Takedown of pricey servers, streamers OCD HiFi guy

"...buy an analog front end and you bypass all the format wars..."

There is no format war. We all agree that cassette is much better than LP.

The audio hobby is largely a fetish, one in which I admittedly indulge. Over the years I have concluded that there is little relation between price and sound quality. People tend to pay megabucks for a very minor return in audible improvements. But the stuff is cool and gratifies our irrational urge. Getting a new component that is unusual and well made is a big thrill. It’s just like the big cable controversy where people claim to hear all sorts of subtle differences and think they break in. Personally I prefer my $25 Beldens over my $600 Wireworlds, but so what? It’s all harmless if one can afford it. 

Most electronic parts are dirt cheap to manufacture.  The rule of thumb is to sell high end audio for 6 times its manufacturing cost.  This includes the building, the electricity, the parts and cabinets, etc, the labor and insurance, etc, and a doubling of the dealer cost for the retail price.  Despite these margins, many companies gloriously exceed that margin.  When a $300,000 Ferrari costs $160,000 to make, that $140,000 profit to the maker seems like a lot, but when a $10,000 amp costs $3000 (if it is a good one), to make, we barely flinch. 

Couple of good recent comments about price to cost ratio and fetishistic nature of the hobby at times. I think the video guy and some others here are addressing the fact that some companies do offer lower markup for very good sound quality and that newcomers who might be initially turned off to the hobby (or in this case, to streaming) should understand that they can get some very good results without needing to win the lottery first. The video guy also assumes that some people are wary of being ripped off, even if they recognize that others have to make some profit. This thread has had comments indicating that price and value are very relative, especially when one considers how narrowly or broadly the term “value” can be construed. 

Nothing surprising in this video for me. I did, on the same link, look at his video on I2S and external clocks, which made sense to me also, especially if you have a DAC with an asychronous input.