Do hi-end DACs offer true value or diminishing return...

Absolutely no intention to preclude lower-price gears. It is just for such fine quality recordings are difficult to find online.  I know, from the responses above, some gentlemen have their own perfect reason ditching the use and purpose of them and I respect that.  I certainly understand the limitation and bunches of factors playing into that may invalidate legitimacy of using that avenue for selecting the hi-fi or mid-fi (if you judge them purely base on the price) gears.  But I believe that is the dilemma that many audiophiles run into because of the limited resources around the neck of wood where they live.  I certainly do not have much disposal money to purchase and bring all of gears I am interested home for auditioning.  That is essentially the reason why some enthusiasts put out a fair amount of time doing so to help out and I appreciate that.  The is apparently the suboptimal way given the reality constraint.

I also agree the blind test needs to be part of equation and you could do it in your discretion.

For those who are reluctant to admit there is diminishing returns, listen to what the humble gentleman Paul has to say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5GN1a5XmTU.

I also invite those who have DACs you think exceptional/worthwhile could also spend some time doing some fine recordings and showcasing your gears with the community.  Would you?  Appreciated.

@mrmeaner Denafrips Pontus II might be a sweet point based on the reviewers' comments.  At this point of time, I pretty much rule out D/S dacs and only consider R2R dacs for the "high-end" dac that possibly matches my system.  Ares II seems a bit grainy on top end and soft low.  As far as the FPGA dac is concerned, the model within the similar price range worthy of consideration is Qutest but I was sort of convinced it is less preferrable than Pontus II.  From the recording (again I'm hopeless) The soundstage seems more 3D but a bit artificial not as natural as Pontus II.   

@danager What is your definition of value? Are you talking merely dollars or the importance of sound? 

The value refers mainly to the SQ.  You could argue that the techonoloy and quality of components such as power supply module should also be counted, but ultimately what really matters is whether that can be translated to the SQ enhancement.  Take Denafrips product as example, if Terminator Plus ($6.5k) costs 3.6 times over Pontus II ($1.8k) but the SQ is just twice as good, we have diminishing returns.  However, the hard part is that how the SQ is perceived is heavily individual dependent and always a contentious subject.  Let us change our perspective in sound a bit here.  Can we even "measure" the quality of sound?  Can we create metrics and standard procedure to measure the SQ?  We understand a microphone and software could be used to measure SPL but not the subjective perference of a human auditory neurons and brain?  A perfectly flat response curve may be ideal but the sound reproduced from such a stereo system might be boring to some.  I am by no means an expert but there is psychoacoustic theory behind it that talks about the measurement of quantifiable psychoacoustic "entropy."  One aspect of theory relates to analyzing certain types of musical harmonies, such as the even order harmonics give smooth, rich more pleasing sound and odd order harmonics give edgier more exciting sound.  Also, part of entropy can be measured through the SPL via some methematical algorithm, etc.  

I am hopeful such a matric and process can be implemented in the near future to measure the quality of sound reproduction and help us make an informative decision.  Right now, leap of faith seems the only thing we could count on, whether right or wrong... 

Same here, especially when I try to revamp two systems around the same time.  I may have a solution for that though, i.e., buy her a more expensive gift. Ha!

AR CD9se is also a CD player too and that would justify its price point.  Have you tried the SQ of the internal DAC and transporter individually just curious?

When I move up from entry level (under $200 but well rated) DAC to mid-tier (under $500), the sonical improvement is really significant.  At that price point, I really think I was getting the best bang for the buck.  From mid-tier to higher end under $1k, the improvement is audible but not in the same magnitude.  More airy, spacious SS, darker background, not necessarily punchier bass.  I would say the sonical improvement justifies the increase in the price.  Beyond that, I am not sure at least to my ears.

$200? which one?

Logically speaking (neither objectively nor subjectively), if a DAC is neutrally transparent without any particular "sound", its SQ can be assessed in several dimensions of criteria such as (1) high ends are open, ary and articulated without treads of edginess or digital glares; (2) midranges are rich / full without vocal sibilance; (3) bass is weighty and nimble; (4) width / depth / height of soundstage; and (5) separation of sound sources either vocals or instruments.  I think most of audiophiles should have the caliber to differentiate the high-end DAC from average DACs in these dimensions.  I believe the price point of deminishing return for these DACs will be high (like a few thousand dollars), depending on quality of components like capacitors, transformers, wires, casing and craftmanship.  Beyond this price point, a DAC that costs $10k, $20k or close to $100k will most likely belong to the class of so-called premium pricing imho, i.e., setting a high price tag to yield an impression that a product should have remarkably high quality such that the product is well suited only in a premium stereo system. 

I wish the quality of recording for live classic music can be enhanced. Often time, you could observe only one microphone hanging from the ceiling in the middle of stage is used to record the entire orchestra.  That is simply inadequate for hi fidelity sound recording and reproduction.  Periodically, if you found multiple microphones were placed for each group of instruments and individuals, the quality of recording usually turns out much better in terms of separation, soundstage and clarity.  

2019 Grammy best engineering award was given to three engineers Shawn Murphy et al. for Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 performed by Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons. You could see how the multiple microphones of different types were placed in the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8hF_NVqCtg

Beethoven sym. 9 performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti also used multiple microphones of different types. There must be good reasons behind why the award winning recording engineering project and famous symphone orchestra performance uses multimiking.

Today $700 can be spent wisely to attain a hi-fi bookshelf stereo system. A good example is like:

- Wharfedale Diamond 225, $280

- Smsl Ao200, $223, (50wpc 8Ω, 90wpc 4Ω, 150wpc 2Ω; 2 German Infineon class
D chips)

- Schiit Modius DAC, $230 including shipping

With corrected room acoustic, this combo will render rich tembre (Schiit house sound), decent soundstage and nimble low ends. Around this price range, the increasing return can be substantial imho.

Please be advised that not everyone can give credence to the headphone listening system due to various reasons such as hearing health and disconfort of headphone wearing.  I understand the definite advantage of no box and room effect elimination from headphone use but just do not feel comfortable wearing headphone for a long time that I usually spend with music listening. 

The major reason is the impact to the hearing health from headphone wearing (even at the sound pressue level of 60-65 dBA I usually listen with).  My reasoning is that wearing headphone / earbuds causes pressure change in the inner / interior ear.  It sometimes produces whoosing sound / tinnitus due possibly to muscle contraction. This tinnitus can be intermittent but sometimes becomes a constant effect that will bother for a longer term.  I am not sure if that makes sense to you...