Odd DAC Pricing

@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.  

Ive listened to quite a few Linn's. A friend bought one, then upgraded. They are quite good. 

The Mola Mola Tambaqui originates from a design Bruno did about 20 years ago. Bruno mentioned this in an interview on ASR. This design went into the DAC section of the Mola Mola Makua preamp. Customers asked for a standalone version of the DAC module since they did not want a preamp. The Tambaqui is the result. Bruno left Mola Mola a few years ago to start Puriffi so I doubt any new DACs comes out from Mola Mola.

I am looking forward to the Schitt Byggi+ that is supposed to be the best DAC from them (Mike Moffat). My Schitt Yggi+ OG was compared head-to-head with the Tambaqui using the maybe the best headphones in the world, the RAAL 1995 Immanis.

This was at a headphone meet in Denver around January. The owner of the Tambaqui preferred the Tambaqui by a bit. My golden ears friend who took my DAC to the show liked the Tambaqui a bit more, but said something that was surprising. In a blind test he said he likely could not tell which was which. The OG cost $2800 and the Byggi will cost $3500.