Do hi-end DACs offer true value or diminishing return...

Diminishing returns; worse than any other individual component; and so quickly obsolete 

I don't understand trying to make sonic comparisons from a Youtube video, so I didn't bother watching the video.

It's weird, I don't have a single DAC that's "obsolete" and I've had some for quite a while.  I think we've seen DSD and sampling rates and goofy compression algorithms (MQA) go about as far as they can go.  Many DACS (FPGA) can be upgraded if something new does come along.

I have owned many DACs and no two have sounded the same.  If you can't hear the difference, find the cheapest one you can or get the one that ASR says "measures the best".  Lucky you for being able to save some money!

Not that price always equates to sound quality, and of course there are diminishing returns.  A $50K DAC isn't going to sound 10 times better than a $5K DAC.  However, just like most things, if you're trying to eke out that last little bit of performance, it's probably going to be expensive.  

Lastly, don't even get me started on the person who got mad at a dealer because they spent 4 hours of time switching DACs around for their personal listening experiment and charged him for that valuable time.  Good grief! 

If someone wanted me to pay to listen to something they already had set up to demo, that would be one thing.  I would walk out the door though, not hand them my money and cry about it later or "punish" them by not buying anything from them ever.  As if you were going to in the first place.

Some of these threads!

When I move up from entry level (under $200 but well rated) DAC to mid-tier (under $500), the sonical improvement is really significant.  At that price point, I really think I was getting the best bang for the buck.  From mid-tier to higher end under $1k, the improvement is audible but not in the same magnitude.  More airy, spacious SS, darker background, not necessarily punchier bass.  I would say the sonical improvement justifies the increase in the price.  Beyond that, I am not sure at least to my ears.

@lanx0003 

Maybe I'm off but my experience skews your scale a little bit

Entry Level can be as little as $100 but to move to mid tier it's more of a range from about $700 to $2500 for with the a few standouts in there but typically the more expensive DACs sound significantly better.

Top tier doesn't seem to have a price range.  It's a whatever the market will bear kinda thing and I haven't got there yet but when I spent $1000 on a DAC I t was really naïve thinking it was a  end point not a entry point.  YMMV

In the attached review he tests a variety of dacs moving from least expensive. Ill think you'll find it very informative

I don’t wish to offend anyone, but in the case of DACs, I would have to say that there is certainly a point of diminishing returns. I’ve heard some epic sounding systems with rather modest DACs. But it is all a personal choice. Those with unlimited disposable income will swear up and down that the über expensive components generally sound ‘night and day’ better. That has not been my experience at all, especially with respect to DACs. After around 10k let’s say, you can spend 40k and that DAC may show very slight differences that one has to really listen for.