Point of diminishing return for a DAC

Fastninja , Doug Schroeder comment pretty much nailed one of the mistakes made when wanting more quality out of playback.
i know this to be true having experienced this myself a few years ago when an audio acquaintance with good intentions installed his IMac Pro in my system comparing it directly to a transport I wanted to transition away from .
It was different however I immediately knew the sound quality didn’t equal playback from transport, sure the convenience was fabulous using the Mac though I wasn’t looking for convenience alone.

later that year another audio friend let me listen to a smoken good server in my system that immediately convinced me 30 seconds into a ripped favourite this was the path to better sound playback for me anyway.

12-27-2019 8:51pm

I went from a bifrost to a chord hugo. Law of diminishing returns didn't apply there. HUGE difference. -Elevik

+1 - I upgraded to Chord M Scaler and Chord Hugo TT 2 this summer and quite happy.  

Wow..again, this kind of thing DEFINES diminishing returns for the OP.
LOVE the Chord rig, but it must be pointed out that the combo lists for about $10,000...maybe more.

This is 1% sh*t right here...as in pair it with a $5K streamer, $10K+ amp/pre and $15K speakers and you do have rocking rig for $30K.

But, at what price point do the increment quality gains begin to have "diminishing returns".

I believe that it is in the $10-$15K TOTAL system price range.(Assuming you dont have a "night club sized room"...-)
A proportionately priced DAC within the context of a budget like that may be around $2,500.

Ianrmack, I am in agreement with you. Point of diminishing return for a component depends on relative sonic value of the system that component is to anchor.  No doubt the Cord would sound better than a bifrost in either a 10K or a 40K system (15k DAc/Streamer, 10K amplification, 15K speakers). However, it would be better to spread the difference in cost of the DACs across the lower priced system. Given the higher cost system on could justify a greater cost in speakers, which would likely be the next upgrade.

Chord Qutest at around $1800.

In my experience, albeit somewhat limited, I believe the 80/20 rule applies; you get roughly 80% of the sound quality with 20% of the cost. Its the remaining 20% sound quality where you spend most of the cost, and time. The proverbial rabbit hole....