Okay, now that is news to me too. Always thought it stood for Digital-to-Analog Converter. Your definition is certainly correct though.
I got my brother a DAC for Christmas, along with some other audio stuff. It will be his first DAC. I'm sure that I'll be answering questions on Christmas day explaining to him what a DAC is and why it is needed. I'm ready. I'm doing my part to support and expand the DAC market and audiophile market. But yeah, most people outside of audiophile forums and AV forums don't really know what a DAC is. And to them a DAC in a laptop or phone accomplishes the same thing as a $1000 stand-alone DAC. It's obviously a difficult market for the consumer electronics side of audio because the CE consumers don't want to pay extra for a DAC that accomplishes the same thing as a phone. DACs and the more premium audio gear that include good DACs are for the audiophile side of consumer electronics audio. And that's a niche within a niche.
I keep thinking I ought to get a Sonica speaker or something similar for the kitchen. They're neat devices that make it easy to put music anywhere in the home and easily move around as needed.
For the kitchen, voice control has become essential to me (Sonica does not natively support). Washing dishes and deciding you want to hear a bit of The Misfits satisfies my soul like few other things. Might want to check out an Apple HomePod, or the Amazon/Google equivalent.
That brings up how audio gear like this can get difficult to keep up with for companies like Oppo and others. CE audio gear often gets purchased based more on particular feature checkmarks than on sound quality. If a device is missing a feature the consumer wants then it doesn't matter to them how good it sounds because they're not going to buy it.
Digital to Analog Converter. Any device that plays digital files from streaming, downloaded files, silver discs or otherwise, needs to have some way to concert the digital data, ones and zeros, into an analog signal that can be played for listening by human ears. If it is a CD player or a DVD player or a Blu-Ray player, it has a DAC built in. If you are buying a $100 CD player, you can assume that the DAC is an integrated circuit built to a low price-point. If you are buying a $1299 Oppo, it is several integrated circuits built to more exacting standards with little regard to price; after all, the crazed cult of Oppo-istas on SHMF are crawling all over each other to get the best regardless of price. Moreover, there are several ways to skin the DAC problem. Of course, each camp claims their process is superior and all others are unlistenable. Finally, it seems that the art and science of DAC architectures changes frequently. The super go-fast DAC from three years ago has been exceeded several times already. Hence, there is a market for outboard DACs. Many of us upgrade our DACs as technology marches forward. As well, some of us succumb to upgrade-itis and marketing hype!
Now that part of your sentence probably sums up the difference between Forum members and the 99.999% of the population. External DACs will, usually, improve the sound quality, however, they are not actually "needed" to hear the music! Personally, when I hear the word DAC I think of any digital to analogue converter whether it be in a CD player, Oppo, computer, TV etc (these DACs are "needed" so we can hear the sound) not just an external DAC which one would hope would improve the sound quality.
Better sound quality is always needed. The difficulty is that demonstrating better sound quality to the general public is difficult. It's very subjective. It's easy to demonstrate better video quality and compare the video of one TV to another or compare streaming video quality to BR. It's much more difficult to demonstrate similar differences in audio quality to people who don't already know how to listen or what to listen for or recognize that better audio quality can improve the music listening experience. Even on this forum there are people who believe that CD players sound the same or DACs sound the same as long as they are designed correctly. I can appreciate that trying to sell better DACs to the general CE market is challenging. I thought the audiophile and headphone gear market was doing better and that that market was growing (or at least not shrinking) and willing to buy better DACs. Oppo was somewhat unique in somehow managing to straddle the CE market and videophile/audiophile markets. Even that wasn't enough to keep them afloat.
Yeah, that’s what I think too. Maybe in my haste I wrote the wrong thing or it was an iPhone autocorrect fail!
From a sound quality perspective, the Sonica is an excellent product, but as SamS says, it’s not a smart speaker (i.e., it does not support virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana, Bixby, etc.) unlike most of the competition. Also, although the Sonica App remains available for download for iOS and Android, and I am sure it will be patched for security issues, etc., there is no guarantee how long it will be supported.
I’d pick a Sonos One, Google Home Max, or Apple HomePod instead. Those are really the only smart speaker models that have sound quality that will be satisfying to audiophiles. Alexa sounds like garbage, unfortunately. Of the three above, the HomePod sounds the best by a hair (they actually all are pretty impressive sounding for their size), although it is not compatible with Android and its implementation of Siri needs a little work compared to Google Assistant.
My friend, if you know any audiophiles satisfied by a Soros Home Max or HomePod, I would question their status as audiophiles.
Well, I consider myself an audiophile and for what they are, and what their intended purpose is, I am satisfied with all three.
Same here. Total audio nut with McIntosh, Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus series, ridiculous cables and power conditioners. Yet I love the HomePod as much as any of my "audiophile" gear.
That's my concern with buying a Sonica speaker now. It will only be useful as long as the app is able to run and function correctly on available phones/tablets.
Without the app, you could still use it as a Bluetooth speaker, or an Airplay or DNLA renderer, but you couldn’t use it to play music from an attached hard drive or act as a server itself. Therefore, it will always be operable but sone features will be limited without the app. It does sound really good, though!
Why would they include a digital out? The piece was intended for someone who wants an all-in-one solution. Hook up to your AVR, Pre-amp, Integrated, whatever and go. The HAPZ1ES is over 4 years old now. The market has changed a bit since then.
FYI, Target and B&H Photo are having a sale on the HomePod for $249 today. That’s $100 off regular price.
But not enough for products like this, or similar to this, to make money—by Sony’s calculation, at least. Otherwise, they would have revised it by now. Truthfully, if you open up a HAPZ1ES, you’ll see that the build quality is astounding. It’s probably even underpriced for what’s on offer.
Not to derail the thread but can the HomePod be used with other devices such as an Oppo 205. I have a good amount of music on two hard drives connected to my 205. Or does the HomePod only work with Apple Music.
I wasn't referring to anything in regard to the quality or performance of this thing. Sony has and continues to make lots of excellent quality products whether they sell well or go into the pantheon of failed Sony products. I wasn't attempting to construct a bullet-proof legal brief on digital products
Someone who wants a hard drive solution with a fair amount of disposable income who has a high end DAC or CD player with a DAC option. Talking Bryton BDA3, Esoteric. Luxman level players.
Good question! Because both the 205 and the HomePod are AirPlay devices, you should be able to stream from the 205 to the HomePod. You will have to configure iTunes to read the library off the 205 and then pick the HomePod as the AirPlay playback device.
