> there is no way a human could hear the difference in the best and worst DAC Are you sure? Remember that a DAC in this context is also an audio circuit, not j

> there is no way a human could hear the difference in the best and worst DAC Are you sure? Remember that a DAC in this context is also an audio circuit, not just an IC performing digital -> analog conversion. I can say with certainty that switching to a USB DAC made a big difference vs using the output on my motherboard, no computer noise + I lost an unnecessary amplification stage. Of course, I would never spend $$$ on a DAC, because as you mention it's a very low-impact component of the system. The other thing is that DACs which support high sample rates can play your high sample rate music without software resampling, which is obviously not a useful feature for a lot of people but is definitely audible if you do have high sample rate music for whatever reason.