The DAC Scam - Almost everyone believes the hype

I have upgraded my DACs several times.  I’ve listened to more than 10 in different systems.  Not every one made a difference.  Once I got up to about $IK they all sounded pretty good.  I also found that it’s about more than the price.  I have a $2K budget per DAC so not super high end equipment.  My Holo Audio Cyan 2 sounds better at about $1300 than DACs that cost over $2K in my opinion with my setup.  I trust my ears.   

You could put a Ferrari engine in a Kia doesn't make it a Ferrari.

Like Dave and Troy said, this guy’s video only looks at the cost of some chips. You can buy those from Digikey for about $5 to $15 depending on which ones you are wanting to use.

But this is like saying, most all cars use gasoline, so there’s no difference between cars. Well, not exactly.

Jason Bourne seems to think a $200 SMSL DAC is going to sound the same as a $4000 Holo Audio DAC. In his system it might. LOL. (Just kidding). But others with better systems and better ears, and especially if using good headphones, you will likely hear a nice difference. We all just have to decide where on the price to performance ratio we want to land - and the synergy between the DAC and the rest of our systems.

The good thing is that yeah, the $200 SMSL DAC isn’t "bad". The days of "bad DACs" are long in the past now and we are lucky for that.

We all have different ears (hearing) and sonic priorities. Some may say natural tone or body of sounds and the attack and decay are most important, others will say soundstage and imaging. Some want it all, if they can get it at a price they are willing to pay. We choose our priorities.

I stopped the annoying bloke from talking after his third logical fallacy. Please don’t post anymore garbage like this. 

Dac & wire upgrades will mostly be meaningless until you sink some cash into treatments that actually work.

If you room doesn't start to look like some of these examples ...just forget it, i.e. if you are sitting in the living room and subject to divorce if the room starts to look like a high end studio, save your dac, wire, etc pennies and move on.

https://youtu.be/T-ydC9IB0G8?si=LztuIx3nWU-xoQAg

https://youtu.be/tKWAI21G0bc?si=lCtZXcw40hN0KAqU

https://youtu.be/btLXMzAq1_A?si=V0MenTkfVoetKEC0

If you are a DIY/handy guy with construction & lumber, it will be cheaper.

Even the bow wow bow wow moron in the OP's video is bound to have his pants blown off in one of my rooms... But, in whatever crap room he's sitting in with speakers stacked on pizza boxes, the realtek dac in his computer and an Aavik dac shall all sound the same, that would be his unfortunate reality, whatever...