Has Digital Audio Tech Plateaued - Is It Safe To Come Out Now?


I’ve been focused on analog for the last couple years with only an occasional glance toward anything digital.
 I could be mistaken but does it seem like the onslaught of technologically NEW digital hardware  and media has stalled? We’re seeing a move back to DAC technology that was prevalent in the 80’s, some folks say it sounds better (R2R)?
People have always questioned whether or not higher sampling rates actually improve things, beyond a certain point, so do we need more bits and higher frequency sampling beyond the current state-of-the-art?
We’re seeing some companies incorporate 1950’s tube technology into 2020 hardware to try to make it sound.....dare I say it - less digital?
Streaming seems to have matured to the point that it is what it is. The big streaming services have a foothold, and I’m not hearing of any real pending innovation. In fact I read somewhere that MQA is no better than CD playback quality, hence we may not even be as developed as we think we are.
Server tech seems to have peaked - sure, there’ll be more storage, moderately better power supplies, slightly improved interfaces etc, but is there anything revolutionary on the horizon now that we’ve moved beyond the Mac Mini / PC hardware?

 I’m not saying there won’t be a continuous stream of new hardware, new gadgets, but is there any expectation that something new is likely to advance us beyond where we’re at WRT sound quality?
Please note the question marks in the above, I’m not stating this is the way it is, I’m asking those of you who are closer to it for your thoughts on where it’s all at.

The point being - is it safe to crawl out from under my pile of moldy album covers from the 70’s and invest into current digital, without the fear of needing to retool in a year or two?
Thoughts?


128x128rooze

Showing 4 responses by cal3713

@rooze No offense meant, but it feels like you already know the answer to your question. 

Your opening question implied lack of experience, but you've already made a real investment into the digital domain and as you are aware, the next step up will probably cost you all of the $10k.  I feel like there's a big hole between $2500 and $8,000 where many pieces across the spectrum all succeed in parallel, but slightly different, manners.  Who prefers what is totally dependent on system matching. 

And then above $10k, obviously you're into another league, but again one where price is likely to be very weakly correlated with performance above baseline.  By all accounts, the MSB Select II will sound wonderful for the rest of your life ( https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/msb-select-ii-arrival.23302/), but who knows about the many many options below that...
@rooze I agree that there's not likely to be any significant new tech in this domain for quite some time.  I have trouble imagining what the next frontier is now that streaming has matured to it's current point.  Perhaps the network protocols will change and you'll need a new streamer at some point? 

As for the music itself, the *vast* majority of recordings are still in the standard redbook format, and although higher sample rates can sound better, I personally gave up on investing in that path.  I'd rather work to make 99% of the music sound better than get locked into doing a ton of work just to get that 1% that's recorded at the high sample rates.  And in that domain, I just don't see any new groundbreaking advances in the upcoming years... just like there's unlikely to be much revolutionary action in analog.  

Hell, I chose an obsolete R2R chip (the little Audio Mirror T3-SE you heard) over the top of the line ESS chip (Matrix X-Sabre Pro) and a modern FPGA (PSA Directstream DAC).  Guess I must have inferior ears and a horribly unresolving system...  or, as I suggested earlier, the playing field below $8k is very level and final choices are hugely system dependent. 
Tube output stages vs opamps in the Mojo units. Both with a lot of care in the power supply.
Another company that only seems to get good reviews is SW1X. Very specialized dacs also using old R2R chips without oversampling. http://sw1xad.co.uk/