New vs. old DACs - opinions?

I've found the newer DAC's to be more resolving, but they often sound harder and less liquid. The older DAC's seemed to emphasize that liquidness but had a lack of transparency.

As systems themselves have become more transparent I think we are hearing these newer DAC's and all their flaws - garbage in, garbage out. The older less transparent stuff therefore sounds more relaxed in an over resolved system, if not as detail perfect overall.

It's all a matter of balance and component matching.

Bob

DAC, after the D comes the A and C which is the analog signal coming out. Just because the digital part has the latest and greatest chip set doesn't mean the analog part of the signal is anything special. You still need a quality analog output stage. Some manufacturers (Zanden) even prefer ancient chip sets.

I like my mid nineties VAC 22.1 DAC just fine. I haven't done any side by side direct comparisons, but I am not blown away when I hear the same disc played on a CD7 at the dealer. In a side by side maybe the CD7 is better. I don't know. I do know the VAC outperforms my slighly older Linn Numeric which was a more expensive unit.

You guys are right: old computing-technology IS better. I just compared my Commodore 64 to my Macbook Pro, and it was way better! If I could only figure out how to install Itunes now.

It is hard to generalize about old vs. new, but, the generalization that new means more advanced technology is certainly NOT the case.

DAC manufacturers rely on microchip sets that come from a handful of manufacturers. Unless they stocked up on favorite chips (a handful of manufacturers actually do that), they MUST be using currently produced chips. The digital to analogue chips used in DACS are also used a whole bunch of other digital devices. So, an "improvement" that warrants the manufacturer replacing a chip with a new one is not necessarily an improvement in sound quality when used in audiophile gear. These days, an improvment means improvement in other functions the chip provides, smaller size, and lower power consumption (key improvements when used in cell phones, etc.).

People pay BIG bucks to get players and DACs that have certain vintage chips, such as Zanden machines. Naim also uses long discontinued model of chips in their premium machines.

Some DAC makers, particularly those that don't use any kind of oversampling, or even filtering for that matter, rely on careful design and premium parts in the analogue part of the chain. Even older models of these manufacturers sound great (to me, at least) today. I particularly like Audionote (uk) DACs and stuff from 47 labs, for example.

Some new DACs like Benchmark DAC1 do asynchronous upsampling with very strong jitter rejection. They sound great with any transport and any digital cable. It is very flexible (I use DVD player), allows long runs of digital cable or connection to less than ideal jitter-wise sources (computer card, ipod etc).

Since your intention is to buy DAC I would advise to get factory new one. Older versions of Benchmark, for instance, had some problems (they are at rev. G or higher now). I know of two. One was usage of Signetics NE5532 thin sounding OP-Amps until factory burned down (around 2001/2002)and Texas bought license for NE5532. They designed larger die and sound became fuller. Second problem was way to high output impedance on unbalanced (RCA) outputs. USB version has also better (stronger)output driver (LM4562) for XLR outputs allowing lower output impedance (important).
Additional factor is warranty - 5 years but only for original owner.