3 are brighter in the treble, which can trigger the "wall of sound" illusion sometimes. Recently I reviewed a weird dongle from a company called ACMEE, and that one has noticeably more upper midrange that the soundstage overshoots, placing the vocals right at the back of my head.

One may say "not the same volume", "louder is better". Sure. But then, when I deliberately push the volume of one device louder and it still cannot reveals details that the other one can at a lower volume, then one has to admit that something is going.

Edit: one more point: some gaming laptop has very poor on-board DAC/amp. That can be the cause of the problem as well.

BrutalFeather OP t1_j6h6icd wrote on January 30, 2023 at 8:00 AM

Do you think the jds atom would be a significant upgrade from the E10k in terms of resolution? Also what does wall of sound illusion mean? Couldnt find it on google.

o0genesis0o t1_j6h71id wrote on January 30, 2023 at 8:07 AM

Wall of sound is the term I and some reviewers use to describe a flat and wide soundstage, like everything is on a flat surface without much sense of distance and layering. I personally dislike it, but then I know some who actively seeks that, so YMMV.

I haven’t heard the Atom so I can’t comment. I mostly review IEMs so I generally don’t pay much attention to desktop gear. A Fiio K7 is more than enough (though, again, a fellow IEM reviewer insists me to upgrade to K9).

In my experience, just grab a proper desktop setup (the one with external power supply rather than USB-C from laptop) from a reliable brand like Fiio, Schiit, Topping, etc., and you are done. Some people want to spend many thousands on these. Not me. An all in one like K7 or the Schiit stack is enough for me.