You told us: External DACs (kind of) make a difference

The article I published last week telling people not to waste their money on a DAC sparked intense discussion, to say the least. Over 5,000 people voted in our follow-up poll, and the results show a community divided. Some readers say their DAC was a game-changer. Others say they couldn’t tell the difference. Many—perhaps most—just really love the knob.

So what do we take from all this? Our original point still stands: an external DAC offers little to no benefit for the average listener. And the more you spend, the more those gains shrink into the realm of diminishing returns.

Poll results

Out of 5012 votes, here’s how the numbers shook out on whether readers think an external DAC makes a noticeable difference in sound quality:

• 36% — Yes, it’s a huge improvement
• 35% — Maybe, but only in certain setups
• 17% — Not really; the difference is minimal
• 12% — I’ve never tried one

Despite the heated debate in the comment section—complete with some extremely colorful language—most readers agree on one thing: context matters. It’s not that DACs are useless, per se—it’s that they’re not universally transformative.

These results align with what we said from the start: a DAC won’t fix bad audio or suddenly make Spotify sound like a live concert. For most listeners, it’s not the weakest link in the chain. But clearly, there is value in some setups—and just as clearly, some folks are buying DACs for reasons that have nothing to do with sound quality.

Style over substance

While some commenters dove deep into the technical weeds, others got refreshingly honest. Over on Reddit, the top comments weren’t about signal-to-noise ratios or jitter correction—they were about knobs.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• “I have a DAC because the audio output on my motherboard is too noisy. And it has a knob.” — u/Erdbeerfeldheld
• “I love my big knob.” — u/Vv4nd
• “50% of the reason I got mine is because it is pretty.” — u/Veronica_Cooper
• “They will take my Evangelion-themed DAC from my cold, dead fingers.” — u/Ornery_Value6107
• “I wasted $120 on a glorified volume knob… and yeah, I still kinda love it.” — u/Overall_Falcon_8526

If you want to spend your hard-earned money on a beautiful piece of gear that sits on your desk and sparks joy, I won’t stop you; all power to you. However, I think the discussion is a little telling.

As Redditor u/mt51 said, “Funny how everyone’s suddenly talking about the knob and the looks rather than the warm sounds and wider soundstage like they have been for decades.”

What’s next? We’re testing more DACs ourselves

Clearly, there’s a lot of interest in this topic—and not just from audiophiles. With other creators now calling DACs a “scam” or “myth,” we’re planning to cut through the noise with objective, blind testing of DACs here at SoundGuys. We’ll be comparing DACs across a range of prices, setups, and headphones to see where (if anywhere) the real differences lie.

If you’ve got noise issues, obscure connectivity needs, or headphones that demand power—sure, a DAC might help. But for everyone else? You’re better off spending that money where it counts: on better headphones, room acoustics, or music itself.

We stand by our original conclusion: Don’t waste your money on a DAC unless you know exactly why you’re buying it—and it better be more than the shiny knob.