What makes a DAC so expensive?

It's all hype. There is no challenge to getting a clean accurate signal to the preamp. We don't need to worry about dedicated power supplies or dampening vibrations. Just consider for a second that all that is needed is a $2 chip part. But that's no fun for this board. As you move up the price range beyond quallity speakers and amplification you are dealing in mysticism and snake oil. I enjoy stacked Eminent Technology LFT 8b's amplified with two dynaco stereo 400 series ii amps through a B&K cheap preamp mostly listening through audio engine blue tooth receiver. All cheap stuff and when I have listened to $100k systems I do not hear something better or even equivalent. sorry.

It’s all hype. There is no challenge to getting a clean accurate signal to the preamp. We don’t need to worry about dedicated power supplies or dampening vibrations. Just consider for a second that all that is needed is a $2 chip part.

Amen.....

After someone who affirm that only big money can afford audiophile experience, someone who says that there is no audiophile experience, no need of money, no need to think about that anymore at all.... :)

What great faith.....

I just this week bought cheap springs that increase my speakers isolation controls, am i deluded? The sound is way better....Placebo effect?

Or perhaps it is your ignorance or indifference with some blinders to go with?

Sleep with that, all is hype....Problem solved..... Amen..... :)

By the way IT IS NOT THE PRICE that make audio experience what is is, it is simple cheap intelligent controls of the embeddings....

Read a page about acoustic..... That will enlighten you....

Ok i apologize for my rant.... I will let that like it is here..... My best to all.....

time for this thread to die

no more useful info for the op, and for everyone else reading it, it must be a terrible bore 

life is short 

lets all move on

@mahgister and @duglas and others, I appreciate the thrust of your comments, and there is one significant piece that is left out of much of this discussion, which may be the largest determiner of the music experience:

The quality of the listening. 

You may have perfect ears and still lack the stability of attention to receive the full musical message. This is not a small thing.

Why are we not discussing our listening habits - the one component we all have some control over, which can be improved with ongoing reflection...

My preference would be to share some discussion about how people listen and how they have worked with their listening over the years. My sense is that people don't notice how they listen, and often follow habitual patterns when listening.

One interesting, and I think "audiophile" flavored example, comes from a post I read some months ago, where the person described how difficult it was to listen to his system for more than a few minutes, because he would become absorbed in criticism of his system. 

That may sound familiar, or it may not, but what is missing is the fact that everyone is facing "habits" in their listening that impact the experience greatly, probably much more than any particular component. If I sit down and my mind is restless the entire time, for example, it may be nearly impossible to enjoy anything coming my way.

This shifts the focus ever more away from products and consumption to the person. Many people are chasing the wrong thing, not noticing how poorly or inconsistently they listen. And by the way, you may be able to detect differences at minute levels between various components and still fail to sit and relax enough to truly enjoy the music.

So, the listening piece gets more personal, more internal, more real than the next DAC. 

Any thoughts?

@jjss49 How do you listen? What are you habits of listening, and are they significant to the value of your music listening experiences?