Are DAC's overpriced?

I learned that many of these so-called vintage chips only support 16/44.1 Redbook rates. Not saying they’re bad, just saying they were designed for CD players as opposed to support the current hi-rez content at higher rates such as 24/96 or 24/192. Lots of folks prefer them over the ESS chips more targeted for hi-rez playback.Your ears/brain is the best judge.

@audioengr

The Oppo 203 uses AKM 4458’s , should people avoid that? As you said, implementation is everything, which is why the Benchmark DAC3 using the ESS 9018 still outclasses cheeped products using the better 9038 (of course this is measurement wise, they audibly won’t be too different).

Under $500, buy a schiit bifost multibit.
Under 2 k, buy a Chord  2qute or Qutest.
It will make a difference, how much is up to ur ears......it is relative.
Good luck.

Not that you need to spend a fortune to achieve this. On the contrary, if you are smart and selective and take advice from the RIGHT people, you can get there on a budget. I think for an entire system, the threshold is probably $20K-$30K. Anything below that will tend to be mid-fi with 2-D presentation between the speakers IME.

Biggest load of nonsense.

i am still using a NAD D1050 which is now 5 years old. you can get these for about $450 and they sound terrific. the NAD will not playback MQA or DSD, but it will playback 24/192 and 16/44.1 on good Classical recordings can be spell binding. most POP recordings can not compete with a good Classical recording. but their are exceptions. have not heard anything much better in the last 5 years. if NAD had thought they could have produced something better in the intervening years considering their huge R&D budget i am sure they would have by now.  the golden age of digital is over.