Are DAC's overpriced?

Yep...

Steve N,
Your comments about buying a DAC without a re-clocker are interesting, but perhaps a tad misleading. The world of sound is no better than the recording studio builds into it. So, there ya go.

@brucenitroxpro

Also remember most rooms don’t have more than ~60-70dB of dynamic range. So Steve, in another thread, saying that using his reclocker to go from 22psec (-120dBFS) to 7psec (-130dBFS) resulted in a difference he could hear, that already is a huge red flag. I’m not calling him a snake oil peddler as his product works (well, Audioholics did measure his >$700 speaker cables, which he says addresses the issue of skin effect, which plagues cheap cables, yet his measured identical to lamp cord in that respect), but I’m just saying that it doesn’t add anything over a modern, competent DAC (the $80 Grace SDAC has a Jitter-Test result of better than -125dBFS); maybe if you had an older DAC that you absolutely didn’t want to get rid of, or a modern incompentant one, then maybe his $700 reclocker would be useful.

You are so misleading with your specs (when it suits you). Yes, a room wouldn't have more than 60-70db of dynamic range, if that. But to say that if one can increase the dynamic range that the additional bits would be of no consequence is a flat out lie.

When the dynamic range is increased, it's not just at the extremes where they are heard and appreciated. It's across the board. You've gone from hiding behind your slide rule to openly using tactics that would work on the uninitiated or those who are ignorant of that fact to work your case and what seems to be a grudge against @audioengr with your several (so far) digs at him. You're not as clever as you think you are.

That, and if you truly believe that having more dynamic range is a futile endeavor, then why do you promote cheap DACs with class leading specs (including increased dynamic range) as the way to go?

Enjoy your lamp cord and <$200 DACs. 👍

All the best,
Nonoise

When the dynamic range is increased, it’s not just at the extremes where they are heard and appreciated. It’s across the board. You’ve gone from hiding behind your slide rule to openly using tactics that would work on the uninitiated or those who are ignorant of that fact to work your case

No, an increase in dynamic range only results in a lower noise floor. To suggest it has any other benefit (effecting the sound “across the board”) shows that you do not know what dynamic range is on a fundamental level. We are not talking microdynamics here.

grudge against @audioengr with your several (so far) digs at him. You’re not as clever as you think you are.

He gives out some good advise, but certain claims he makes can easily be seen as untrue if you know simple facts about digital audio (he may believe it’s true, in which case I suggest he does some quick-switching level-matched double-blind listening tests).