Point of diminishing return for a DAC

I went from a bifrost to a chord hugo.  Law of diminishing returns didn't apply there.  HUGE difference.

I think anywhere past $2500 has diminishing returns.
plus, in order to realize the benefits of ”more” in a DAC, you need to keep,spending on other stuff first,

then you’re on the audiofool merry go around.

I think anywhere past $2500 has diminishing returns. Plus, in order to realize the benefits of ”more” in a DAC, you need to keep spending on other stuff first, then you’re on the audiofool merry go around.

I pretty much agree with @ianrmack on this. For $2500 or less, you can get all flavors of DACs. My choice would be something neutral like the Benchmark models, but many others are available. I expect improvement can be had beyond that, but it will require a great surrounding system and room and maybe that improvement can be achieved cheaper otherwise.

The DAC is not the problem, the server is the problem. The Mac Mini is, frankly, an atrocious server. I know, I used it for a while. One of the best moves I made in terms of digital sound was to dump the Mac Mini (even though using an upsampling program) and going to a dedicated audiophile streamer/server. I have written up three of them for Dagogo.com; Wolf Audio, Salk Audio and Small Green Computer/SONORE. 

As long as you continue to use the Mac Mini NO DAC will be optimized. That is not to say you could not see better sound from a different DAC, but it will be nowhere near the potential.  

Finally, if you are not using quality aftermarket cabling, i.e. SPDIF or USB, you are fairly wasting the potential of a DAC. 

That is your gift; Merry Christmas! 

I’ve not seen any point of diminishing return. It’s about system matching. Sure, buying a dCS Vivaldi stack and pairing in with a Schiit Freya will sound nice, but you’re probably not really getting your money’s worth. I’ve got DACs on hand that range from a couple hundred dollar Schiit to many tens of thousands. Every step up in price is certainly a noticeable jump in quality. Most of the gains from higher end products like those with Chord, employ custom chips and increasingly better power supplies.