My experience with this is I’ve had 3 different Dac Amps DAC x6 was the first one I had which I did not have any reference to before switching over to a Schiit Magni 3+ and Schiit Modi 3e (Both give plenty of volume). On the Hifiman Edition XS using the DAC x6 the sound was very claustrophobic and warm compared to using the Schiit stack which was much wider and neutral sounding, for me this was a huge upgrade. To add to this I also tried this on a portable DAC Amp which is the DC03 Pro which soundstage sounds closer on the side but a bit sounds warmer. What’s your experience?
I have about 23 different dacs and amps sitting on my desk at the moment. Everything is functional and most connected to line switchers to be used with each other. I have a legend on my sticky notes app to tell me what goes where on the switchers.
TLDR: I haven’t consolidated or sold stuff off as there are differences between most of my stuff and some have better synergy with certain headphones over others. I guess you could say that it’s a terrible way to EQ, lol.