What s wrong with this picture?

You have never studied economics have you.Every part you put into the 1k obso;ete a month from now computer is MFG in quantity of 10 Million +.The DAC you want how much for does not use the cheapest parts available and may be only in QTY of 500 maybee 1000.
Try buying a 1 GIG harddrive for a Honeywell TDC 3000 Distributed Control System. 5k + why.Very low production.
So Economics 101 might help you.

Leafs you are so right on regarding enonomies of scale. The equipment that "we" buy is hand made in small quantities with quality components. Then add in the design engineering & all overhead; it's easier then to comprehend the price structure of high-end even, though it sometimes appears (and sometimes is) pretty ridiculous.
Interesting to see that you're involved in Big H's process control... I used to work on that stuff myself; now doing Satcom.

I don't see anything wrong with either picture. High end audio is like our wives... If this was on a cost per basis, lunar landings would start to look cheap. I figure that when you want the last five percent of quality you have eliminated the first ninety-nine percent of buyers.

So, if you want really good, no problem, get it wholesale!

If you want the VERY BEST, join the gang and pay for it.

Bill E.

Since when does a Pentium or AMD chip make a good digital to analog converter?? Try reselling it tomorrow and you'll see what its worth. If your computer is not a DELL, Compaq, Gateway, or IBM or other name brand, its already lost 50% of its value before you turn it on.

As many others stated this hobby is for people who truly love music. Not for people who truly love equipment. A pc is of no comparison with audio its resale value is awful because the pc industry moto is " here today gone tomorrow" technology changes so rapid. With audio at least they hold a cd format for some time before trying to bend us over again and shoving the $8,000 worth of redbook cds up our ass! (thats what I own many others have two and three times more than me) and now we need to buy a new cd player to play the new format and spend $25.00 per disc and to really not have the desire to listen to the redbook cds as much because the new format is much improved.Its all about money and if you want the best you must pay for it. And the sad thing is there will always be better than what you have. Live and learn.