Odd DAC Pricing

This is not odd.  The product is discounted new with some dealers selling it for 20-25% off new.  Secondarily, like anything, it’s a matter of taste.  This is not “the best” unless it meets your taste.  There is a lot of buzz about it and lots of people buy it thinking it is the greatest DAC ever and is going to be better than pricier units.  It is competitive at its price point but does not stand out in a meaningful way vs other similarly priced units.  The on-board Roon endpoint is not great and it has an annoying UI. 
 

I have had it in multiple times on trade.  It is a VERY good sounding DAC and It is fairly priced and quite competitive with Linn, Chord, Playback, Bricasti, Weiss but unless it is precisely to your taste it is not meaningfully better than these others.  I thin a lot of people buy it thinking it will be a giant killer.  It can’t compete with the EMM, Playback Dream, Linn Klimax, MSB, dCS, Wadax’s of the world. 

@verdantaudio I still haven’t pulled the trigger on a new DAC.  I found your comments on the Mola not being able to compete with the likes of EMM, Playback Dream, Linn Klimax, MSB, dCS, Wadax, etc. Do you think this is true for their models in the same price range (if any exist), or for just their models in general?  I mean, you can’t get any thing from Wadax for ~$10k, right?  Can I ask which specific models in these brands you feel warrants consideration?  Thanks in advance.

@mjjw  I had the Mola Mola in the same system with the Playback Designs MPD6, Linn Selekt w/ Katalyst DAC and Rockna Wavedream Signature XLR.  It was the word of those four.  The Linn is less expensive, The MPD 6 is more expensive and they sandwiched it when it was $13k.  I think the Mola Mola price went up.  
 

The Mola Mola is very good but it is not quite the giant killer everyone wishes it would be.  It is competitive at is price of $13k.  
 

I have not heard more expensive DACs from Mola Mola and comparing it to DA2I is not really fair as it is almost 3x the price.  It should be better in every way.  

@verdantaudio "...It is competitive at is price of $13k. "

+1

I find this true to be more often than not. Accounting for differences in flavors (house sound) anyone making a component for over $3-5K and up has done a lot of comparisons and must price it approximately by the market value of the sound quality. Typically the folks buying this stuff do a lot of research and read reviews and listen extensively. So, something that doesn't sound up to its price will sell slowly and a company doing this isn't going to last long. 

Over the last few years I have auditioned DACs from $1.2K to $25K and in general +/- a 10% or so they fell in line. Accounting for differences in house sound... some were attempting highly detailed sound, some highly musical, some holographic. You must judge them against what they are trying to achieve. In the very lower reaches... just quiet noise floor and not harsh. 

@ghdprentice I would agree.  I would give the edge to the Linn in my testing but a big part of that is likely due to their scale.  They have 30 engineers in R&D and are producing an immense amount of gear making them more efficient.  If you take them away as an unusual exception, things are pretty linear with most of my testing that as things get pricier, quality improves. There are a few labor market distortions (China) and a couple scale companies (Linn, Canton) that produce HiFi gear that delivers value for money due to economies of scale but these are uncommon exceptions.