Generally, if you just want to listen to music with no added processing, you dont't even need any extra DSP processing capability. You would only need to have a DAC to convert the signal from digital to analog (this is ignoring such things as the ICs needed for digital oversampling and filtering carried out before D/A conversion). The only thing that more powerful DSP chips would buy you would be more precise processing of a signal if you wanted to change it in some way, like EQ, room simulation or something like that.

A DAC is only used to convert the signal from digital to analog - if this is all you want to do, then that is all you need in your player. If you want to process the signal in some way beyond just the basic conversion, DSP computation would be needed, and just like in a PC, more processing power gives more precise results (and more approaching real-time).

There are so many variables involved to the decisions a designer makes in a finished piece of equipment that it is all but impossible to buy something purely on how many and what kind of DACs and/or DSP chips it has. It would be like buying a car strictly on how many cylinders it has - this would ignore the very significant differences in design that can make engines of equal cylinder count very different in real world performance.

However, very generally, you get what you pay for with higher end equipment using a higher grade of DAC and generally more DSP power available for processing tasks. How that computatational DSP power is used is up to the skill of the programmers and designers.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited April 05, 2004).]