DAC 'Scam' Vid

@yyzsantabarbara 

I went from a $15K DAC to a $2800 DAC and that was a huge conic improvement. I am trying to buy the same $2800 DAC for another system.

The maxim: "Spending more will not guarantee satisfaction" is true. I just discovered its veracity when I auditioned an 8.5K DAC and to my surprise, preferred the onboard DAC in my Hegel integrated. 

My TL/DR opinion is that this is nonsense.  Buy the best DAC you can afford.  I had a Doge 7 DAC for a number of years, not a bad DAC, but I got tired of the tube output colorations.  I borrowed a friend's Chord Mojo and thought it pointed in the direction I was looking for, so I found a used Qutest for $1100.  It's a tremendous upgrade for me and fits into my current system very well.  Cleaner, quieter, with muuuuuch more information coming through.  My listening buddy was over yesterday and was floored at the difference it made in everything we listened to.

I have a $200 DAC in the bedroom system.  It isn't remotely comparable to the Qutest.

By the same token, I've heard some very expensive DACs I didn't care for.  But by no means is anything over $200 a "waste of money."

Extremely well said guys. The concept of the pre-pre amp and the importance of the analog stage.. also what about R2R dacs... the chip does it all argument falls apart there.

My experience is that dacs can make a big difference sonically and I could easily hear differences in many of the dacs I had. Right now my ANK 4.1x has a very distinct sound relative to my denafrips terminator or PS DS mk1.

Its weird to me how you could make such a big mistake by simplifying everything to 'a chip is a chip'. When I posted about this on head-fi surprisingly many people were actually agreeing with the guy in the video and it left me scratching my head.

I can hear differences between all the dac i bought... just a few...

But i was able to tune my room by hear adjusting like a piano tuner 100 resonators with time...

Once this is said...

 The difference between dac pale compared to differences between acoustically  uncontrolled and controlled  room ...

And i must add that in many "living room "  the differences between dac will be not audible by most ...

My response in the comments just now: "idk if a 20+ year veteran mastering engineer is the best option to critique DACs lol. You can barely hear your wife and kids from blown out hearing. This is like an old hooker telling two virgins what will or won't be enjoyable on the 1st night of their honeymoon lol."