Chinese DAC's

@mahgister : "

"Wise post!
I dont need to write anything more..."

And then......?
Seriously though, rather than look at poor Topping Dacs, if you want to look at real high quality Chinese Dacs look at Audio Music Dac/1.

i dont have topping dac, i own a french NOS dac and a Hidiz dac...

And a very costly dac as you suggested dont couple well with low cost products...

i am interested more  by acoustics basic than by gear pieces...budget command and knowledge beat upgrades if not it replace it with a satisfying alternative.

@mahgister : "

"Wise post!
I dont need to write anything more..."

And then......?
Seriously though, rather than look at poor Topping Dacs, if you want to look at real high quality Chinese Dacs look at Audio Music Dac/1.

I bought my Chinese made Gustard X26 Pro on Amazon a few years back.  I enjoy the clarity and soundstage I get, particularly using the I2S input.  In my room it sounded better than a Chord Cutest and a similarly priced Benchmark.  

I just got on Amazon and looked at the prices and I don't think they have gone up on Gustard products since the tariffs. 

I assume you all know that you can audition a Gustard DAC at home and if you don't like it you can drop it off at Whole Foods (at least in the US) 

@panzrwagn 

Spot on.  That is why most of the non-US world uses the value added during its contribution to the production of an item as the basis for revenue collection.  In Europe it is called a Value-Added Tax (VAT) and in Australia it is a flat 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST).

For example, if I assemble a product and sell it for $1,000 I have to add 10% GST ($100) and remit the GST to the government.  If the parts cost say $400 I have to pay my suppliers $40 extra for GST, but I get that back when squaring up with the government.  My value add is $600 and the net tax on my contribution is $60.  Every contributor wherever they are located only gets slugged for their bit!

Australia’s GST applies to everything with the exception of some essentials like food.  It is collected by the federal government but given to the states to spend!  There is no sales tax.

Private imports are normally at a 10% advantage compared with local products, because it is not worth the hassle of collecting GST on small items - around $1,000.  So we actually subsidise most US imports.  And we buy much more from the US than we sell to the US.

Our economists have worked out that so-called ’tariffs’ ascribed to countries are actually the ratio of trade imbalance to total trade - not actual financial imposts at all.

I agree that the world will never be the same again.  Short term we are pleased the US banned our beef because the Chinese are now taking it all to replace US beef, and paying 40% more.  Unintended consequencies indeed!

There are two discussions on yesterday’s Weekly Update that are joined at the hip and in both instances, I think the OPs (and some of the discussants) are missing the key point that a forum like this should underscore, without rancor.

First, there’s the person responsible for the "Chronos tweak at AXPONA" thread. He is beside himself that he can’t buy a novel  (admittedly mysterious) product because it costs $2500. His wife would go for $1500; the poster says that if they get a US distributor, that person will hopefully tell the manufacturer that the product is "overpriced." Maybe, maybe not. The OP assumes that the (to him) exorbitant price is simply wrong and presumably exploitative without knowing anything about the decision to make the cost what it is. Even if the "reason" for the $2500 price tag is simply how much profit the manufacturer wants to realize, that’s the truth a potential purchaser has to deal with. Jayctoy needs only to decide whether the value proposition is there for him. Why does anyone waste need to their breath shouting about snake oil and PT Barnum? Either you feel the investment is worth it from a sonic standpoint or you don’t.

Same thing with this "Chinese DACs" thread. It’s not clear how a global trade war is going to pan out but there will likely be an increase of the cost of Chinese goods to American consumers. Again, it’s a value proposition and opinions/discussions about that on AudiogoN ought to limit themselves to audio considerations alone. That doesn’t mean there aren’t geopolitical aspects to the story and that one’s feelings about them can’t inform one’s personal decision to buy or not. But one has to remember that the product hasn’t changed; it is what it is. What forum members can usefully ring in on is the audio quality of the Chinese product compared to non-Chinese alternatives and leave the question of value – "is it worth it at the price" – to the person considering buying the item.