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

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 

@simao you experience a wow moment after adding the Gungnir then pose the question, what do even more expensive DACs do better/different than cheaper ones like your Gungnir, then later you describe a listening session where an uber expensive CD player wasn't memorably better than your digital front end, which anecdote suggests you are persuaded by those posters here who state that there's no correlation in hifi between higher cost and the feeling the higher cost ALSO represents value-for-money. The Law of Diminishing Returns IS a thing in digital hifi, but the resolution of the rest of your system will determine whether you get a value-for-money feeling if/when you upgrade from the Gungnir to, for example, a Gustard R26 streamer/DAC for $2K. I guarantee you the Gustard is MUCH better sonically than your Gungnir, but whether your system can exploit that sonic improvement is something nobody here can say. You will have to take the plunge and listen for yourself in your system, there is no other way unfortunately 😕 

I guess my original question was either phrased incorrectly or has been interpreted wrongly. What I'm getting at is more technical for the most part: like, what can more expensive DAC's (which I rationally believe would have better design, parts and build) do for a signal that a much less expensive one can't? 

Also, @kairosman My system is probably well equipped to appreciate the Gustard. However, I'm quite happy with what I have. My original question was more rhetorical than applicable. 

@knownothing thanks for the thread link. What I read there corresponds to what I know about phono stages (which I'm way more experienced with than with DACs). Yet DACs, by their very nature, seem more complicated and technical than phono stages. 

@charles1dad …”I would also prefer the natural sound presentation over the hyper detailed type of presentation.”

+1

I completely agree. First that there are a lot of components with different ultimate sound goals… and consequently sound very different. Hyper detailed system unless really high quality can be accompanied by a high noise floor and distortion, higher level ones eliminate these, but frequently do not sound natural.

Second, I prefer natural sound (highly detailed… but in natural perspective) to details at all cost or accentuated chest caving bass, or super fast transients that create a cool effect, but do not sound like real music.