The DAC Scam - Almost everyone believes the hype

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?

@facten I'm sorry if my comment came off as a "vieled skeptic question", that's certainly not how I meant it. It's an honest question. Unfortunately, I live in a small city 100 miles away from anywhere that I might be able to listen to high end equipment first hand. I work 5 days a week and don't often have the time to go out of town.

I can't find any reviews comparing the Dragonfly to anything other than other Dragonfly models, red, blue, cobalt. I honestly have no idea how it compares to other DAC's other than by the price I paid for it. Hence the question. I'm not looking to attack anyone or be attacked, just looking for an honest answer to an honest question. Going from a cheap Chinese tube preamp to a Conrad Johnson pv10 was a night and day difference. All I'm asking is if the technology in DAC's is at a point where they are all pretty close and no real night and day differences exists.

Expensive DACs are all hype. At the end of the day, it’s all ones and zeroes and the algorithm. Save your money and put it towards great amps and speakers. 

@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.