What is the average life expectancy of a DAC?


Hello folks, 

With the recent profusion of relatively inexpensive DACs that are now available, I'm wondering what the average life expectancy of a good DAC is? Or, to put it another way, is it cost-effective to invest in a high(ish) end DAC like a Denafrips Terminator or a Halo May with the expectation that it will last at least 5 or more years?

Thanks!  
aamiransari
@afisher  - you made me laugh

In the USA, DAC life expectancy has dropped from 6.2 years to 5.5 years because of Covid. Japan hasn't seen any decrease. Brazil and Mexico, though are down almost 25%.  The vaccine should normalize the trends again. 
DACs are of course the bane of digital audio.
The residual distortion and dither they cause may be reduced to close to nil, but never to nil.

For sensible people, their expected life must be inversely proportional to the cost price.
Perhaps a table can be derived:

$100          6 months
$500          1 year
$2,000        3 years
$5,000        10 years
$20,000      30 years
$50,000      100 years

The diminishing returns can be seen.  In any case, no sensible person will spend $20,000 on a DAC as it will be superseded in a few years.

This causes me to wonder.  Are DACS the fastest depreciating hi-fi component?  Will they depreciate more slowly as their technology becomes more mature?
Are DACS the fastest depreciating hi-fi component?
No, IMO they lost that title to digital tweaks, followed closely by Class D amplifiers.
Will they depreciate more slowly as their technology becomes more mature?
I sure hope so, starting next week when I get my new DAC!
LOL some of us bottom-feeders love depreciation.  Buy a $5k DAC for $700 when its no longer the shiny object ......:-)
@aamiransari
1st, I commend you for asking a good question! Some of the questions in this forum are, well, let’s say interesting. And sometimes the comments are unhelpful. I appreciated several of the responses to your question.
2nd, I’m not an expert nor an audio engineer.
3rd, I have done a lot of research and have spent substantial $$ on both a headphone system (amps & DACs and MQA) and a stereo system (McIntosh, high end speakers...). I read countless reviews, watched innumerable youtube reviews, and focused on so-called top-rated DACs. I have purchased and A-B tested several. I ended up settling on the NAD C658 (around $1600) and the Topping D90 MQA (around $800) for my headphone set up (Sennheisers, Focals, and Shure 846s). In my experience the past year +, I’ve concluded at the rate of DAC entries, they will be an evolving tech (clock rates, chipsets, MQA or not, other enhancements yet to come). At some level, $500 - $1500 may not be that big of a price tag for a component that you may enjoy for 3-5 years. More specifically, are you a person who enjoys the audiophile hobby and looks to upgrade items over time?
4th, one factor that I settled on (and this, too, is debated. Heck, everything in the audiophile world is debated!) was balanced connections. I wanted XLR balanced connections and that narrows the field some.
Last, I was seriously tempted to buy the Holo-May DAC until I watch Zeos’ review. It was at once good and also hysterical. Some of the comments to Zeos’ review were spot on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOqgEJVvld0&t=1966s As always, the proof is in your listening experience / enjoyment. Hope you find what you want!