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When Will the DAC Singularity Be Reached?

A humorous title, but wondering if those more in the know have an opinion on either: i) examples today where inexpensive DACs (say under $2500) are comparable or superior to expensive (say over $10K) DACs or ii) can we anticipate that within a relatively few number of years that inexpensive DACs will basically achieve the sound quality of today's expensive DACs? Thanks. 

mathiasmingus
audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,018 posts
 

A border patrol dac is all you need, if you like your music to sound more warm and natural. Takes the nasty edge off of red book cd playback. Loving mine.

vthokie83
932 posts
 

Whether to upgrade a DAC obviously comes down to personal choice in sound signature, finances, etc. However for me it is also a factor of my current system performance. I have a roughly $15K system that is filled with “bang for the buck” components that mostly punch above their cost…..but I know I’ll need to replace as funds permit.

Right now, none of my components is a major limiting factor in the overall SQ. As I upgrade components (streamer first, power cables, and room correction). It will reveal weaknesses in other components. Necessitating replacing other components to reach the next “mid fi” level.

And yes, I know room correction should be next, but I’m building a “from scratch” audio room in my basement that won’t be finished for quite a few months.

ghdprentice
7,148 posts
 

@vthokie83 

 

Cool. I am sure everyone would love to see your system. I see you have posted your components. But photos really allow everyone to really appreciate it. They need not be home and gardens shot… we are all guys with an audio problem here. 

decooney
2,111 posts
 

 

@audioguy85

A border patrol dac is all you need, if you like your music to sound more warm and natural. Takes the nasty edge off of red book cd playback. Loving mine.

 

Yep. Same.  Received my new custom order BorderPatrol SE-I DAC this week. Has the Beez Wax caps and new Choke design. Tube not in signal path, part of Power Supply regulation only. It’s a different presentation and type of sound compared to all of my former R2R chip tube and non-tube dacs. It's been fun to rediscover music again, thanks to this dac. 

Easy listening. 👍

 
vthokie83
932 posts
 

dhdprentice,

I haven't even updated my components in some time, but I'll do that maybe tonight or tomorrow. I had pictures of my system up for a couple of months, but I started getting BS posts about room treatment (yeah I know), the type of cabinet my components are in, not optimal placement.....all of which I am aware of. Maybe I'll take the time to clean things up and take a couple of pics. Thank you for the note

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