Earbuds

Look I am not trying to rain on your parade but I really really reallyyyyy dont want other people to get lost or confused by this misinformation. I really am not trying to be antagonistic here I just feel very strongly about how science is being misrepresented in the realm of audio engineering.

DACs are a solved problem in terms of amplifying music to normal listening levels for a normal pair of headphones.

let me repeat that in a different way

DACs are a commodity, they are like bic pens, pens used to be this difficult thing to produce quality versions of for cheap at a mass scale... and then someone invented the bic pen and now it is trivial.... we are at that point with DACs and a lot of people are weirdly uncomfortable with that and want there to be different flavors of DACs and shit.... but it is a lie people tell themselves because the reality in 2024 is boring with DACs.... but also inspiring because hey basically any DAC you get your hands on is going to be of arbitrary quality.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-pc-audio,3733-19.html

Yes if you get a fancy pair of headphones with really high impedance that needs to be driven by an extra powerful DAC ok... but that is NOT the overwhelming majority of headphones. Crucially it isn't that nicer DACs have "more warmth" or other nonsense, it is a question of HOW MUCH amplification a DAC can do before distortion begins, which means a less powerful DAC driving normal headphones at a normal level is never going to encounter conditions where it would differ in performance from a $3000 DAC hooked up to the same headphones.

To put as many nails into this coffin as possible let me also be clear, there are plenty of audiophile level headphones with very reasonable impedance values that can be driven by any random DAC in any random computer or phone in a fashion that is indistinguishable in blind A/B listening tests even with experts from the way an expensive DAC would drive those headphones.

Please stop pushing pseudosicence that is effectively trying to make listening to music into this exclusive thing where you are only getting the "real" listening experience if you have a signal chain full of psuedo scientific gear that costs hundreds if not thousands of extra dollars and yet doesnt make a difference that can actually be sensed by the human ear because the difference is imperceptible or not even perceivable by the human ear at a basic level in the first place.

People are broke as shit right now, they are struggling hard, please don't encourage people to spend the precious little spending money they actually have on DACs that are marketed on effectively psuedosciencific differences (again in terms of what YOU can actually perceive as a human).

Spend money on nice headphones, on a nice neck pillow for your head while you listen, whatever just spend your money on anything else about the music listening experience other than an expensive DAC, PLEASE as an audio engineer I beg you.

If you really feel the need to buy a DAC, hell just buy the base level audio interface from Native Instruments or another trusted brand, those are DESIGNED for musicians and yes you are getting a bunch of hardware you dont need in that box too (like audio recording hardware and inputs) but even still it is going to run you far less than some of these "boutique audiophile DACs".