Are DAC's overpriced?

I dont know much about dac, because all those I own were not truly great, except the last one that is low price and that is truly great … Starting Point Systems nos dac tda 1543...I cannot hear any fault with it....Even the defects that some reviewers speak about, unbeknown to them, comes from their own audio system more than this dac...I know that because before my room treatment, vibrations controls, and cleaning of the electrical grid, this dac was good with some limitations that the reviewers described...But now with all my tweaks no defect for me with this dac of minimalistic design, that is the best kept secret in audio...

 The more difficult purchase to make in audio is a dac, because of the high price of the very good one,this one is the exception...

Amen viridian!

Late to the discussion, but have to throw in a comment about NOS chipsets.  People seemed enthralled with them right now, but in my experience (sample size of 1 comparison) that is not necessarily true.  

I decided to try a Schiit Bifrost MB to see how it compared to my beloved Bel Canto Dac 1 (Burr Brown 1704).  I wasn't expecting it, but the Schiit was noticeably better sounding than the Bel Canto.  The Bel Canto was known for its ease of sound and lack of grain, the Schiit made is sound grainy and a bit harsh in comparison.  Imaging was better with the Schiit and overall, it was like removing a layer of crud from the music stream.  The Bel Canto was sold.  

I have since moved on to the Schiit Gungir MB, mostly because I wanted to be able to run balanced XLR through my entire chain.  The Gungir is imho slightly better than the Bifrost, but not near the difference from the Bel Canto.  

Finally, I would trade to using a $100 dac if I could get all my music well mixed.  I would be willing to stream in 320kbs MP3 over 44.1/16 or high res if all the material were well mixed.