Are DAC's overpriced?

Steve- would you say the transport is then irrelevant in terms of sound quality if using Synchro-Mesh or Benchmark DAC3 ? Thanks

DAC technology has improved by leaps and bounds in the past couple of years. Which is why I won't spend more that $2K on a DAC, and from a company that will provide upgrades.
My choices would be Schiit, Ayre, Mytek, in no particular order.
Bob

@david12 


excellent post

Get a DAC.  That will allow you to utilize and endpoint and/or server.  Having streaming capability is a great door opener to new music.

Steve- would you say the transport is then irrelevant in terms of sound quality if using Synchro-Mesh or Benchmark DAC3 ? Thanks

Pretty much. Low jitter on the input side of the SM helps a little, but not much.  The output side always sounds great.

You should listen to the Benchmark before you buy.

Most modern DACs have reclockers or similar circuitry inside so that they can claim jitter is a non-issue.  It still is an issue with the vast majority of them because low-jitter input lowers the jitter of the internal PLL circuitry.  They additionally have the disadvantage that they don't deliver the SQ possible when driven by extremely low-jitter sources like the Synchro-Mesh.  The SM helps, but not as much as a DAC without reclocker on the input.

Like all digital circuitry, the devil is in the details.  It's not just the chips used or the digital techniques.  The big differences in sound quality come from optimal circuit implementation, circuit design, power supply design and decoupling cap implementation.  There are literally millions of choices that the designer makes that can degrade the sound quality and still end-up with a functioning design.

Steve N.