Using an external DAC with active speakers, is it necessary?

Strap in for this episode of #DynaudioAskTheExpert, where Otto briefly clears up any confusion surrounding external DACs used in conjunction with digital streaming speakers.

Remember, without you, there is no Ask The Expert. Simply drop a comment below, and your question might feature in a future video! 👇

00:00 - Intro
00:13 - Do I need an external DAC?

[mindgraphy_]

This is exactly what I was expecting with my Focus 20XD and the answer I was looking for. Thank you. It does mean I can’t squeeze much more quality out of my current setup and have to upgrade to something else.

[tiffanytoulouse]

Modern dacs are absolutely transparent devices, even if you hear differences they are so minimal that completely masked by the difference in quality of audio material.

[PianistGaming]

Great answer, straight to the point, with nice animations that helps with simple understanding too.

[MadViking]

I would very kindly like to ask that when is there a new high end speaker coming out from Dynaudio at the 5K-15K€ range? Can't find a pair of new Heritage Special anywhere and Confidence 20 is starting to become old and would like to have an update! Would love to upgrade from my Special 40s to the latest esotar, perhaps Esotar4?

[anandyahamdi]

But why is the sound quality is so much different?!

[danielrak]

so....does the dac change the sound? when converting from analog to digital is information lost? when converting from digital to analog is information lost? should i use an eq with my active speaker? what if i think it sounds better going through a dac before my active speaker? what is "the best signal?" What is the best source for an active speaker? line in? phono? optical? hdmi? usb? ... If you come to my house and set up my stereo so it sounds the best, then i think it sounds like shit, does that mean you suck or i suck? This answer is crap. not because i disagree, but because its a crap answer. What dac sounds the best? is r2r better than ess? is a phono record better than a cd? what matters more, the speaker, the source, the room setup? what came first the chicken or the egg?

If i am listening using a digital source, that information was coded from an analog source first... if i passed that source through 20 dacs what would i end up with? if an artist gives a live performance, and the audio guys tune the system for the room/venue does that mean that that is the best way to listen to it? if every speaker sounds different, and every dac sounds different, and every source has variance, how can anyone say that anything sounds better? Is it not just all end user preference and then in that case adding a dac is good if it sounds better to the person who is listening?

Please defend your position