I have no horse in this race, but arafiq's post should be required reading every time someone decides to post in any forum here. It applies to every topic in this hobby. Emphasis on hobby. Well done sir.
I also think there’s a bit of a messiah complex at work here. There are certain underlying assumptions that form the basis, and certainly the tone, that is evident in many posts ...
1. Most audiophiles are fools who can be parted with their money easily. Since I’ve read about specs and multiple wikipedia articles on the technical aspects, it is my moral obligation to save these fools from themselves.
2. The higher DACs, or any audio component for that matter, are nothing more than unscrupulous manufacturers and designers who are out to fleece the audiofools.
3. I have a background in network engineering, and therefore that makes me an expert on all things ’audio’. I need to save the uninformed audifools from themselves.
4. Specs are vastly superior to actual listening experience. I can tell everything about a component by reading specs, graphs, and charts. Actual listening is vastly overrated. The audifools are incapable of understanding things like implicit bias, double blind tests, and pretty much anything. I need to save the audiofools from themselves,
5. Those who buy high end DACs only do it because they've got money to burn and its more about bragging rights than actual music enjoyment. It's my moral obligation to set these pretentious bastards right.
6. If I can't hear a difference between a $99 and $10K DAC, this must be the ultimate truth. Everybody else who claims otherwise is an audiofool.
7. I’m the smartest man on this forum, therefore anyone who disagrees with me is an audifool.