The DAC Scam - Almost everyone believes the hype


Over many decades I have owned my share of multi-thousand dollar dacs.My current is my Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5, which I have owned for ~ 4 years. I have made many changes to my system, including cables and it has shined a light on every one, so I tend to agree with the YTV . Your thoughts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sg1nYLmLCw

tweak1

@limomangus $2000 is a lot of money and there are many really good DA for 2000 or less and there are also some that are not so good

it’s not a contest on expense, use your ears and find what works for you

@choiceaudio I tried to engage with the guy in a respectful way and he was just playing games with me and I said look I understand you're new to this and he said I've been doing it 20 years, and I said OK so where are your credentials? You've been doing this for 20 years, the guy has literally no credits for work accomplished, all music.com etc.… So now he's resorted to inflammatory posts and branding himself as an expert, it's very typical of this era, but he's a fucking idiot.

@donavabdear the MTRX with DAD is for atmos ? in order to go a different direction you need external DA, there are many options, I use a combination of the merging with bricasti

---No dac sound the same as others dac...

--- No dac sound the same with different gear coupling

--- There is no dac scam,only ignorance about the threefold way to embed rightfully any system in his working dimensions (mechanical,electrical,acoustical) once we have decided to pick a dac. Stuck with it and work on his embedding in your speakers/room/ears. Change it only after all has been done...

--- There is difference in Dac design, quality, and synergy...

pick the right one for synergy &budget then embed it wisely...

you will be happy as i am....

 

Dac sellers profit from customers ignorance about the way to improve their system at low cost...No scam just plain ignorance...

Knowledge must replace upgrades road...

 

 

I have a Dragonfly black USB DAC. I paid like $120 for it. My question is: Does a $4,000 DAC sound $3,880 better? Or would I be just as well off buying a used Topping E70 Velvet for $275? Would I even notice an appreciable difference between the Topping and Dragonfly?

A salesman at a high end audio store once told me that the reason $10,000 interconnects exist is because people who buy $100,000 systems feel weird about connecting it all together with $20 cables. I know for a fact that $10,000 cables don't sound $9,980 better than $20 cables. But rich people have to spend their money on something. Is there such a thing as night and day differences between decent DAC's, or is it just different flavors and slight variations? Is it milking that last 2% of sound quality for thousands of dollars buying high dollar DAC's?

 

@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

What may be true to a certain degree for 20$ cable versus 10,000 dollars cable in an 100,000 bucks system,

cannot be applied for a low cost dac versus a very costlier one in the same 100,000 bucks system because the way we evaluate a piece of gear is related to the other gear parts design synergy...

Also a 100,000 bucks system will sound very different and not at his peak potential at all in a living room and in a dedicated acoustic room ... A truth no audiophile like to face...

Nobody want to study and experiment or had the time to do so, they prefer or can only pay for an "upgrade"... But upgrade may be very very rapidly illusory...

Acoustics is better than an "upgrade" because it is the root of sound experience not a "taste" or a "flavor"...

 

I have a Dragonfly black USB DAC. I paid like $120 for it. My question is: Does a $4,000 DAC sound $3,880 better? Or would I be just as well off buying a used Topping E70 Velvet for $275? Would I even notice an appreciable difference between the Topping and Dragonfly?

A salesman at a high end audio store once told me that the reason $10,000 interconnects exist is because people who buy $100,000 systems feel weird about connecting it all together with $20 cables. I know for a fact that $10,000 cables don’t sound $9,980 better than $20 cables. But rich people have to spend their money on something. Is there such a thing as night and day differences between decent DAC’s, or is it just different flavors and slight variations? Is it milking that last 2% of sound quality for thousands of dollars buying high dollar DAC’s?