Why do I need a DAC? 2024
A digital-to-analog converter, or DAC, is necessary for playing back high-quality audio. The audio signal from digital music is recorded as a series of 0s and 1s, which is perfect for transmission and storage but not so good for directly powering speakers or headphones. In this video, we’ll attempt to describe what a DAC does and why you should get one in very basic, non-technical terminology.
Intro
Greetings everyone! This is Raghav from Headphone Zone. In this video, I’ll attempt to describe what a DAC does and why you should purchase one in very basic, non-technical terminology.
Why do I need a DAC?
These days, all of the music we listen to is saved in digital formats using zeros and ones, whether it is on an MP3 player or a streaming service. The information about the sounds, instruments, and other contents of the music file is carried by the zeros and ones.
The only problem is that analog formats, such as waveforms played by headphones into our ear canal and on to our eardrum, are understood by our ears and headphones but not by digital ones.
Eventually, the digital data included in the file will need to be converted to an analog format between the file and the headphones.
The built-in DAC on your laptop or smartphone works perfectly well for streaming low-quality music when you listen to it on an inexpensive pair of earbuds, but as soon as you start listening to high-quality music at higher resolutions and with a nice, high-end pair of headphones,
A good DAC will make several assumptions and computations that, when combined with digital information, will result in a sound wave that is transmitted from the 3.5 mm output that is far more realistic.This is only relevant if you have good headphones, which, since you’re viewing this video, you most likely already do. The simplest thing you can do to enhance the sound quality is to purchase a dedicated digital-to-analog converter (DAC). Once you hear what a DAC can achieve, I promise you won’t be able to listen to music on anything else.
