All audio devices – phones, music players, car audio unit, TV boxes have DACs to convert audio digital signals to sound waves. however as all these items are build to sell at low cost, the DAC in all devices have relatively low sound quality.
The dac chips in most devices usually cost $15 or less and are selected to fit the low cost of the bill of materials of the device rather than for good sound quality
The good news is for modest cost you can greatly improve of the sound quality of your music. You will hear beautiful realistic music that you have never heard before and never thought possible to get to hear at home or while travelling.
However the bad news is that there is a lot low quality hifi gear out there, with price ranging from cheap to very expensive. So select what you buy carefully.
Before we go into gear it is good to understand what music you listen to and what effects you like in your music.
I like to hear realistic voices and music instruments like piano, guitar, other instruments. I like music that I can enjoy for hours, and sound quality that is not tiring. I like good music played at moderate levels and not too loud.
So first decide what music do you like.
Music Apps.
You can get good sound quality on your phone or computer, start with source of hi resolution music.
I use Apple Music. Other possible choices for music Apps are Tidal, Spotify.
For all Music apps you need to select the lossless Hi-Res option to get the best sound quality.
I pay one monthly bill of US$19.95 for Apple One. That is a family bundle which I share with my family for all these – Apple Music, Apple TV, 200 Apple Arcade Games, 200 Gb of storage.
Apple music by default will not play high resolution music. If you like to know how to turn that on, google it.
DAC. Digitial Analog Coverter – the key to getting better sound quality.
One of the fastest inexpensive way to get good Hifi quality is to buy a USB DAC and play it to your phone. Is your phone using USC C or lightning port ? My iphone 15 pro has USB C port.
I recently bought this newly released DAC for S$349. Love the sound for this price – Astell&Kern AK HC4 Hi-Fi USB Dual DAC. . This is USB C port only.
See shop link – https://av1group.com.sg/collections/astell-kern/products/astell-kern-ak-hc4
So by this point you know the type of music you like, playback of 10 million songs most of which are hi resolution music on Apple Music and use the A&K HC4 dac.
Sound Output.
what amp+ speakers or headphone do you use ? the typical $40 ear buds will not play hi resolution music well. So need better output.
4.1 recently i bought this Demo set- [Dynaudio Xeo 6 Wireless Active Floorstanding Speakers [FREE Dynaudio Connect with purchase]
I’m very happy with the sound quality. The music is life like, easy to listen to for hours.
Turn Tables and LPs.
I have zero experience in LPs and turn table. I read about them, but I never go into LPs. The main reasons are cost of LPs and players, defective sound quality (some like it), inconvenience of handing LP. and issues like pops, dust, cleaning, needle and parts wear, and space for the LPs.
n the end for all the expense of LPs, to me the quality of sound is inferior to hi resolution music. If you like to try LP. you can get relative cheap LPs players with USB outputs.
Now I enjoy music with great sound quality on this:
10 Million songs on Apple Music (Hi-Res Lossless, Dolby Atmos off) on Mac/iPhone 15 >
ASTELL&KERN AK HC4 HI-FI USB DUAL DAC >
Dynaudio Xeo 6 Wireless Active Floorstanding Speakers.
I keep the music chain short to ensure sound quality is optimal.
Enjoy your music.
