The DAC Scam - Almost everyone believes the hype

@oberoniaomnia ", I experimented with a $250 and a $5,000 DAC and preference depended on track. Differences if perceptible at all were minute at best. ....So rather consider foot print and look of the DAC than thinking one may sound better for a variety of music and recording styles. If you like audio bling, go for it, put your bespoke ethernet/USB cable on lifters. If you want to be more frugal, know that you are not missing anything with respect to audio, if that is your primary interest."

So out of curiosity why then do you have a $4K+ Holo May  DAC?

@partslinger if you really want to know if a $4k DAC will sound better why don’t you go listen to one with your dragonfly and whatever you hook it up to in tow and do a 1 st hand comparison. That is if you really want to know vs the vieled skeptic question

@bigtex22 what DAC do you use , what have you compared it to and how did they not differ?

@partslinger My apologies for reading into your post. I haven’t heard the Dragonfly so I can’t offer an opinion on it. That said I’ll offer the following. My 1st separate DAC I purchased years ago cost around $350-450. I don’t recall if it was an entry level PSAudio or Music Fidelity, regardless it sounded better or more to my taste than the DAC in my Arcam CD player. I eventually replaced that with a $1600 April Music DAC that was across the board better sounding. However, I did buy a $1200 Blue Circle DAC that I enjoyed listening to more. After awhile I decided to purchase a tube based DAC , the 3 or 4x more expensive Modwright Elysee . It was significantly better in SQ and soundstage while comparable in to the Blue Circle’s sonic tone. I then decided to try an Aqua LaVoce S2 that had an even wider soundtage than the Modwright but I found it too detailed and it left me fatigued listening to it beyond an hour and a half. I sold that off. A Mojo Evo Dac in the cost bracket of the Modwright i found hit the mark on my listening taste. Two years or so ago I auditioned a $15K Tron Signature DAC that has outstanding presentation, but has a very detailed sound that just doesn’t suit my listening taste. Instead of the Tron d I went with a Neodio Origine S2 CD player, the DAC of which more suits my listening taste. The point of all of this is from my perspective you’re not going to be able to know and decide if anything else better suits your listening tastes until you hear them for yourself. The narrative that it’s just ones and zeros so it doesn’t matter is nonsense. DACs don’t all sound the same. Ignore the cost element, how much you spend or not is immaterial. I’d suggest that you rather focus on what sound signature you prefer , seek out the ones that match that, and then decide for yourself if it is worth it to you or not to move beyond what you have.

@oberoniaomnia  no appreciable discernable difference but you still kept the May

@raysmtb1 "don’t waste it on a DAC once you hit the $2000 level Nothing changes"

Can you put some context around your statement - what specific DACs under $2K have you firsthand compared to what specific DACs above $2K that led you to this definitive conclusion?

@raysmtb1        Thanks for the perspective. Glad it worked out that way for you. My end results was different going through the DAC journey which I  posted elsewhere in this thread. Nothing is definitive about anything in audio everyone hears differently, may have different system objectives , etc. so what works for one person doesn't mean it will work for anyone or everyone else. Enjoy!