DACs & Headphone Amps
With most people now storing music digitally on laptops, PCs and NAS drives, DACs – or digital to analogue converters – are becoming more and more popular among music lovers. DACs take the digital signal from your device and turn it into analogue audio, usually outputted from RCA jacks that you can connect to an amplifier. The DAC’s internal components are often superior to those in the phone or laptop, which offers a boost in sound quality. Typically, they feature a USB input, which allows you to enjoy high-resolution formats like FLAC and ALAC in all their glory – although you’ll need to check whether the DAC you’re considering supports the bit depth and resolution of your files. Some top out at 96kHz/24-bit, whereas others support files up to and beyond 192kHz/24-bit.