Martins said

ZenErik said

That's what you think... Until you start spending.

There's a HUGE difference between running my headphones through my Firebox and then running them through my whole rig. For one, the Firebox is far more fatiguing. Detailed but overblown and abrasive.

However, there is one thing that I DEFINITELY don't believe to make a difference. Boutique cables. Spending 300 dollars on cables is ridiculous. If the gauge of the cable is thick enough and well shielded, it doesn't matter what magic voodoo you heard it was created with.

Well, let's see. If the bitrate of your DAC is faster than the bitrate of the file you're listening to, there's no benefit in terms of more accurate recreation of the music. I would assume, though, that you already have your music collection in some sort of lossless format, in which case you might even need a faster DAC. Your DAC (though I don't know anything about dedicated audio DACs) probably has some sort of output filter - something the Firefox wouldn't have - that would explain the difference between the two... but that's not to say that it's staying true to the recording.

Cables, though, do have some significance. A shitty cable will have high resistance per unit length ratios, high inductance, high capacitance, and poor shielding, resulting in EMI and crosstalk. These factors can significantly change the sound and tonality of signal being sent. A good cable will have low resistance, low inductance, low capacitance, low crosstalk, and good shielding. These numbers usually matter at long lengths but depending on the cable used, can matter at short lengths too. In fact, in most industrial applications, the cable is one of the most important pieces of the system. Bad cable can mean bad system.