Confirmation bias. Of course. I was at a dealer and he was switching between 2 DAC’s. I was amazed how he was so superlative about the difference. To my ears one sounded different from the other, but both sounded terrible. A bad setup? Going to AXPONA, perhaps 3 systems seemed at all musical, but each had their quirks. Still, this isn’t PA. Yet think of another psychological principal - Scarcity. If rare or expensive it must be better. The Apple 9 dollar dongle DAC is likely just as good as any similar device but e we won’t believe that. Also. Music is practically free! Listen to more music to try and learn what you enjoy.
The Emperor Has No Clothes!!
Read a post the other day where someone characterized a server/streamer as “sweet and tube-like sounding”. It read like a parody. Am thinking of starting a company based on tube rectified power supply for network switch. Crowd funding?