Socketing a DAC?

[Photoman]

Hi,
I was wondering what the consensus is on socketing a DIP DAC?
I am repairing a board with an oldie, AD7538 14 bit DAC.  As a just in case, id like to socket it in case it fails again.
I bought some pin turned gold flash coated sockets.  Basically im wondering if that will change anything.

On that theme, same for a AD713 op amp and a AD586 precision 5v reference.
I wanted to change out the 5v reference for a higher stability one and see if it makes a difference between the 2.

I just don't want to keep subjecting the board to desoldering and resoldering the chips if I can avoid it.

Thanks for the help!

[coromonadalix]

gold plated socket are good against oxydation,  putting the chips on the socket is okay, but if you plan to remove them many times, you will create some wear

[Photoman]

Thanks!  My goal (famous last words) is only once or twice.
Im more concerned with affecting the op amp or the dac with maybe a whiff of extra capacitance or resistance.

[oPossum]

Use machined pin sockets if you want the highest reliability. More secure mechanically and much less likely to have problems with contact resistance over time. Make sure pins are well aligned before pushing the chip into the socket.

[Haenk]

I'm currently ripping apart some high end audio measurement system (25 years old and limited to 500Hz-20kHz by software, so unfortunately not useful) - the ADC is socketed, the two DACs (AD1862) are soldered.
Since the manufacturer used only the very best parts available (Jensen audio transformers etc. pp.) and presumably knew what they were doing, it might have been a better choice (noise-wise) to solder them directly.
As the resolution of this 20bit DAC is much higher than your 14bit DAC, noise might in fact not be a problem, so I'd just use a socket. (I know I will use a socket for mine, once I get them desoldered - a true pain with a multilayer PCB and some groundig planes...)

[wraper]

gold plated socket are good against oxydation,  putting the chips on the socket is okay, but if you plan to remove them many times, you will create some wear

Unless IC pins are gold plated as well, advantage is dubious. And if IC is tin plated, most likely is worse than tin plated due to connection of dissimilar materials.

[Photoman]

Thanks everyone for the help.  I will start my repairs with the machined pin sockets that just arrived from DigiKey.
Now to figure out the cause of the failure....