How much does a DAC do the more expensive it is?

A little input from the poor side of town. I have been a sound junkie since I bought my first reel to reel in Vietnam in 1966. Everthing was analog then and 30hz was 30hz so your upgrades were based on looks and build quality - or maybe cutesy tricks like speed control so you could play along with more adept musicians. I have been through all the changes since then like Dolby or DBX or 4 channel or reverb etc until bandwidth restrictions brought about digital music and people pay $20,000 to try to imitate the sound you could get from a $300 tape deck or $200 turntable with a $100 cartridge. This is a rich man site where people think buzz words and price tags rule. Most people can’t find a place to hear these brands, much less afford them and are ridiculed for not selling the farm to get a “better” something in their system. Thinking rich people have better ears is like the emperor’s new clothes. Buy steak, not sizzle and you can enjoy the music for the music rather than sit with a frown on your face because you THINK you could do better. 

@ghdprentice  I have a different option on some of the major brands you mention.  Parts quality are mostly nothing special IMO and in general I'm not too impressed with the use of circuit boards.  Most have good looks and sound better that mid- fi gear but the cost IMO does not justify the extra cost.  Upgrading some products has in my experience brought those products closer to reference levels that have surpased the sound quality oh the major brands top of the line products.  We consistently do this type of work weekly for a lot less. Money than the higher cost brand name products.  Not to say they are bad but they are not manufactured with the best parts to achieve better sound quality.  Happy listening 

@brisketman1 ++ 1

"This is a rich man site where people think buzz words and price tags rule. Most people can’t find a place to hear these brands, much less afford them and are ridiculed for not selling the farm to get a “better” something in their system. Thinking rich people have better ears is like the emperor’s new clothes. Buy steak, not sizzle and you can enjoy the music for the music rather than sit with a frown on your face because you THINK you could do better. "

Hi great responses.  From my non technical view point, I have had Sigma/Delta DAC's and new and old R2R dacs.  

I had an Esoteric N05XD which is a very high end DAC.  It didn't sound natural to me as in if you go hear music it would not sound like the Esoteric which was sooo quiet between notes that it was odd. 

I now have a Reimyo R2R that was substantially less than the Esoteric. So like others have said more money can equal an uber resolving, or some other uber thing that will color the sound.  

Money goes into programing the FPGA chips and also parts that make less noise which helps the sound. 

JH

@johnah5 I had an Esoteric N05XD which is a very high end DAC.  It didn't sound natural to me as in if you go hear music it would not sound like the Esoteric which was sooo quiet between notes that it was odd. 

I now have a Reimyo R2R that was substantially less than the Esoteric

I would also prefer the natural sound presentation over the hyper detailed type of presentation. There are definitely different niches of listerners and audio components.

Charles