How easily can you distinguish between different DACs?

@arafiq 

With hifi systems I agree a system is only as good as its least performing component, whatever that is and whatever it’s cost may be. 

The assumption is it’s like buying a Ferrari. But it’s a DAC not a car. It may or may not in fact be like a Ferrari DAC. The devil is always in the details. Generalized analogies based solely on price are theoretical and not necessarily backed up by facts. Just saying. A $25k DAC may or may not outperform the rest significantly.

I heard a pricey and well regarded DCS player and DAC sound exquisite on an overall $100k plus system (VAC and Magicos) once. This was a few years back when DAC technology overall was not as mature as these days so I can cite that as a supporting example of a pricey DAC that I would say clearly earned its price and reputation in the day, but it means absolutely nothing when other gear is substituted merely based on price. Especially these days when dac and streaming technology overall has matured greatly compared to just a few years back.

How does my pretty new $2500 4K TV deliver such a great picture compared to the almost 20 year old plasma set it replaced that I got a good deal on back then for ~$1800? It’s because the digital streaming technology is that much better now. There are even better pictures available for a premium but the differences are very marginal. Same true for digital audio technology these days. It’s harder than ever for premium cost gear to earn its keep because the technology on most merely good quality products is so much higher to start with. So be careful whenever making decisions based solely on cost. It may or may not pan out. Smart buyers should be able to outperform most for less. Or not. I will not make any absolute claims. The devil is always in the details

Hmm well I would likely not recommend a $500 streamer and a $25000 DAC.

Having said that what evidence is there that spending more necessarily means better sound? You would hope that would be the case but price alone assures nothing.

Has anyone attempted to use say a ~ $500 Cambridge mxn10 with various dacs at a wide range of costs and compared to other more expensive streamers. I have not but I do have that Cambridge and I would not rule it out without evidence to the contrary.

I have seen at least one published case where a $10k dac was objectively measured to perform worse than many DACs for 1/10th the cost.  Ouch!

So price alone assures not much. But I agree it makes no sense financially to even think about dropping $25k on any one component then cheap out on others. That’s not to say it is assured that the total investment in both might not outperform many other pairings.

No matter what streamer used, assuming it is of good quality,  which can easily happen for just a few hundred dollars these days , absolutely comparing a common dac to an Uber expensive dac is absolutely a valid thing to do.   If you don’t hear a bigger better difference between a super expensive dac and a more common one there is no reason to buy the way more expensive product that is a bad value.   Once you have a good DAC, if you want to play with streamer sources then more power to you.   There are many ways different streamers might sound different.  With digital and DSP anything is possible.  

No two most anything ever sound exactly the same but the good news is that it’s getting harder to find a bad sounding DAC these days. It’s more of a personal preference thing. Digital streaming technology overall is very mature these days and the wide range of quality products at all price points reflects that.

On a scale of 1 to 10 speakers are a ten in terms of being able to discern differences. Amplifiers are an 8. DACs are more like a 4-5.