2. digital
  3. 180113-45664

Is there such a thing as a FOREVER DAC/streamer?

I know I might be talking about rehab in a back alley, but here it goes.

I've been looking to upgrade my Hegel H390's internal DAC. But I would only do it to knock it out of the park; as the Hegel's internal DAC does an admirable job. So the question is, is there such a thing as an end game-forever DAC. At the end of the day, DAC is a digital product. Digital technology evolve quicker than analog technology. 

Will that Lumin X1, Bartok, Dave, etc be obsolete in 3 years? Thus making this a moot conversation...

gpixels
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,629 posts
 

No

Maybe, maybe not.

Forever?  Who you crappin'?

Streamers have only proliferated for 

11 years since the Aurender S10 came out.

And I would never buy one enclosed with a DAC.

Knock yourself out.

 

ghdprentice
7,048 posts
 

There is no such thing as a forever component… well for me there may be… I’m 70. But, in general no. But on the other hand you can buy ahead. I am willing to bet that my Aurender W20SE will out perform the contemporary BlueSound for at least 20 years. My Aurender performs at the level of my great vinyl system. So, I get incredible performance now… that will likely last past the end of my life. 

 

This has been proven to me over and over again since the 1980’s. You get an audiophile piece of equipment and it will outperform other stuff for a decade or more and lower end stuff for much longer. The quality of the design and materials in a high end piece of equipment just isn’t easily reproducible. With the movement away from globalization this gap is likely to get larger.

jeffreyw's avatar
jeffreyw
270 posts
 

Check out Aries Cerat or even AudioNote. Should provide many years of enjoyment! The Aries Cerat products have a very unique design. 

Post removed 
mofojo
2,303 posts
 

Forever of course not. Knock it out of the ballpark of course not. It’s digital 0s and 1s. Different …. Sure. Small differences from a .5k dac to a 5k dac. Not saying the differences aren’t there but knock your socks off I personally do not believe so unless the more expensive one is tubed and colored to hell.

More to discover