The sound quality from DACs - is it all the same?

@jackhifiguy 

It's a valid question and I'm a little disappointed to see such hostility and defensiveness expressed in some of the responses.

It's a fact that DACs use different components, especially processing chips, but is it also a fact that any of us can actually hear these differences?

Can anyone routinely identify a $100 DAC from a $10,000 one if both were hidden from sight?

Well, can they?

Can anyone?

As for ASR, instead of being grateful for all the all of the brilliant work Amir is doing in sharing his valuable knowledge with us and shedding some much needed light in areas that were previously obscured, again many of us seem to be adopting a defensive mindset in the face of what is perceived as a threat.

A threat to what?

Knowledge or vested self interests?

I have a vintage Linn system: LP12/Basik LVX, AT95SA, Lingo 1, Akurate Kontrol, AV5125/Aktiv Keilidh LS300s. Digital is Mac Mini M1 running Roon Core, Qobuz and Apple Music, fed through an iFi Zen Signature V2 DAC. The $300 DAC may be a limiting factor, but I find the system to be dynamic, lifelike, non-fatiguing and very enjoyable. I still listen to FM radio through an Arcam T61, so sources are different in discrete ways. Would I like to test a $10,000+ streamer/DAC? Sure. Would it make my listening life better? Not sure. The endless agon-y of the upward spiral of improvement will never yield perfection, just as any live performance may not excite us like the last one. I tell my clients that I am an "imperfect perfectionist". Usually that means I know when to stop, that my work will not improve beyond a certain point. The same can applied to this pursuit of "imperfect" perfection.

If someone says they cannot tell the difference in DACs, their system is probably not very revealing.  In digital EVERYTHING matters!  Interconnect included.

"Are your brothers cousins eyes really close together or really far apart?"

The two on the right are very close together. The one on the left is in the middle.

If you look up the definition of a religion, ASR fits 100%.