Do hi-end DACs offer true value or diminishing return...
These two hi-fedelity recordings posted on Youtube allow one to audition the state-of-the-art, highly raved R2R DACs with values ranging from $850 all the way to $6,500. Please use headphone or, play back to your stereo system if you think your system is revealing enough. The question to ask to yourself is that the true hi-end (w/ high price tag) gears offer you true values or just a diminishing-return foolproof. In my system, I do hear the differences but, to me, the differences might not be that significant to justify the luxious spending. Maybe my system is not revealing enough. Maybe the recording quality through the on-line broadcasting degrades. How about you? Do you hear major differences?
Terminator Plus ($6.5k), Venus II ($3k)
Terminator $4.5k, Ares II ($850)
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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 |
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. |
@mahgister +1! A DAC is essentially a sound card. That’s all! Put it in a fancy machined-from-a-solid-billet case and you can charge $50K for the same parts as the $100 KTB DAC. Nobody will be able to tell the difference from, say, the real expensive Audio Note DAC! Because Hi-End DAC’s are a good example of confirmation bias! |
