PC-Audio vs. High-end CD Player-GAME OVER

I know people are going to jump all over me but for god's sake, why are the Wavelength DACs so expensive? I understand supply and demand and even if they do sound so good, that's great. But I thought the point of this was to acheieve superior sound with convenience for a fraction of the cost. Well there are DACs up to $15k there.....not sure what that is a fraction of? Maybe hiring the band to come to your home and perform live?

i agree with tpk. i will convert once the cost of implementing a pc based system comes down to a reasonable cost. a couple of hard drives, a quality external dac, and god knows what else will easily run well over 2k. i will let you guys pay those inflated prices to stay on the bleeding edge. eventually prices will comes down, especially on those aforementioned dac's that cost 1.75k. and up. for now i will just enjoy cd's on my lowly $500 cd player. convenience can wait.

regards,
Paul

One other thing I forgot to add...Who said anything about "Fraction of the cost"??? Particularly in this hobby, there is little rationale to the $$ we spend on this equipment. And I tend to agree that you don't always have to spend gobs of cash to get the best sound. And Wavelength should be one of the better examples of this fact.

Just remember, these are DACS that many agree outperform $15K Reimyo and Meridian CDPs (no exaggeration). There is some perspective for you, which in those terms makes Gordon's DACs a relative bargain.

Hi David,1st-I do recognize you've assembled & enjoyed some grat systems- you said you'd never go back to spinning discs--"The convenience factor is unbelievable". I'm surprised when you mention 'convenience' as a factor for truly hi end sound. (? those of use who still appreciate records-even old 60's records) Is "cost" going to be the next factor(or is it now the big factor)? I appreciate that "studio quality" sound will(may) -one day- be available over the net(see B&W web)but I believe to fully reproduce it will require a very significant improvement over the way our current mass market computers (or even Benchmark DAC 1-good as it is) are put together- i.e it will require more than a good dac chip.
Have you tried or heard the Spectral SDR 4000 cd player? Your thoughts?

Tpk123-Not to sound overly cliche here, and being a Cosecant owner, take it for what it's worth; but you get what you pay for in this case.

A Wavelength DAC is a tried and true audiophile grade DAC, that is custom designed with a tubed output stage. This is not your run-of-the-mill commodity-based DAC chip product. The USB controller was custom designed by Gordon himself, this takes loads of engineering R&D hours to produce. Also the power supply is custom designed by Gordon with hand-wound transformers (a lost art).

Most importantly, he is a (classically trained) musician all his life, which means all his products are voiced properly, to how a performance should sound.

I know some of his pieces could be a stretch financially, I know I certainly did at the time, but they are worth every penny of their asking price. This coming from a guy with a newborn child, and not alot of disposable income. My Cosecant DAC will have to pried out of my cold dead hands, it sounds that good as a source with all my other equipment. Unless of course I get a nice enough tax return to get a Crimson, with directly heated triodes!