I'm not all in on digital systems because I'm not all in on DACs

Not to say you can get DACs and amps, preamps that add distortion and coloration but I dont bother with such lousy measuring gear.

I wish my experience was that consistent. It’s not. I’ve listened to DAC’s all over the price spectrum. I have a Mytek Brooklyn and a Topping DX3 sitting side by side in my living room. I only use the Mytek for music. The Topping was out to see if I had an issue measuring but while it's out I tried it for music to see if my memory of the previous comparison held.  It did.  It does not sound as good. Just does not.  This sucks for me trying to buy a cheap HT processor.  

I repeat what I’ve said before, measuring DAC’s isnt’ science it’s quality assurance. If you want to claim you are doing science then do research and discover something new. Don’t just stop and say "we made up these measurements 20 years ago and that is all there is." To further take those old measurements and ascribe them to audio quality or desirability is further, unscientific folly. 

Yes, measuring DACs is quality assurance and as long as a DACs THD+N is beyond human audibility I’m satisfied, the engineering was competent. In my particular system any DAC before the speakers is superflous, every input goes through ADC then DAC. I’ve heard a lot of DACs as well and I make no claims as to which sounds better by memory or sighted listening. The only way to tell if they can be reliably differentiated is level matched blind testing. Not to mention the speakers distortion is exponentially greater than a competently designed DAC so I have no idea how I would "hear"a DAC unless it was really a mess. 

I’m just a caveman lawyer, but…technological obsolescence keeps me very cautious on anything digital that is expensive…I have a thesis that a simple $300 DAC released last month is probably better than a five-year old $3,000 DAC, and so I buy simple, well-reviewed DACs at modest prices, and change them up every few years, and really don’t worry about it much.  Using the iFi Zen Signature v2, and it’s perfectly enjoyable day-to-day (I have music on 12 hours a day, low volume, but always there).  I know I am missing out on the quality I could obtain with say a Benchmark DAC3 (and I will buy one used if I can catch it for the right price).  DEQX was apparently transformational to listeners when released (I’ve not heard it), and cost $5,000, but I can’t imagine they survive unless they just sell a $500 downloadable software package at this point

I have a nice vinyl setup on my rig.  I use it to listen to a selection of maybe 90 albums that make sense to me to own on vinyl (love the music, sound quality, understanding the origin of the pressing, and the music is of a scale that it could have been played in my living room. Neil Young at the Cellar Door vs. Zeppelin). I use a DAC and Roon for 90% of my listening

I’m looking forward to the abusive replies, but maybe this point of view is a useful way to think about where to spend money on a system when maybe 10% of our time is really listening, and most of the rest is just day-to-day pleasure

Fun topic

@jonwatches1 I have to agree with a lot of what you typed.

I know there was a big jump in performance for RedBook audio around 2000-2005, later I found out there was a change to .... something something capacitive coupled DAC’s which greatly reduced jitter and I attributed it to that.

As I read my own writing and think about what it is I’m not willing to give up it’s control and having my hands in the guts of my system. I like being an active participant. Let’s say I were to evaluate an all in one package, that went from streamer to speaker. I feel like I give up so much engagement in my hobby. I mean, sure it could even be better sounding than anything I’d put together with separates, that’s for sure, but there’s pride and connection and affection that I’d be losing along with it and that’s really at the emotional core of my decision making.

I'm sure if I was a well-heeled music lover, say a movie producer, getting into the dirt would not be the fun part.  Having a great sounding bleeding edge system from Arion that integrates with my home automation and security system would be all the satisfaction I needed. 

. I like being an active participant. Let’s say I were to evaluate an all in one package, that went from streamer to speaker. I feel like I give up so much engagement in my hobby.

That's what makes it interesting,  the different perspectives. I became interested in how minimal can I go but still have excellent sound. My latest sold component was the Lumin U1 mini, now it's all ethernet based the roon core connects to the router as well as the speakers.  Everything is done in the speaker.